NAR Report: Housing Shortage Hampers Existing Home Sales in January

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) released their January 2018 report which indicates that housing supply is still affecting existing-home sales nationwide.  For the second month in a row, existing home sales which are completed transactions that include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops has gone down by 3.2% in January to a seasonally adjusted annual figure of 5.38 million units.  Overall sales are down 4.8% year to year which is the largest decline since 2014.

The main factor for the decline in the sale of homes during this period continues to be the lack of supply.  Lawrence Yun, chief economist for NAR states “The utter lack of sufficient housing supply and its influence on higher home prices muted overall sales activity in much of the U.S. last month.  While the good news is that realtor in most areas are saying buyer traffic is even stronger than the beginning of last year, sales failed to follow course and far lagged last January’s pace. It’s very clear that too many markets right now are becoming less affordable and desperately need more new listings to calm the speedy price growth.”

The numbers clearly show that house prices are becoming less affordable as the median existing home price increased to $240,500.  This is a 5.8% increase from the same period last year ($227,300).  Housing inventory overall increased this month 4.1% to 1.52 million homes but is still down 9.5% from a year ago.

In the Northeast, sales were down 7.6% from a year ago and decreased by 1.4% for the month.  The project annual rate of sales is 730,000.   Median purchase price in the region was $269,100.  This is an increase of 6.8% from January 2017.

 Blue Harbour Property Management is a full service NYC property management company servicing the boroughs of Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan and the Bronx.  Whether it be a 1 bedroom condo or multi-family building we are able to assist our clients maximize their investments.

http://www.blueharbourpropertymanagement.com/nar-report-housing-shortage-hampers-existing-home-sales-january/

Bronx Tenants Will Be First To Benefit From Timely Payment of Rents Being Reported To Credit Bureau

As we have previously reported, the City Comptroller Scott Stringer wanted to initiate a program that would encourage landlords and NYC property management companies to give tenants the ability to opt into allowing their rent payments be reported in order to boost their credit scores.  Well it looks like a pilot program will indeed start soon.  The program which is being being called "Making Rent Count" will begin with the eligibility of up to 600 tenants and 27 buildings in the South Bronx.   The placement of the pilot program in the South Bronx neighborhood  is of significance as up to forty percent (40%) of individuals living in the area never had a credit score or are attempting to re-establish their failing credit.

The Banana Kelly Community Improvement Association is a not for profit developer that owns the buildings involved in the pilot program.  They will report the timely rents to the credit bureaus should the tenants elect to participate.  Stringer stated “We’re facing an affordability crisis, and we all know how soaring prices and sky-high rents make life difficult for New Yorkers across the five boroughs. One of the hidden roadblocks to financial success is credit – and access to it. This innovative new program empowers tenants, helps level the playing field."

As we have noted, people with bad credit face enormous challenges with obtaining favorable financing or do not qualify at all for loans.  They also have to pay higher car insurance premiums and have difficulties obtaining jobs and housing if a credit report is needed.   Banana Kelly's President  Harold DeRienzo said “Too many of our residents and members are forced to pay inappropriate, even predatory, premiums for consumer goods and services that have become basic necessities in life.  These costs place our residents at a disadvantage in so many aspects of daily life – applying for an apartment, applying for a job, buying a cell phone, entering into service contracts, and the list goes on.”  He is hoping this new program will assist his tenants being upwardly mobile financially.

According to the release, Comptroller Stringer is also urging further steps in easing the affordability crisis with respect to housing.  His outline is as follows:

• Allowing all NYCHA residents to opt in to a credit reporting program. That could be done by expanding an existing pilot partnership NYCHA has with the Brooklyn Cooperative Federal Credit Union and Urban Upbound Federal Credit Union, which allows tenants to opt-in to report their rent payments to credit bureaus. That program could be scaled to the entire housing system.
• Exploring incorporating rent into its affordable housing programs by incentivizing and informing developers of affordable housing about ways to develop a rent-reporting program.
• Proactively using its Department of Consumer Affairs to develop credit building curriculums which assist renters considering opting into a rent reporting program.
• Implementing a number of credit related consumer protections, including adjusting credit scoring models so that credit checks undertaken by landlords on prospective tenants will not negatively impact credit scores.
• Passing legislation to require landlords who run credit checks on prospective tenants to share credit reports with the applicant and increase consumer credit education initiatives offered by the City.

