Real Estate New York

Market Update June 2010
Real Estate New York continues 10% of our commission rebate up to $1,000 details

Real Estate New York continues REBATE while Fed program ends

After much soul searching, the sales associates and brokers of Real Estate New York have agreed to extend our 10% commission rebate (details) at least until September. For while this is a direct cut in our income at a time when we are all coming out of a tough year, the real estate market in New York is still struggling toward recovery. We believe our aid in helping New Yorkers will benefit our community for years to come. We are all in this together.

Also see our 5% Full Service Seller Commission

If you were fortunate enough to write a contract before April 30, 2010 you can cash in now and not as a tax deduction next year. read more

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Real Estate's New Problem: Not enough homes

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Can it be possible? Despite the housing bust and high foreclosure rates, in some areas real estate agents are complaining that they don't have enough homes to sell.

There is currently an eight-month supply of homes on the market -- meaning that, at the current sales pace, it would take eight months to run through the backlog.

That's still a lot compared to the six-month supply that is expected in a normal market, but it is much better than it was. In March, there were nearly 2% fewer homes on the market than there were a year ago, and 21.7% fewer than the record of 4.6 million in July 2008.

In some areas, supplies are even bidding-war tight. In Denver, for example, supply has fallen to 5.7 months from 6.2. In Phoenix it has declined to 4.5 from 5.2; and in San Francisco inventory has halved, to 3.2 months from 6.5 last March.

Read more from CNN Money

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Getting what you Want in Home Sale Negotiations

When it comes to selling a house, everything from the price to whether the refrigerator stays or goes is negotiable. But negotiating the terms should never be an "I win, you lose" situation. Rather, it should be "I win, you win."

"The best negotiations end with all parties feeling like they won," says Scott Friedman, a Linwood, N.J., real estate coach. "Both parties need to feel they came to an amicable agreement and want to move forward."

To get to that point often involves give and take on both sides. Here are some tips:

- Let your agent do your bidding. That's what you've hired the agent for, so let him or her handle the bargaining.

Hopefully, he or she has had some schooling in the art. Unfortunately, to hear sales trainers such as Friedman and Rich Levin of Rochester, N.Y., tell it, most do not. So it might be wise to hire an agent who has either taken some courses or has lots of experience in getting buyers and sellers to close without incident.

Buyers and sellers may have met when the buyer visited the property. But once the offer is submitted, they should never see each other again if possible.

Read more from The Los Angeles Times by Lew Sichelman

Real Estate New York Launches iRENY.mobi

You can now use your smartphone: Blackberry, iPhone, Android, Blazer, Nokia, Opera Mobile, Palm, Pocket PC, Samsung Windows CE, Zune, Motorola Browser, and more to search the MLS, request showings, set up automatic cell phone alert listing notifications(as noted below), and First Look auto emailed listings at: http://iRENY.mobi (beta)

In addition, you can just visit the main Real Estate New York website at http://RENY.net with a smart phone and you should be taken to the mobile site.

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Home Tweat Home

Get Best Home of the Day Tweets FREE* at: http://twitter.com/HomeTweatHome
formerly: myReny, which is now the user name for
Capital Region Real Estate News

Each day Real Estate New York staffers pick the best
new listings based on condition, price, location, size,
and esthetics. Previous days Tweets are also available for a fast overview of the best
and most recent new listings.

Also, receive instant free* cell phone alerts when a home that
meets your requirements on First Look comes on the market.
Alerts are sent as voice or text messages.

Click to register for cell phone for alerts.

Privacy statement: your phone number is never given out for any reason.
Nor will anyone call uninvited.

*Your cell phone carrier may charge for the text message or voice notification.

Not Getting First Look Listings?

Most often this is caused by the clients spam filter stopping the email listing from arriving.

Usually this can be remedied by including: Email@ParagonMessaging.com as a Safe Sender or white listing the above email address as safe. If help is needed to do this you may contact:

Dennis Maier 518-312-4030 extension #1 or 888-749-3384 toll free

Tell a Friend

If you know someone who may benefit from our monthly market update please forward this page. To sign up for our free, no obligation, market update click here: Market Update SignUp

Archives

We've been asked to again include links to past market updates. But since our stories link to other web sites over which we have no control we only want to link to our most recent issues. Otherwise, the article links may fail to work as they once did.

The Skinny: Video Market Update

New York State Consumer Confidence Increased in April

Loudonville, NY - New York State consumer confidence increased 1.3 points in April, while the nation’s confidence decreased 1.4 points, according to the latest poll by the Siena (College) Research Institute (SRI). At 66.8, New York’s overall consumer confidence is 5.4 points below the nation’s* 72.2 confidence level.

“Overall, (national) consumer confidence was flat in April, not horrible, but as yet still failing to make any real progress towards good,” according to Dr. Doug Lonnstrom, professor of statistics and finance at Siena College and SRI Founding
Director. “With little good news to absorb oil spills, volcanic disruptions, Wall St. testimony and a budgetless state, a
majority of consumers still predict bad times for business conditions over the coming year and tough times to last
through 2015. But today, Democrats are far more hopeful than independents and especially Republicans. GOP’s, in
April, by nearly three to one say they are worse off today than a year ago, and by over three to one expect another
year of declining conditions. While fifty percent of Democrats expect to personally stay economically even over the
next year, of the rest by nearly four to one, somehow, someway, they expect to better their financial lot.”

