Real Estate New York

Market Update October 2009
2 Months Left to Use $8,000 First Time Buyer Grant information

Albany Home Prices Forecast 9.6% Down for 2009

In Albany, the housing market didn't experience double-digit appreciation during the boom, but as the recession makes its impact felt and financing is harder to get home prices are tumbling. Annual deflation of 9.6% is forecast for the state capitol as Albany battles through the downturn.

But pent-up demand coupled with low interest rates are pulling more home buyers into the market in Albany, Clifton Park, Delmar, Saratoga, etc. even as home prices decline. The federal government's first time buyer's tax credit is
also helping to get buyers off the fence, but New Yorkers wonder how long the trend will last.

These predictions from The Housing Predictor

Read more from The Housing Predictor

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6 Home Office Tips

Use these tips to create a space in your home for getting things done.

When you work from home, potential distractions can abound that jeopardize your efficiency, says Jennifer Shelby, who works in public relations from her Worcester, Mass., home. For example, Shelby learned to dress for work even when at home and avoid the temptation to stay in her PJs.

Here are other pointers for ensuring an efficient, productive home office: 

1. Establish a professional routine without too many breaks. But establish some breaks with time frames. For example, Shelby regularly takes a few minutes periodically to walk the family dogs. Jeffrey Crane, founder of Concept to Creation, a Gilbert, Ariz., company that consults on home design, also works from home and often uses his breaks to grab a glass of water, check on his children, and eat lunch away from his desk.

2. Have a door or partition to set physical boundaries and establish rules with family.

3. Have a dedicated work line to pare non work calls.

4. Include locked cabinetry if work involves confidentiality.

5. Plan the space to expand, perhaps with extra storage.

6. Maintain a healthy work and family balance by leaving work at a set time
   unless a project must get done.

Read more from National Association of Realtors Magazine by Barbara Ballinger

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Headed Toward Recovery

Region took a beating from the recession, but optimism is returning.

Here are some numbers not usually cited in discussions about the economy: 42 degrees 45' North, 73 degrees 48' West. They have nothing to do with stock quotes, unemployment or the price of oil. They are the latitude and longitude of Albany.

They're important in looking at how the Capital Region is emerging from the nation's economic recession. Our location and our role as a government-education-health care center have a major impact on how we have been faring in relation to the national economy and in how we'll do in the coming months.

The nation, and the region, has taken a beating from the recession. But optimism about an economic resurgence is returning.

"It's not just that there are green shoots" heralding growth, said Hugh Johnson, chairman and chief investment officer at Johnson Illington Advisors, an Albany investment firm. "The green shoots have become solid signs that we are headed toward a recovery," he said.

The Capital Region's economy could be described as sitting on a three-legged stool, with government, education and health care accounting for a significant number of jobs.

Read More from the Times Union.com by Rick Karlin

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Architecture Coach: Green Home Trends

Did you know? According to several studies including the U.S. Department of Energy, homes and buildings account for 40-50 percent of total U.S. energy consumption and at least 20-40
percent of greenhouse gas emissions and pollution.

Here are the topics covered:

1) The Big Picture – Defining “Green”
2) Green Homes and Real Estate
3) Who are Green Buyers and Sellers?
4) Listing and Selling Green – Important Issues to Consider
5) Green Certifications  – Making Sense of Rating Systems
6) Greening your Real Estate Practice

Read More from National Association of Realtors by Melissa Tracey

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20 Home Design Features That Send Buyers Running

Design glitches draw attention away from a home’s best features. While some buyers may actually appreciate “vintage” features, home and design experts say these 20 features almost always serve as a turnoff.

1. Dated and excessively bold or dark paint and tile colors, such as “Pepto Bismol” pink, avocado green, deep plum, or jet black. “Dark can be cool, but it has to be a color that’s popular today,” says sales associate Jennifer Ames, crs^®, of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Chicago.

2. Lacquered or high-gloss painted walls that are expensive to repaint and show all defects. Likewise, faux- and sponge-painted walls can be so passe.

3. Painted trim that’s very dark-and costly to remove.

4. Wallpaper, which is a lot of work (and potentially expensive) to remove. Most disliked: Dated flowered or striped patterns.

. Kitchens that lack any dining space. Also, outdated, small-scale, and dirty kitchen appliances that look like they won’t perform.

6. Worn, cracked laminate countertops, and backsplashes or plastic cultured marble.

7. Outdated bathrooms with small sinks, short toilets, squatty bathtubs, and tight showers-all of which aren’t conducive to unwinding after a long day’s work, says Ames.

