Real Estate New York
Market Update February 2007
STAR Filing Deadline Approaches
For most Capital Region residents March 1, 2007 is the deadline for filing a School Tax Relief Program (STAR).
3 million home owners save over $2 billion dollars a year on their school tax bills with the program.
Typically, every homeowner that files gets a 10% reduction and those over 65 yrs and with less than $67,000 in income get a 15% reduction.
Click to download a free STAR application
Consider the Prefab Home
In the housing industry, the phrase “prefab” often conjures up the image of a generic-looking, nondescript house or a mobile home. However, there are many reasons why these stereotypes deserve to be wiped away.
Today's prefabricated homes (which include manufactured homes, modular homes, and kit homes) come in a wide array of styles and layouts — including a new wave of clean, modernist designs. And since they're usually more affordable than traditional “stick-built” homes, buyers can get more for their money. Click for Complete Story
Spitzer's: Reduce Property Taxes $1.5 Billion
Highlights of New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer's budget proposal for the state fiscal year that begins April 1:
The budget proposal calls for $1.5 billion in new property tax relief as the first installment on a three-year plan to reduce property taxes for middle-class homeowners by $6 billion.
Eight Ways to Transform a House
Often the perfect home is just not available at an affordable price. Learn how to take a so-so house and turn it into a fabulous home.
To do this we need to go deeper than simply updating finishes or increasing square footage. We must think about how the structure shapes the feelings and experience of its inhabitants. In the words of Winston Churchill, "We shape our buildings, and afterwards our buildings shape us." When a house has design flaws, we know intuitively that it does not feel right. On the other hand, a well designed house can make us feel inspired, enriched, and touched by a sense of order.
7 Tips for Buying New Construction
New home communities are more popular than ever! With good reason - new home builders are using popular, open floor-plans, including appliances, sod, and blinds, and helping make it easier than ever to get into a new home with little or no money. New home transactions typically seem a lot easier, as well. If a buyer chose to, they could get through a new home transaction without contacting anyone except the on-site sales agent! However, this would open you up to HUGE losses. Take these simple steps to protect yourself in a new home transaction, and to ensure that yours is a success.
Cost versus Value
Making Home Improvements Pay
Prices for most remodeling jobs continue to climb while the recoup value of improvements at resale is declining to the levels last seen in 2002.
Download a free copy of Remodeling Magazine's 2006 report on 25 common improvements for our market (NY, NJ, PA)
Click to download Remodeling Magazine's article
Market Update
Market Statistics as of Feb. 1, 2007
This graph represents average sale versus list prices
The above graphs indicates that both the average list price and sale price for the month of January 2007 (red circle) significantly exceeds both the 2005 and 2006 list versus sale prices for the same period.
Oh well, so much for a balanced market for '07. The only good news for buyers in this data is that the spread between the list price and sale price is much greater than in the last five years. This means that sellers are asking more but not quite getting it. Sellers received
96.48% of their asking price in January '07. Homes are staying on the market for an average of 81 days.
Looks like it's going to be another tough market with no end to the escalation in sight. The best course is to act quickly on listings emailed from the FIRST LOOK system and get out to see the new listings ASAP. The good ones will again go in a matter of a day or two. If you have not registered your home needs with FIRST LOOK just click here.
Buyers Get a Break finally!
National Association of Realtors chief economist David Lereah predicts the coming market in 2007.
It should be noted that his report covers the entire country. The market downturn experienced by many over-priced U.S. markets never materialized here, as is apparent from the market statistics above.
Click to download Free 2007 market forecast
Mortgage Rates and Trends
We've been asked to provide overall mortgage rate information and trends for New York. Happy to do so. However, each lender has their own specific programs intended to provide a better fit for the borrower. In other words, you can do better than the averages by shopping around.
