Dix Hills Blog and Long Island Living » Cheryl Grossman

The Greens Weekly Market Report March 15-21, 2009

cgrossman — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 00:27:35 +0000

This is the first of weekly reports for The Greens of Half Hollow, Melville, NY that will be posted on my blog. A 1st Quarter, 2009 Report will be posted early April. Data from both the LI Multiple Listing Service and deed recordings will be used for these reports. The Greens Weekly Market Report March 15-21, 2009

Please contact me at Cheryl@LIagent.com with any questions or for more information.

Tips for the First-Time Homebuyer!

cgrossman — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 02:50:24 +0000

If you’re thinking about buying a home, you’re in luck! Along with selling prices that are now at 2003-2004 levels and the Tax Credit for qualified buyers, the timing is right to purchase a home! “The Federal Reserve is going to extraordinary lengths to push down long-term interest rates, including home-mortgage rates. But those hoping mortgage rates will fall sharply from current levels, already historically low, may be disappointed.” - Wall Street Journal, March 20, 1009

Financing:

2009 $8000 Tax Credit for 1^st-Time Home Buyers

10% of Purchase Price (up to $8000)

Must meet qualifications for modified adjusted gross income -maximum up to

$75,000-$95,000 (single tax filers) phase-out ranges

$150,000-$170,000 (joint tax filers) phase-out range

Must purchase home between January 1, 2009 and December 1, 2009

Must be a 1^st-Time Home Buyer (not owned a primary residence for 3-years prior)

Must live in home for 3 years.

Tax Credit is Refundable and does not need to be paid back

NAHB has more detailed information about the Tax Credit. Information about New York State programs for 1^st-Time Home Buyers including SONYMA mortgage programs and Home Ownership Assistance for NY State and Long Island. How Much Can You Afford? Before you start your home search you need to find out how much you can afford and then obtain a Mortgage Pre-Approval Letter. A Mortgage Calculator will show you how much you’ll pay each month.

Choosing a Home – Confused by the process of buying a home? Not sure what you can afford? When selecting a home that will hold its value – What should you look for?

Cheryl’s Buyers Guide explains the buying process and includes worksheets and Scorecards for rating homes that you view. First Place Buyers Guide at HGTV’s FrontDoor web site has a range of information for buyers. HUD discusses a step-by-step process to purchasing a homeMortgage rates are the lowest they’ve been since the 1950s.

For help with your home search, Contact the Cheryl Grossman Team for a personal consultation at CGTeam@CherylGrossman.com. More information for Buyers is on my web site: www.LIagent.com.

Dix Hills and Melville, SD#5 Weekly Real Estate Update

cgrossman — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 20:34:02 +0000

Dix Hills and Melville, Half Hollow Hills, SD#5 Real Estate Statistics for the week, March 7-15.

At this date, there currently are 171 Homes Available For Sale in Dix Hills and 58 in Melville. The Median Listing Price for Dix Hills is $799,000 and $914,000 for Melviille. Four homes entered Under Contract this week and three Closed for Dix Hills and Melville. 25 homes have Closed and 29 entered Under Contract (6 of those have Closed) since January 1, 2009. 18 homes came on the market this week. For the full report in a .pdf format see Cheryl Grossman’s Weekly Housing Report 3/7 to 3/15/09. You will find also the street addresses of the homes that went into contract with listing prices and the ones that sold with both listing prices and selling prices.

For more information and any questions you may have, please contact Cheryl at cheryl@liagent.com or 631-549-1993.

A glimpse of Old Dix Hills!

cgrossman — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 00:25:11 +0000

How many times have you driven on Caledonia Road and realized that early in the 20^th century this same road wound past a huge estate on one side and large farms on the other? Or as you drive past Half Hollow Hills HS East or Dix Hills Park visualized Vanderbilt and his peers in their motor cars “racing” on the old Vanderbilt Motor Parkway along this same route?