8. Lack of ample closet space in bedrooms, or no closet at all and no place to build one or add an armoire.

9. Dens, libraries, and family rooms without built-in bookcases or a space to include shelves.

10. Stained and worn wall-to-wall carpet in rooms or on stairs. Worst choice: shag. Also, worn linoleum that suggests a house was never updated.

Read more from National Association of Realtors Magazine by Barbara Ballinger

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Capital Region's Slump Nearing End

Housing sales rise for third consecutive month.

Sandra Nardoci, president of the Greater Capital Association of Realtors, pointed to three consecutive months of gains in pending sales as evidence the worst may be over.

"For the third consecutive month -- that's June, July and August -- the number of contracts of sale for the month is greater than for the same month a year earlier," she said. "We were hesitant to announce an end to the housing slump after one or two months of increased activity but are more confident now that the signs for a return to a healthy, active market are positive."

While pending sales were up 18 percent from year-earlier levels, however, new listings fell 12 percent, as did completed sales. The average sale price was off 3 percent, and the median price was down 2 percent.

James Ader said the end of the $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit would be the next hurdle the market will have to clear.

"If the market continues to improve after the tax credit ends, we will agree that the Capital Region's housing slump has ended," he said.

While the median price edged lower in August, to $195,000 from $195,800 a year ago, it is up from $166,000 in January, Nardoci said.

Read more from Trading Markets.com

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Home Prices in 20 U.S. Cities Fell Less Than Forecast

“The worst has passed,” said Mark Vitner, a senior economist at Wells Fargo Securities LLC in Charlotte, North Carolina. “We expect prices to bottom out around the middle of next year and then look for modest price appreciation for the next several years. There is still a tremendous oversupply of homes in most major markets.”

Sept. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Home values in 20 U.S. metropolitan areas declined less than forecast in the year ended in July, a sign the housing slump that led to the worst recession in seven decades is abating.

The S&P/Case-Shiller home-price index fell 13.3 percent in July from a year earlier, the smallest drop in 17 months, the group said today in New York. Adjusted for seasonal variations, the gauge rose 1.2 percent from the prior month, the biggest gain since October 2005.

Foreclosure-driven price declines, low borrowing costs and government tax credits for first-time buyers have lifted home sales for much of this year, helping to slow the decline in prices. Stability in real-estate values and rising stock prices may help set the stage for a recovery in the consumer spending that accounts for two thirds of the economy.

Stock index futures rose after the report and Treasury securities extended losses. The contract on the Standard & Poor’s 500 index was up 0.4 percent to 1,062.8 at 9:23 a.m. in New York. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose to 3.32 percent from 3.28 percent late yesterday. Better Than Forecast

Read more from Bob Willis of Bloomberg.com

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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

XXXX

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.

September sales figures show a reversal back towards buyer territory. For the moment, the market is well balanced in what we call a Realtor's Market, neither wholly favoring buyers or sellers

*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 October 1, 2009

XX Average Sale & List Prices for Albany, Schenectady, Rensselaer, Saratoga Counties

The average list and sale prices for the month of September 2009 show a decrease in both average list and sale prices as is typical for this time of year. However, both the list prices and sale prices remain below levels seen in past years.

The average asking price to sale price has risen from 97.27% in August to 97.26% for September. The number of sales at 500 is also down.

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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

Beware of Deed Copy Scam

Albany County Clerk Tom Clingan Advises Property Owners to Beware of Deed Copy Scam 

Statement of Albany County Clerk Thomas G. Clingan:

My office has received calls from concerned property owners about communications that they've received from "New York Retrieval, Inc" offering to secure a certified copy of the deed to their property for a fee of nearly $60.00.

This private company is in fact re-selling certified copies of deeds that can be purchased directly from my office for about ONE-TENTH of that price.

I am asking the news media to let the public know that these mailings are NOT coming from my office, which is the ONLY source for certified copies of property deeds. The public needs to know that New York Retrieval, Inc., is NOT a government entity.

Any Albany County property owner with internet access can go to the County's website at www.albanycounty.com and click on "Deeds and Mortgages Online" and (in most cases) quickly view a non-certified image of their deed, as long as the deed was recorded here after 1980. This service is absolutely free.

Read More from Albany County Office of County Clerk

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.

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Not Getting First Look Listings?

A number of people have told us that our First Look listings have stopped arriving in their email box.

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