Lacey Helen Blog's: June 2021

Wednesday, 30 June 2021

Why Asian American Homeownership Is Lagging Behind

Job losses during the COVID-19 pandemic and an alarming surge in hate crimes have taken a toll on Asian American homebuyers.

Only about 60.6% of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are homeowners, according to U.S. Census Bureau data used in a recent report from the Asian Real Estate Association of America. While that’s higher than other communities of color, it’s lower than the national homeownership rate of 65.6% in the first quarter of 2021. And it’s significantly lower than the white homeownership rate of 73.8%.

The report was put out by AREAA in a partnership with Re/Max and Freddie Mac.

“The challenges we face grew substantially throughout the pandemic, including job losses as well as an immense increase in hate crimes and subsequent housing discrimination that are forcing so many to stay in their current communities rather than move to new and unfamiliar places,” AREAA President Amy Kong said in a statement.

The lower homeownership rate was despite Asian Americans, not including Pacific Islanders, earning more money than the national average. American households of all descents earned a median $68,703 in 2019, according to the Census Bureau.

The problem is the community tends to live in more expensive areas on the coasts.

When they do buy homes, they often spend more as real estate is more expensive in these areas. The median home value for Asian Americans was $472,500—compared with a national median home list price of $380,000 in May, according to the most recent Realtor.com® data. It was lower for Pacific Islanders, with median values of $352,100. Pacific Islanders have lower median household incomes, of $66,464, and homeownership rates, of just 40.1%.

More than 2 million Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders were the victims of hate incidents since the beginning of the pandemic. The prejudice most commonly took the form of verbal harassment, but members of the community also reported being shunned, physically assaulted, coughed and spit on, and trolled online.

To put this into context, there are nearly 19.27 million Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the U.S., making up about 5.9% of the population.

“There’s the fear of moving to places that don’t have large Asian American communities because of the discrimination and the rise of anti-Asian sentiment,” says AREAA Executive Director Hope Atuel. “We’ve heard of people who have turned down job offers because of the fear. Fear can paralyze people.”

On top of everything else, language barriers in the buying process were an another obstacle that many members of this community faced. Many in the community don’t realize that they don’t need 20% down to purchase homes and there are other loan options available.

In addition, while many Asian Americans have good-paying jobs and savings, they may not have built up sufficient credit histories to help them qualify for the best mortgages.

While almost half of the Asian American and Pacific Islander community lives in the West, with almost a third in California, more are increasingly gravitating to the South. That’s likely because the weather is warmer and home prices and the cost of living tend to be lower than on the coasts. The South had the highest homeownership rate within the community of 65.4%. Georgia was particularly popular with buyers.

The community has been attracted to the high-skilled jobs that migrated to the region along with the lower taxes and cost of living.

“It’s more affordable to buy newer and larger homes in the Southeast,” says Atuel.

Only five real estate markets with large Asian American and Pacific Islander populations had homeownership rates that were higher than the national average. Riverside, CA, where the median home price in the metropolitan area was $519,900 in May, topped the list. About 71% of the Asian American population there were homeowners. Homeowners of Chinese descent had even higher homeownership rates of 78% there.

Rounding out the top five metros were Washington, DC, 69%; Miami, 69%; Houston, 69%; and Atlanta, 67%.

On the flip side, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders had some of the lowest homeownership rates in some of the coldest states of Illinois, Minnesota, Massachusetts, and New York.

The post Why Asian American Homeownership Is Lagging Behind appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®.

source https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/why-asian-american-homeownership-is-lagging-behind/

Former Hospital in California Looking for a Buyer With Resuscitation Skills

An abandoned hospital in a tiny Northern California town is currently on life support. And a buyer will need much more than a scalpel to bring it back to life.

Located on Elm Street off the Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway in Westwood, CA, the hospital was built in 1914 and operated until it was abandoned in 1972, when the last doctor retired.

For the $175,000 list price, a buyer would acquire 14,509 square feet of space on 0.69 acres.

“It’s definitely a fixer and is in rough shape,” says Elizabeth Bill, the co-listing agent along with Cory Meyer. “There is a lot of debris.”

But Bill says you can feel what the former hospital was like and how it could be made grand again. The current owners had planned to turn the place into a resort, but those plans fell through.