A former client, Barbara Szigeti Allen, gave some maps to me a couple of years ago when we were selling her father’s home in Dix Hills. She discovered these maps of “Old Dix Hills” at The Huntington Historical Society. It’s really fun to locate your house on a map and see what your neighborhood was like in earlier times.

The 1917 Map of Dix Hills shows the Gould Estate and some of the buildings there. You still can find vestiges of the old estate around the area. A gatehouse on Wolf Hill Road is now a private residence and was on the market 3 years ago.

Of interest on the 1944 Hagstrom Map of Dix Hills are some large plots have been subdivided for housing, the Northern State Parkway is shown, and the area is designated as Dix Hills. Half Hollow Hills as an area is noted on both maps.

Dix Hills, Melville, SD#5 – 2008 Housing Market Report

cgrossman — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 23:34:46 +0000

2008 and 2007 Under Contract Stats

Chart 1 – Comparison of 2008 and 2007 Homes that entered Under Contract (UC) during each year. The numbers of homes UC is almost the same for each year – 3 more in 2008. The Median Listing Prices and Selling Prices are lower in 2008.

Comparison of 2008 and 2007 Homes Under Contract

Chart 2 – Comparison of Number of Homes entered Under Contract by Month -Tracked for 2008 and 2007.

2008-2007 Number of Homes Under Contract

Cheryl Grossman’s Dix Hills, Melville, SD#5 Housing Market Report for 2008 in .pdf format. SD#5 is Half Hollow Hills School District.

Chart 3 – Comparison of 2008 and 2007 Sold Homes (Those that Closed, regardless of when they were entered Under Contract). Sales numbers are slightly higher for 2008 than 2007. Listing Prices and Selling Prices are lower in 2008.

Sold Stats for 2008-2007

Chart 4 – Number of Homes Sold (Closed) by Month tracked for 2008 and 2007.

Number of Home Sales by Month for 2008-2007

Chart 5-2008 Market Data for Dix Hills, Melville, Half Hollow Hills School District #5 – Real Estate Listing Prices compared to Selling Prices at time of sale. What was the percent difference between the Median Listing Prices of Homes Closed (Sold) and Median Selling Prices of Sold (Closed) Homes.

Chart 6 – Dix Hills, Melville, SD#5 – Comparison of 2008 Quarterly Stats of Sold Homes and the Median Original Listing Price, the Listing Price at Time of Contract and the Median Selling Price at Closing.

2008 Quarterly Stats

Summary: Prices have come down, but some of the price change is due to the active sales in the more moderate price ranges. Sales Numbers are almost the same. Cheryl Grossman’s 2008 Housing Market Report in a .pdf format. Data for this report is from the LI Multiple Listing Service. If you have any questions, please contact me at cheryl@liagent.com.

Dix Hills & Melville, SD#5, Jan.1 to Mar. 6, 2009 Market Report

cgrossman — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 03:41:34 +0000

Dix Hills, Melville, SD#5 1.1.09 to 3.6.09 Housing Prices

Total # Available Homes on 3.6.09 – 218. January 1 to March 6, 2009 Total # of Houses Entered Under Contract: 26. Total # of Closed Homes; 22

Above Chart compares Numbers of Houses Available, Entered Under Contract and Closed within each price range during the January 1-March 6, 2009 time period.

Chart Below compares Median Listing Price for Available Homes and Homes Under Contract. Median Selling Price is shown for Houses Closed (Sold) Homes all during the 1.1.09 to 3.6.09 time period. Cheryl Grossman’s Dix Hills-Melville, SD#5, JAN 1 to MAR 6 Market Report in .pdf format. SD#5 is the Half Hollow Hills School District.

Dix Hills-Melville, SD#5, Housing Prices Jan 1-Mar 6,2009

Snowing in Dix Hills!

cgrossman — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 19:35:59 +0000

March roared into Dix Hills and has dumped about 12 inches of snow by midday! My husband was touring the neighborhood on his cross-country skis and took a couple of photos from our street in Dix Hills.