Click for entire report from Siena College (pdf)

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Law Takes Bite out of State Foreclosure Law

ALBANY -- New York's tough new foreclosure law is helping curb the rate of foreclosure filings -- at least temporarily.

The law requires that lenders notify homeowners facing a foreclosure 90 days before proceedings begin, and it mandates a settlement conference between troubled borrowers and their mortgage holder, among other steps.

In March, a month after most aspects of the law had taken affect, the number of foreclosure filings in New York state fell nearly 7 percent from the year-earlier rate, even as they rose nationally, according to RealtyTrac, which monitors distressed properties.

Last month's drop was far more dramatic, with statewide foreclosure filings plunging by 21 percent, compared to a 2 percent decline nationally.

Observers say the fall in New York state is directly attributable to the new legislation, because it's restricting lenders from moving forward with foreclosures until at least 90 days after the launch of law.

But what happens after 90 days, when lenders no longer have to wait?

"We anticipate that foreclosure filings are going to pick back up in May and June," said Ellie Pepper, assistant director of Better Neighborhoods Inc., a nonprofit housing group in Schenectady.

Read more from CHRIS CHURCHILL, Business writer The Albany Times Union

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Five Ways for Buyers to Outsmart the Market

Trying to pinpoint what’s going on with the New York real estate market right now can be like standing at the shoreline and determining the exact moment the tide turns — without a tide chart.

But as sales pick up and open houses draw dozens of prospects instead of single-digit groups, one thing is clear: the rules of the game have changed — in some ways, for good.

The recession has brought about many of the biggest changes, like lower prices, tighter lending standards and historically low interest rates. But technology, too, has had a large impact on the way deals get done, giving everyone access to information that brokers once held close to the vest, and revealing details even they may not have known. (A buyer involved in multiple lawsuits? Thanks, Google!) As buyers and sellers make their way down the path to move-in day, what once seemed like a well-marked highway has become more like a labyrinth. Here are guideposts that can help make sense of the maze:

MORTGAGE HURDLES

If there’s one word that sums up the current mortgage application process, it’s paperwork. And tighter lending standards mean that many buyers will need more of it. The traditional starting point for buyers has been securing a simple preapproval letter for a mortgage. Now lenders recommend having detailed discussions about a loan before heading to open houses. This way, you can get a jump on collecting all the documents the bank will want to see. “Three years ago, I got a mortgage literally after conducting a phone call while I was driving,” said Peter Hamarich, who closed on a studio apartment in Chelsea in April after he and his partner sold their one-bedroom near Lincoln Center. This time, though, things were different. “I’d bet 90 percent of the documents we submitted we had to submit twice, or submit updated copies,” Mr. Hamarich said. That paperwork includes tax returns, bank statements and pay stubs, all of which will probably have to be resubmitted as newer versions arrive during a process that can take up to six months. “Putting the right paperwork together up front really can save you some trouble at the end of the transaction,” said Bob Donovan, a senior vice president of Bank of America, which recently revamped its Web site to offer buyers more preapplication advice. Another change is that the mortgage commitment letter that banks give to buyers once they have a signed contract is now likely to have conditions attached — meaning that before the bank will actually issue a check, you may have to undergo a more detailed review of your finances. An unusual deposit in your checking account, for instance, could raise questions about whether someone was helping you with the purchase. Richard Martin, a senior vice president of DE Capital Mortgage, said the goal of gathering up records early on was to head off questions later in the process.

“As loan officers, we have to be incredibly detailed and prepared to be able to answer these questions,” Mr. Martin said. “We’ve stepped into a whole new era in the mortgage business, which in a sense we’ll never turn back from. All of this stuff is here to stay.”

Read more from The New York Times by SUSAN STELLIN

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Mortgage Rates and Trends

The link to up to the minute New York State mortgage information seems to work better than presenting the actual graph. Click for up to the minute mortgage rate information

Buyers' versus Sellers' Market Report

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The graph above shows the number of sales in a given month divided by the number of homes on the market in the four main counties of the Capital Region.

May sales figures show a continued reversal toward seller territory. This is typical of this time of year plus the additional influence of the $8,000 First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit.

*This ratio can be used to determine whether we are in a buyers' or sellers' market as indicated in Dennis Maier's article on Market Timing featured in eZine Real Estate. In general, if it would (theoretically) take less than 6 1/2 months to sell the current inventory it's a sellers' market. If it would take more than 9 months to sell all the homes on the market it's a buyers' market.

Market Statistics as of May 1, 2010

The average list and sale prices for the month of May 2010 show another reversal of trend back to the levels of 2009. This is likely the result of the Federal tax credit's end April 30th, 2010

The average asking price to sale price has decreased from 97.72% in April to 97.13% for May. The number of sales at 491 is up from 436 last month as is typical for this time of year.

a note about the Skinny video (below left). The data used for our immediate update is calculated as of the first day of the month while other sources such as the Greater Capital Region of Realtors uses final stats compiled much later. In addition, the Skinny reports data from the entire Capital Region MLS rather than the four main counties, as is reported above.

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