Tag Archive for: real estate

ReCap of 2012 New Canaan Real Estate Sales

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Happy New Year and welcome to a chilly New England week. After putting away the Christmas decorations and already breaking those New Years food resolutions I finally had a chance to look at the numbers for the 2012 New Canaan real estate market.

New Canaan real estate ended on a strong note with a higher than usual number of closings in November and December. The so called “fiscal cliff” and threats of higher taxes prompted buyers and sellers to seal their deals by December 31st.  All in all, we closed about the same number of properties in 2012 as we did in 2011. There is still a demand for new construction and 18 lots sold to make way for new homes.

The hardest part for me last year was finding the right house for a buyer ready to purchase.  There simply were not enough choices. Many homes had offers as soon as they were listed (read, they were priced right) and only a 140 single family homes were put on the market.

More numbers will follow. From all the signs it looks like we will have an upswing in the spring market. So what are you waiting for?

 

Mortgage Refis Surge in New Canaan Market

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Increased demand for safe haven investments, driven by worries over the European debt crisis, have pushed yields down. Mortgage rates continue to hold at near record lows and homeowners are rushing to refinance their mortgages.

Rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 3.78 percent with an average 0.8 point for the week ending May 24, down from 3.79 percent last week and 4.6 percent a year ago, Freddie Mac said in releasing the results of its latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey. That’s a new low in Freddie Mac records dating to 1971.

For 15-year fixed-rate mortgages — a popular option for refinancing — rates averaged 3.04 percent with an average 0.7 point, unchanged from last week but down from 3.78 percent a year ago. Rates on 15-year loans have never been lower in records dating to 1991.

The Mortgage Bankers Association is projecting “lower U.S. mortgage rates for the rest of the year and raising our refinance forecast as a result.”

With low rates generating another wave of refinancing, tight lending standards are keeping a lid on the demand. Working with a qualified mortgage broker will help you through the maze of restrictions and thus getting you the best loan to suit your needs.

Source: Inman News

Information contained herein is deemed reliable but is not guaranteed and should be independently verified. 
Wendy Dixon Fog specializes in New Canaan real estate, a top listing and top selling agent assisting buyers and sellers throughout the area. access the MLS, receive a free home evaluation, and subscribe to daily home listings updates . call or text 203.979-6277, email wendy@wendyfog.com

We all need a little extra room.

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After being cooped up indoors all winter, my soul screams for fresh air, sunshine and dining under the night sky. Walking outside with a cup of coffee and settling into a cushioned seat to enjoy the early morning quiet, or sitting around a dining table under a wisteria laden pergola with a few good friends, these are some of the treasures and simple pleasures of outdoor living.

More and more people are retreating to their backyards and creating multipurpose outside living areas as extensions of their homes. Owners, architects and designers are incorporating all the comforts and luxuries of the indoor rooms into these exterior spaces.

An outdoor room is defined by having a floor, which can be as simple as grass, pebbles or flagstone; walls can be made up of plant material or stone or wood structures; and a ceiling can be comprised of a pergola or canopy of a tree. It can be a destination, or a retreat just outside your kitchen. It’s all in the imagination.

Adding an outdoor living “room” is an important investment in your property and, more importantly, an investment in your own wellbeing and happiness.

Down the Garden Path in New Canaan

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Good landscape design is not just about plants. What makes a garden beautiful and memorable is a sense of mystery. Nothing does that better than a meandering path. It hints at the unknown, luring you forward and creating an atmosphere of serenity and reflection. You’ve done it yourself; walked a lawn or meadow and you see a path, around a tree or through an arch, gently curving away from you. Suddenly,without thinking, you find yourself taking the path with an irresistible impulse to see where it goes. Paths are for wandering and contemplating, sauntering really. This is when you notice a small fern popping through the under story, or an errant rose having migrated to a new spot.

There is no end to the imagination in creating a path; shells, stones, grass, flagstone, ceramics, wood chips..the list is vast. They can be whimsical and fanciful, functional and handy, elegant and stylish, small or grand.  They can end at a beach, a garden sculpture, a bench or a water feature. Or they can end up back from where you started. The curves should be gentle and undulating with plant material sited to hide what is just around the corner. Formal gardens rely on symmetry and straighter lines. But for me, I like to take a hint from Mother Nature. There are no straight lines in the natural world.

There is a certain poetry to a path and one should be incorporated into every garden, regardless of size..

 

Home Sweet…. Whatever

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Adding an addition to my own home sent me to the internet for ideas. Typing in the words sustainability and recycling materials sent me down a few rabbit holes….see for yourself.

It seems Francie Rehwald wanted a home with curvilinear, feminine shapes for a 55-acre property in the Malibu, Calif., hills that overlooks a mountain range, a valley, and the Pacific Ocean. In fulfilling her dream, architect David Hertz designed “Wing House” … and recycled a Boeing 747-200 to do so.

According to an article by Susan Galleymore:  “That airplane was selected from among the hundreds of retired airplanes that sit in California’s deserts. They are typically sold for the price of aluminum. This purchase — an aircraft measuring more than 230 feet long, 195 feet wide and 63 feet tall, with more than 17,000 cubic feet of cargo area — cost less than $50,000 dollars.

All of the structures on Rehwald’s property incorporate components and pieces of that aircraft. Both main wings and two stabilizers from the tail section — more than 2,500 square feet to scale — make up the roof for the master bedroom.

A fire pit and water element are constructed out of the engine cowling. A separate art studio uses a 50-foot-long section of the upper fuselage as a roof. The roof of the guesthouse incorporates the remaining front portion of the fuselage, and upper first-class cabin deck.

The lower half of the fuselage and cargo hold forms an animal barn, while a separate meditation pavilion made from the entire front of the airplane is 28 feet in diameter and 45 feet tall — the cockpit forms a skylight.”