Neighbor with snowblower

Our Mailbox

Enjoy the day! Cheryl

Cheryl’s January Mailing to Dix Hills Neighborhood

cgrossman — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 01:00:01 +0000

This letter just went out to about 1800 neighbors in Dix Hills along with a magnet calendar. If you would like a calendar please email me at cheryl@liagent.com or call me at 631-549-1993. Note the Free Offer for 2-hour Home Staging for new listings!

Town of Huntington Housing Market Report

cgrossman — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 02:25:46 +0000

Current Housing Market Stats for the Town of Huntington

Inventory numbers are about the same between September, 2008 and 2007. The Median Listing Price is exactlythe same. And it is a positive sign that the months’ supply of inventory is down for 2008 (the number of months it would take to sell all the houses currently on the
market).

The number of homes that entered Under Contract is higher in Sept. 08 than 07 and the Median Contract Price (the listing price at the time of contract) is lower in Sept. 08 than Sept. 07. The number of houses which Closed in September (some entered into contract months earlier) is higher in Sept. 08 but the Median Selling Price is considerably lower in Sept. 08 than in Sept. 07.

The percentage reduced between the CV to IV -
Contract Value (Median Listing Price at time of contract) to
Inventory Value (Median Listing Price of Available Listings). The ratios are higher in Sept. 2008 for both the Median Original Listing Price to the Median Selling Price and the spread between the Median Listing Price (Available Listings) and the Selling Price of Closed Listings. The Closed Median Price reflects a huge range of selling prices from a high of $3,625,000 to a low of $140,000.

Summary of Sept, YTD 2008-2007 Housing Stats

A comparison of the 2008 YTD (January to September) Summary with the 2007 stats shows a common pattern. There is a large range between the number of Available Listings and the number of houses that are Under Contract. Only 1 in 4 to 5 homes sell.

3rd Quarter Housing Stats 2008-2007

Comparison of 2008 and 2007 3rd Quarter Housing Stats for Town of Huntington. Data from Long Island Multiple Listing Service, compiled by Cheryl Grossman

Dix Hills Blog Real Estate Market Update, Sept. 2008

cgrossman — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 03:20:33 +0000

Every day the financial reports seem to be worse than the day before. At times it appears as if there is no good news to be found about our economy, housing and financial institutions. However, the housing market has some encouraging reports. Yes. Prices have dropped – but the charts below show the steady growth of housing appreciation and the value of real estate over the long term.

Chart 1: Return on Investment, by Steve Harney, Keeping Current Matters.

Source: Brookings Papers, 9/08.

Since 1980, nationally, the rate of appreciation for real estate has shown a steady increase in 5-year increments. The huge bubble from 2000 to 2006 was unsustainable and unrealistic.

Chart 2: % Appreciation, SteveHarney, Keeping Current Matters.

Source: S&P/Case-Shiller Report

The black line represents an investment made in each category in January, 2000 and what your return on that investment would be September, 2008.

Are we at the bottom yet? Frank Blake, CEO, Home Depot states in the Wall Street Journal, 9/3/08, “We don’t think we’re at the bottom yet, but we think you can see it from here.” In the WSJ on 8/12/08, economist Karl Case of Wellesley (the ‘Case’ in the widely followed S&P/Case-Shiller index of U.S. housing prices) says that he thinks the housing market may be near a bottom. Positive news from reputable sources!

And what about mortgage rates… According to Bankrate.com, a national survey of large lenders indicates that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell to 6.19 percent this week. “While mortgage rates continue to fluctuate, they remain well off their midsummer highs and are considerably lower than they were one year ago." Freddie Mac reported that 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 5.94% last week! With the lower mortgage rates and the price reductions in the housing market this is an optimum time to buy a house. It’s true that banks are more stringent on their requirements, including larger down-payments, documented assets and good credit scores. But FHA loans are available for buyers that can’t meet those bench-marks – but are still credit-worthy and meet their guidelines. Read “What can I afford?” to find mortgage contact information.