“It’s an incredible building, and it’s a shame it is in such disrepair,” she says. The structure is built of cedar and features a number of interesting architectural details. Bill compares it to “stepping back to the past.”

Exterior of former hospital in Westwood, CA
Harrison

All of the mechanicals, the plumbing, electrical, and the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning, will need to be replaced. There’s a large kitchen area with cabinetry and shelving and plenty of spaces that could serve as bedrooms and family rooms.

“The buyer will be somebody with some ambition and imagination. Somebody who’s got a passion for restoring old historic buildings—or bringing life back into buildings that were amazing—would be ideal,” Bill says. “Somebody with some passion for the history of hospitals and maybe just an imaginative person who has some great business ideas and wants to invest in the community.”

Bill says there may be funding available, especially for the restoration of old hospitals.

“It’s definitely going take somebody who has some insight and getting some funding for it, because it’s a big building. It’s obviously in disrepair, but if you get that funding and get it restored, it’s got a ton of potential.”

Despite its dilapidated state, Bill says it’s possible to see what the structure could become.

“It’s pretty breathtaking when you walk in. There’s a big open space there. The condition of it is obviously a little bit shocking, but also just the grandness of it when you drive or walk up to it,” she says.

Bill says you can see the window to what used to be the baby nursery, where family members would get their first glimpses of newborn babies.

“It really is like stepping back in time when you walk in there,” she says, noting how it was once a crucial part of the community.

The Red River Logging Company built the hospital as part of the company town and sawmill it operated in Westwood. Published reports say the company needed a place for its physician, Fred J. Davis, to provide medical care, so a 20-bed hospital was built and expanded to 100 beds in the 1920s.

There’s an apartment on the third floor where the doctors used to live.

The forlorn hospital sits close to a local landmark—a massive statue of Paul Bunyan and Babe, the Blue Ox.

Westwood, in Lassen County, was a bustling logging town when an advertising campaign that featured Bunyan began in the 1910s and noted that jobs were available for lumberjacks.

On the 75th anniversary of the town’s founding in July 1988, Westwood dedicated a huge statue carved from a 22-foot redwood log. It was 12 feet wide and weighed 28,000 pounds. It’s now a popular roadside attraction about a half-mile from the hospital.

The hospital building sits in a residential neighborhood and is zoned for mixed use. Bill says it would make a great resort, because of the lakes and other recreational areas in Lassen and surrounding counties.

“It’s such a neat building. It’s a neat town. It’s a piece of American history that has just kind of been forgotten,” she says. “It would be really neat to see it restored to its former glory and have some sort of contribution to the area.”

The post Former Hospital in California Looking for a Buyer With Resuscitation Skills appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®.

source https://www.realtor.com/news/unique-homes/california-hospital-needs-buyer-with-resuscitation-skills/

Pending Home Sales Surge Higher, but Economists Warn That the Housing Market Could ‘Soon Hit Bottom’

MW-pending_home_sales_063021 — Getty Images

The numbers: More Americans signed on the dotted line to buy a home last month, but the factors that have tested the nation’s housing market are likely to eat into sales in the months to come.

Pending home sales rose 8% in May compared with April, the National Association of Realtors reported Wednesday. Economists polled by MarketWatch had projected a 1% decrease for pending home sales in May.

Compared with a year ago, pending home sales were up 13.1%, but at that time last year home sales activity had fallen amid the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“May’s strong increase in transactions—following April’s decline, as well as a sudden erosion in home affordability—was indeed a surprise,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the National Association of Realtors. “The housing market is attracting buyers due to the decline in mortgage rates, which fell below 3%, and from an uptick in listings.”

The pending home sales index reflects real-estate transactions where a contract was signed for a previously-owned home, but the sale had yet to close, benchmarked to contract-signing activity in 2001.

What happened: All regions saw an uptick in sales, led by a 15.5% surge in the Northeast. The South saw the smallest increase, with a 4.9% uptick.

The big picture: The uptick in pending sales could be sustained, Yun argued, because of the strong stock market and rising home prices. He predicted that more homes will be listed in the latter half of the year, which would help to slow the pace of home-price growth.

Still, economists generally anticipate that the second half of 2021 will see a slowdown in real-estate transactions. To get an idea of where home sales are headed, look no further than the data for mortgage applications.