The trend in recycling structures not traditionally considered “real estate” spans the gamut from residences to restaurants to luxury hotels and is not limited to airplanes — it also includes shipping containers, retired railroad cars and locomotives, among other creative conversions.

Even Bob Villa has gotten into the act, posting on his website an article about how to transform shipping containers into Home Sweet Container.… “Steel shipping container homes, also called storage container homes, offer a fast, green, and sustainable approach to building. These inter-modal steel building units (ISBUs) are manufactured in a factory-controlled environment so they are standardized and reliable. They can be used to build an average-sized home with almost no wood.”

You can use four 40x8x8-foot ISBUs laid side-by-side to create a three-bedroom, 1,280-square-foot home without a hint of its original corrugated-steel exterior or get creative with unconventional shapes and layouts.

Speaking of unconventional shapes: people have been thinking outside the box for years when it comes to their own abode…consider the Mushroom House in Ohio or the Bubble House in Cannes, France. All over the world there are some interesting and strange dwellings. Just remember, Falling Water by Frank Lloyd Wright was once considered bizarre. For other interesting and whimsical homes visit http://www.oddee.com/item_96556.aspx

Wonder what our Planning and Zoning Department would think about some of these….

Information contained herein is deemed reliable but is not guaranteed and should be independently verified. 
Wendy Dixon Fog specializes in New Canaan real estate, a top listing and top selling agent assisting buyers and sellers throughout the area. Access the MLS, receive a free home evaluation, and subscribe to daily home listings updates . Call or text 203.979-6277, email wendy@wendyfog.com

The State of the New Canaan Real Estate Market / a Snapshot of 2011

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First let me thank all of my clients who ventured into the local real estate market in 2011. It is a joy and a privilege working with such wonderful people who honored me with multiple closings including the listing and selling of one of New Canaan’s landmark homes in less than a week. I appreciate all your referrals and business.

This past year was the second straight year of modest improvement for New Canaan real estate. While we are not back to our 2006 highs, we have experienced two consecutive years of volume and price appreciation.

The real estate market has stabilized.  We are getting more of the distressed properties sold and out of the bank system. It was predicted that Shadow Inventory (foreclosed or ready for foreclosure homes) would flood the market. Well, it never happened. Foreclosure filings in Connecticut dropped sharply in 2011 compared with the previous year, plunging 48%, according to RealtyTrac.

New Canaan saw year over year increases in every category, a trend suggesting a growing optimism on the part of buyers and sellers for 2012 market conditions. Here are some important numbers for the past year:

2011 Single Family Homes:

Median Price: $1.60 million as compared to $1.46 million in 2010, up 9.4 %

Average Price: $1.90 million as compared to $1.69 million in 2010, up 11.9%

Homes Sold: 214 homes sold in 2011 as compared to 195 a year ago, up 9.7%

Absorption Rate: 10.7 months of inventory compared to 15.38, an improvement of 30.4%

Active Inventory: 207 houses for sale compared to 236 a year ago, an improvement of 12%

 

2011 Condominiums:

Median Price: $657,000 as compared to $595,000 in 2010, up 12 %

Average Price: $711,000 as compared to $656,000 in 2010, up 8.2%

Condos Sold: 62 condos sold in 2011 as compared to 39 a year ago, up 59%

Absorption Rate: 7.88 months of inventory compared to 21.94, an improvement of 64%

2011 Land Sales:

Perhaps the most dramatic increase has come in the market for land sales, again indicating an increased optimism on the part of builders and their customers.

The median sale price for the 3 lots sold in 2010 was $1,025,000.  For 2011 the median price fell 31% to $700,000 and builders did respond, buying 19 lots this past year, an increase of 533% in volume.  New construction activity has picked up as a result; builders are buying land at a cost that makes sense to build, primarily midrange homes.

The rental market has improved. The absorption rate for rentals has dropped from 7.4 months to 4.1 months. That is how long the current inventory of properties would last at the current rate of sales. The number of rentals closed in 2011 increased 16.5% to 120 from 103.  And while the average rental price has increased 40% to $3550, the median rental price has increased 162% to $4200.  The rental market tells us a good deal about the broader market. The reduction in the rental inventory and higher rental rates is due to a number of reasons; tighter lending requirements, people’s damaged credit, loss of equity hence the inability to produce a down payment, job insecurity and the continued lack of confidence in the overall economy. For some it is a wait and see before purchasing.

The rental market is starting to produce much better cash flow and investors are actively purchasing more rental real estate.

Interest rates broke their historical lows of 2004-2005. The rates on average are about .5% to .75% below last year rates. A sample of rates as of first week of November 2011 with zero points: Loans under $417K=3.87% (conforming loans). Loans between $417K to $625K=4% (this is the new Jumbo conforming) Loans above $625K=4.5% (this is Jumbo loans). $729K  is no longer the jumbo loan limit.

This year was a much better year than last year and we expect it to continue to get even better next year.  The reason?  We’re experiencing an improving economy, low interest rates and an upcoming presidential election. Historically, presidential elections bring about increased real estate activity, and coupled with low interest rates and increasing consumer confidence, it will help the New Canaan market to continue to grow in the coming year.

Finally, it is always important to bear in mind that in real estate there are neither “good” nor “bad” markets.   The market is simply the market and value is ultimately a function of supply and demand.  In the current market cycle, as we see an alignment between the expectations of buyers and sellers, the statistics are encouraging.  But while statistics provide a snapshot of the marketplace there is no substitute for the full picture.   For reports like this throughout the year come visit my website, https://wendyfog.com  and please call me.

Wishing you and your family a prosperous 2012!

 

Tag Archive for: real estate