Weekly Roundup: All-cash offers, reality dust-up, high annual sales growth, no-doc loans, Newtown resiliency, worst investments, housing ‘haze’

April transaction volume in Manhattan beats year earlier by 24 percent as supply finally starts to rise

Rent board preliminarily approves annual increase of at least 3.25 percent for one-year lease

Winning offers at even lower levels more likely than ever to be all cash

State passes overhaul of broker advertising rules

Tribulations of being co-op board president range from thanklessness to threats of bodily harm

Unnamed developer hopes to create ‘Astoria Cove’ in Hallets Point

City fines agents who advertise, show illegal apartments for rent

FEMA interprets law in way that prevents financial aid to co-ops for Sandy damage

New design fair next week to focus on 20th- and 21st-century material

Real estate reality TV proves to be a messy business

All the rooms fit to fill sell for $12.5 million

Yankees outfielder renting penthouse on Central Park North for $23,500. . . a month

Jane proposes plain house you power with muscle

Pending home sales exceed last year by 7 percent, February by 1.5 percent

Even in cities with hot market, numerous homes languish with no takers

LPS records slight price rise from January to February, 7.3 percent from previous year

But Case-Shiller puts the increase at 9.3 percent, highest annual growth rate in seven years

And the Wall Street Journal discusses five takeaways

Orlando tops list of 25 markets where flipping has returned biggest profits

Lenders venture back into subprime market

Interest rates hover near all-time lows

Retirees find pristine credit history, healthy pension accounts not enough for lenders seeking consistent monthly income

Who claims the mortgage interest deduction?

No-doc loans in Manhattan headed toward extinction

Refi activity up, purchase activity down

Rate of ‘serious’ delinquency slips in March

Banks, employers offering financial help more frequently to jumbo-mortgage borrowers

Company paid to protect, repair abandoned properties in foreclosure receives rampant complaints of thefts, break-ins

Rebounding condo market in Miami stokes building boom

Spending on residential construction ticks above March level

What do millennials want in a new home anyway?

Chinese now second-largest group of foreigners buying homes in the U.S., and not just as investors

Newtown, Conn. market proving resilient after Sandy Hook

Rental listing scam hits Zillow, imperils agent

Could Bitcoin-only SoHo listing be marketing ploy?

Housing’s rebound results in increasing number of ‘pocket listings’

Six of worst real estate investments include anything that doesn’t generate rental income

Some buyers prefer slice of history

Extreme energy efficiency moving mainstream, becoming standard practice for large home builders (see Jane above)

Mold remediation costs Virginia couple $500,000

Tumbling prices lure foreign buyers to Buenos Aires

Apps offer quick, powerful way to indulge home design fantasies

Consider safety, time, hidden costs before beginning do-it-yourself home project

And that’s not all, says New York Times reporter who writes winningly about tiling bathroom floor himself

Before entering roommate situation, it’s important to organize belongings and thoughts

Spring is perfect time for apartment dwellers to gloat about work facing owners of single-family homes

Expanding clutch of homeowners embrace wandering seams of Bolefloor floors made in Estonia

Humble twig finding its way into high-end lighting, suggesting rustic luxury

Homeownership rate falls to lowest level since 1995

Home buyers will pay premium to live near open, undeveloped land

Housing ‘haze is very thick,” says Shiller, declining to prognosticate because of numerous variables

President of mortgage banker group predicts credit to get tighter before easier

You have the option to search privately for all New York City properties here, though I encourage you to be in touch with me for assistance and advice. You also may want to see my critiques of properties that I visit in Out and About, which I post on Mondays or Tuesdays.

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Malcolm Carter
Licensed Associate Real Estate Broker
Senior Vice President
Charles Rutenberg Realty
127 E. 56th Street
New York, NY 10022

M: 347-886-0248
F: 347-438-3201

Malcolm@ServiceYouCanTrust.com
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