 Blue Harbour Property Management is a full service NYC property management company servicing the boroughs of Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan and the Bronx.  Whether it be a 1 bedroom condo or multi-family building we are able to assist our clients maximize their investments.

http://www.blueharbourpropertymanagement.com/bronx-tenants-will-first-benefit-timely-payment-rents-reported-credit-bureau/

NYC Adds 250 Deteriorating Buildings Into Their Alternative Enforcement Program

NYC under the auspices of The Office of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) enrolled 250 buildings with roughly 4,000 apartments to its Alternative Enforcement Program (AEP).   This is the 11th year of the program where 250 buildings are placed every year for the additional scrutiny of HPD.  The buildings that are have been chosen are listed here and they house 3,970 families and have 26,301 housing code violations.  Under AEP, the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) identifies the most distressed buildings in need of repair and systems replacement, and monitors the progress of owners towards correcting Housing Maintenance Code violations or corrects the violations itself.  An official for the city also said that the program subjects the owners to fees and tougher inspections if they don't make legally mandated repairs.
Some of the violations that have been levied against the owners are based on the presence lead-based paint, lack of heat or hot water, rodent infestations, inadequate fire exits and no electricity or gas.  The violations can be fixed by the landlord or can be repaired by the city and the landlord would have to reimburse for the repairs.  According to officials the landlords already owe more than $1.5 million for repairs already made by the City.
The breakdown of the 250 buildings put into the program this year are as follows:

• Manhattan: 47 buildings/ 940 units
• The Bronx: 57 buildings/ 1,169 units
• Brooklyn: 127 buildings/ 1,435 units
• Queens: 18 buildings/ 370 units
• Staten Island: 1 building/ 56 units

Mayor deBlasio said about the AEP buildings in a statement "This kind of willful negligence puts tenants in danger. It is immoral and illegal and we will use every tool we have to go after property owners and make these buildings safe for New York families."

Housing Preservation and Development Commissioner Maria Torres-Springer stated

"HPD is working on all fronts to make sure that landlords live up to their obligations to provide tenants with the safe, quality housing that they rightfully deserve. The Alternative Enforcement Program is a powerful tool to take negligent owners to task and address systemic conditions in buildings.  I want to thank the hardworking team in HPD's Office of Enforcement and Neighborhood Services, as well as the many elected officials and community groups who partner with us to protect our city's tenants."

Having an experienced NYC property management company can assist landlords comply with violations and avoid be put on a list such as the Alternate Enforcement Program.  Blue Harbour Property Management is a full service NYC property management company servicing the boroughs of Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan and the Bronx that is one of the top property management companies assisting landlords in difficult matters.  Whether it be a 1 bedroom condo or multi-family building we are able to assist our clients maximize their investments.

http://www.blueharbourpropertymanagement.com/nyc-adds-250-deteriorating-buildings-alternative-enforcement-program/

NAR Report: Home Prices Hits All-Time High in 64 Percent of Markets; Inventory Historically Low

Home prices are now at their all-time highs in 114 out of 177 markets (64%)  measured by the  National Association of Realtors (NAR) according to their new quarterly report.   The median price for existing single-family homes the fourth quarter 2017 was $247,800.  This is an increase of 5.3 percent from fourth quarter 2016 ($235,400). The report also purports that an increase of existing home sales in the last quarter of 2017 has facilitated inventory to reach all time lows.

Existing-home sales which includes single family residences and condos/coops has  increased 4.3 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.62 million in the fourth quarter.  This is higher than the 5.55 million pace during the fourth quarter of 2016.  Also of note in the fourth quarter is that there were 1.48 million existing homes available for sale.   The meager amount is roughly 10.3 percent below the 1.65 million amount of homes available at the same time in 2016. The average supply during the fourth quarter was 3.5 months down from 4.2 months.  The general consensus is that 6 months of inventory is considered a healthy balance.

Lawrence Yun, chief economist for NAR states   "A majority of the country saw an upswing in buyer interest at the end of last year, which ultimately ended up putting even more strain on inventory levels and prices.  Remarkably, home prices have risen a cumulative 48 percent since 2011, yet during this same timeframe, incomes are up only 15 percent These consistent, multi-year price gains have certainly been great news for homeowners, and especially for those who were at one time in a negative equity situation; however, the shortage of new homes being built over the past decade is really burdening local markets and making homebuying less affordable."

In the Northeast home sales increased a significant 10.1 percent in the fourth quarter.  The median existing single-family house price in the area was $268,100 in the fourth quarter.  This is an increase of 4.2 percent from 2016 at the same time.

Blue Harbour Property Management is a full service NYC property management company servicing the boroughs of Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan and the Bronx.  Whether it be a 1 bedroom condo or multi-family building we are able to assist our clients maximize their investments.

http://www.blueharbourpropertymanagement.com/nar-report-home-prices-hits-time-high-64-percent-markets-inventory-historically-low/