“Sales lag mortgage applications, and the 26% plunge in the latter between December and April is now working its way through the sales numbers,” Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, wrote in a research note. He went on to argue that “sales will soon hit bottom, given the flattening in mortgage demand over the past couple months.”

The latest mortgage-applications data from the Mortgage Bankers Association would back up that prediction. The trade group’s index that measures the volume of applications for loans used to purchase homes was down 17% from a year ago as of the week ending June 25, and had declined 6% from the previous week.

The loan-application data also pointed to the challenges buyers are facing that are inhibiting sales from maintaining the breakneck pace of the past year. “The average loan size for total purchase applications increased, indicating that first-time homebuyers, who typically get smaller loans, are likely getting squeezed out of the market due to the lack of entry-level homes for sale,” Mike Fratantoni, chief economist at the Mortgage Bankers Association, said in the report.

The lack of housing inventory has limited how many sales can happen, while also driving up the price of homes. Now that mortgage rates are rising again, many home buyers could be pushed out of the market as purchasing a property becomes less and less affordable.

What they’re saying: “We believe existing home sales are going to see much harder year-over-year comparisons for the remainder of the year, as the base for comparison moves away from the slump generated in the early months of the pandemic and into the surge in home sales that followed,” said Ruben Gonzalez, chief economist for Keller Williams.

“With the pressure on sales from the lack of inventory and rapidly rising prices, we are likely going to see sales start moving toward single digit year-over-year growth and perhaps some year-over-year declines in Q4, due to last year’s divergence from normal seasonal patterns,” Gonzalez added.

“Although we are beginning to see an improvement in the supply of existing homes for sale and the cost of building materials moderate, which should lead to more new construction, a larger increase in supply is key to rebalancing the real-estate market,” said George Ratiu, senior economist at Realtor.com.

Market reaction: The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 were both up slightly in Wednesday morning trading ahead of the report’s release.

The post Pending Home Sales Surge Higher, but Economists Warn That the Housing Market Could ‘Soon Hit Bottom’ appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®.

source https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/pending-home-sales-surge-higher-but-economists-warn-housing-market-could-soon-hit-bottom/

Former Pelicans Coach Stan Van Gundy Selling $2M New Orleans Home

Stan Van Gundy Selling NOLA Home — Jason Miller/Getty Images

After a single season with the New Orleans Pelicans, its coach, Stan Van Gundy, parted ways with the team. Now he’s also parting with his New Orleans home. The elegant space has come on the market for $1.99 million.

After a two-year break from coaching, Van Gundy joined the franchise before the season started, but the promising squad missed the playoffs after an inconsistent season. The Pelicans and Van Gundy agreed to part ways, according to an announcement from the team.

So now that Van Gundy is out, he’s also moving on from the home that he had just purchased, in December 2020, for an undisclosed price.

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Stan Van Gundy's New Orleans home (Realtor.com)

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Front door (Realtor.com)

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Library (Realtor.com)

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Covered porch (Realtor.com)

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Kitchen (Realtor.com)

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Dining area (Realtor.com)

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Family room with leather sectional sofa (Realtor.com)

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Formal living room (Realtor.com)

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Stained-glass windows (Realtor.com)

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Bedroom (Realtor.com)

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Backyard with pool and lawn (Realtor.com)

Built in 1900, the “classic uptown beauty,” as the listing calls it, features Queen Anne finishes, with four bedrooms and three bathrooms spread across a spacious 4,582 square feet.

Although it is renovated, the 121-year-old building maintains original elements, including millwork and period details such as multiple fireplaces, stained glass, and built-ins.

The double doors in the entryway open to a high ceiling and elegant chandelier. At the front of the house, a wood-paneled library features built-ins, large windows, and a ceiling with an intricate design. The flow into other entertaining rooms makes it the perfect place to catch up on your reading material or entertain guests.

Columns and intricate designs decorate doorways, and wood flooring runs throughout. The open kitchen features white cabinets, exposed painted brick, an island with seating, and a dining table that looks over to the family room, along with a well-placed bar.

The family room features glass doors that open to the outside. If you like the comfy-looking leather sectional in that space, it comes with the house, according to the listing.

Other spaces include a formal living room and formal dining room.

Upstairs are three of the four bedrooms, as well as an office, with one more guest bedroom on the main floor. The landing leading to the second level offers multiple stained-glass windows, candle sconces, and a window bench, evoking another era.

