A report from Yahoo Finance on New York. “After years of inventory stockpiles and dropping prices, Manhattan’s luxury real estate market is selling at record-low prices. The threshold for a sale to be considered ‘luxury’ dropped 6.1% to $3,816,835 in the fourth quarter 2019 — the lowest threshold since 2013, according to Streeteasy. New York is an ‘honest market,’ said Kelly Killoren Bensimon, a luxury real estate broker at Douglas Elliman and a former star of Bravo’s realty TV show The Real Housewives of New York. ‘People are having bidding wars because the prices are right. The sellers are selling at [a] great price, the buyers are buying at [a] great price.’”
The New York Post. “That’s quite the haircut. A court ruling this past week could lead to a dramatic trimming of the nearly completed 200 Amsterdam Avenue, currently the tallest tower on the Upper West Side standing at 668 feet. If it holds, 20 stories or more could have to be removed–nearly half of the 55-story condo tower–according to an estimate from the attorney representing the plaintiffs. ‘It’s probably about half the building that has to come down. That’s the best estimate so far,’ said the attorney, Richard Emery. ‘This is a blasting horn to the finance people who are putting money into buildings … lenders and developers are in a less secure position now when they dive into a challenging project.’”
From Patch Warminster in Pennsylvania. “A lifestyle of Hollywood glamour right here in Warminster has gotten hundreds of thousands of dollars cheaper. The price of a 12,000-square-foot mansion built for a celebrity in 1989 has dropped $700,000 from when it first hit the market in September. Its most recent listing prices the 7-bedroom, 6-bath mansion on Beverly Hills Road at $2,695,000. Its original list price was $3,395,000.”
From Arlington Now in Virginia. “You can’t time most markets and the housing market is no exception. What you can do is always properly prepare your house, and price your home to sell, not sit. Days on market are your friend when the count is low, specifically three weeks or less. Once it creeps past a few weeks, buyers begin to see your home as stale inventory and think they can get a discount. This happens — even here in Arlington!”
“Our market still operates with an overlay of general caution and a fear of overpaying; caution is not totally thrown to the wind. Buyers know what a home is worth; while they may be willing to overpay slightly, even that has its limits.”
The Business Insider on California. “A Victorian in San Francisco’s Castro District looks like a dream, but buyers weren’t interested at the price the seller was asking. It was purchased in 2014 for a $1.5 million, and underwent a total renovation, Curbed reported. It first went back on the market a year ago, asking $11.85 million, but when no buyers came along, it quietly left the market, only to come back with an $8.5 million price tag.”
The Review Journal in Nevada. “The Summerlin home of Golden Knights owner Bill Foley ranked as the third most expensive single-family home sold in Las Vegas in 2019. The two-story home at 19 Flying Cloud Lane in The Ridges in Summerlin sold in December for $6.5 million and was originally listed for $9.5 million. 1198 MacDonald Ranch Drive in MacDonald Highlands in Henderson sold for $7 million after originally being listed for $11.5 million. 15 Flying Cloud Lane in The Ridges in Summerlin. It sold for $6.35 million after originally being listed for $8.9 million. It was built in 2018.”
“59 Promontory Ridge in The Ridges in Summerlin sold for $6.25 million after being listed for $7.9 million. 8101 Obannon Drive, north of Sahara Avenue near South Cimarron Road, sold for $6 million after originally listed for $10.5 million. 1353 Dilevante Drive in Seven Hills in Henderson for $5.6 million after originally listed for $5.97 million. 1210 MacDonald Ranch Drive in MacDonald Highlands in Henderson for $5.4 million after originally listed for $6.99 million. It’s a Silver Nugget award winner for Custom Home of the Year in 2018 and was built in 2017 by Sun West Homes.”
From WFAA in Texas. “The luxury residential sector in Dallas has swung to a buyer’s market, according to Erin Mathews, an agent who sells high-end homes with Dallas-based brokerage Allie Beth Allman & Associates. ‘For about the last three years, the high-end market has remained about the same in my view,’ Mathews said. ‘It’s not bad. It’s just a bit stagnant. We’re not seeing a tremendous amount of growth.’”
“Tom Hughes, a founding agent at Compass Real Estate in Dallas, said a lack of inventory is the biggest problem that agents face now in Highland Park, University Park, and Preston Hollow. The supply of homes in those places is hovering around six months, which is more supply than two years ago, but lower than last year, he said. ‘The inventory is an issue,’ he said.”
From Money.com. “With millions of Americans facing financial burdens like student loans and high rents, saving up to make the traditional 20% down payment on a first home can be daunting. There’s good news for prospective home owners: You don’t need to do it. Nearly half of renters said they believe they need at least a 20% down payment to buy a house, according to Bank of America’s 2018 Homebuyer Insights Report, despite the fact that the government and most housing experts disagree.”
“‘There’s a prevailing thought out there that you need to put 20% down in order to purchase a home, which is absolutely not the case,’ says Todd Sheinin, a loan officer at Homespire Mortgage in Gaithersburg, Md.”
“Nationally more than half of recent home buyers said they put down less than 20% on a mortgage, according to Zillow. In addition, a December survey by the National Association of Realtors found that 76% of first-time buyers put down less than 20%.”
“Before 2013 you needed to make at least a 5% down payment to qualify for a conventional mortgage — a loan not backed by a special government program — but that changed when Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac rolled out the Conventional 97 loan program. ‘These loans were started as first-time home buyer loans, but now they’re available to all home buyers,’ says Sheinin.”
“Conventional 97 loans allow you to put 3% down on a home. You’ll need a credit score of at least 620 to qualify. The U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs offers VA loans that give active or retired military — or a veteran’s surviving spouse — the ability to buy a home with no money down. Moreover, ‘VA loans have phenomenal interest rates and flexible lending guidelines,’ Sheinin says. Although the VA does not set a minimum credit score, most VA mortgage lenders require you to have a score of at least 580. The caveat? VA loans require you to cover a funding fee of 2.3% of your loan, which can be paid either upfront or it can be rolled into your mortgage payments.”
“Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans were created for low- and moderate-income households that would otherwise be locked out of the housing market, says Keith Gumbinger, vice president at a mortgage information website. They require a minimum down payment of 3.5% and a minimum credit score of 580, but borrowers with a credit score of 500 to 579 can qualify by making a 10% down payment.”
“Geared toward low-income home buyers, U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development (USDA) loans are offered to home buyers in select towns with populations of 10,000 or less. They offer competitive interest rates and allow for down payments as low as 0%.”
“Have a medical degree? You may qualify for a low-interest physician loan (also referred to as a ‘doctor loan’) that allows you to make a down payment as low as 0% (loans above $750,000 require a low down payment) and doesn’t require you to pay mortgage insurance. Another perk: unlike with a conventional loan, student loan payments that are in deferment do not affect whether you qualify for a physician loan.”
“Still don’t have enough cash socked away for a down payment? You may qualify for a down payment assistance program that will provide you money to cover a portion, or potentially all, of your down payment. These programs are available at the local, state, and federal levels. There are more than 2,500 programs nationwide, so your best approach is to have your mortgage lender help you assess your options and eligibility.”