Outside, the quarter-acre lot features a grassy yard, large patio, and a pool with a spa. The spacious wraparound covered porch offers the option of outdoor dining, or for holding an alfresco cocktail hour.

The property comes with a three-car garage.

His stint with the Pelicans was the fourth NBA coaching job for Van Gundy, 61. He had previously served as head coach for the Miami Heat, the Detroit Pistons, and the Orlando Magic for five seasons, leading that squad to the 2009 NBA finals. He’s a two-time NBA All-Star Game head coach.

Sonya Encalade with Re/Max N.O. Properties holds the listing.

The post Former Pelicans Coach Stan Van Gundy Selling $2M New Orleans Home appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®.

source https://www.realtor.com/news/celebrity-real-estate/stan-van-gundy-selling-new-orleans-home/

Marvelous Massachusetts Estate Built in 1714 Is the Week’s Oldest Listing

In a nation chock-full of McMansions and generic tract homes, historic homes are treasured rarities. Rarer still is a vintage home from centuries ago reimagined into a spectacular space with one foot firmly rooted in its past, and the other placed firmly in modern times.

The week’s oldest home to hit the market is one of those truly rare gems. Built in 1714, the Lucy Athearn House in Massachusetts has been given a makeover that lets the best of both worlds shine.

The rest of this week’s list includes distinguished addresses in quaint old towns like Bridgehampton and Ipswich. There’s even one vintage beauty that’s been renovated down to the beams with just a few finishes needed to transform it into a customized coastal retreat.

There’s no better place to spend your summer than in one of the week’s oldest homes.

1. 5 Stillpoint Meadows Rd, West Tisbury, MA

Price: $3,300,000
Year built: 1714
Lucy Athearn House: Sitting on 3 acres bordering Priester Pond, this estate was built in 1714.

It’s since been renovated into a move-in ready dream with beamed wood ceilings and exposed brick. The five-bedroom, 3,283-square-foot home features a great room built with beams from the original barn, vaulted ceilings, and a screened porch overlooking the grounds.

2. 16 County St, Ipswich, MA

Price: $519,900
Year built: 1725
Knowlton House: Located in town, this three-bedroom, 1,427-square-foot townhome was fully restored in 2003. Care was taken to maintain the home’s exposed beams and wide-plank pine floors.

3. 24 Great Bay Rd, Greenland, NH

Price: $1,400,000
Year built: 1730
Timber-frame farmhouse: Restored and rebuilt from the frame up, this four-bedroom home needs a few finishing touches.

Completed work includes a new kitchen, custom moldings, and custom maple cabinetry. Sitting on just over an acre near beaches, the home comes with a brand-new garage.

4. 2887 Poindexter Rd, Louisa, VA

Price: $2,250,000
Year built: 1732
Prospect Hill: This sprawling 41-acre estate in Central Virginia is known as Prospect Hill. It’s highlighted by a five-bedroom main home with 5,360 square feet of living space.

The property includes various cabins, cottages, a summer kitchen, and a carriage house. All of those structures make this an ideal boutique rental property and/or event space. There’s also an in-ground pool, beautiful setting in the woods, as well as charming period finishes and furnishings throughout.

5. 99 Red Oak Hill Rd, Epping, NH

Price: $499,900
Year built: 1735
The Ladd Estate: Only three families have lived on this 4.32-acre homestead since it was established nearly 300 years ago.

The current sellers have lived in the four-bedroom home since 1968. There’s also a three-bedroom townhome and a three-car garage with a 1,200-square-foot apartment above it.

6. 690 Ocean Rd, Bridgehampton, NY

Price: $4,400,000
Year built: 1740
Prestigious saltbox: Listing details for this Hamptons treasure say this three-bedroom home sits at the crossroads of two of the town’s most prestigious streets.

Interior highlights include the foyer with fireplace, a living room with a beamed ceiling and wood-burning fireplace, and original wood floors throughout.

7. 7 Summer St, Ipswich, MA

Price: $449,000
Year built: 1740
Thomas Treadwell House: This top-floor, two-bedroom unit has been updated with a new eat-in kitchen, laundry, and cooling units.

The walk-up third-floor attic is currently used for storage, but could be finished to add more living space. It’s located close to downtown with restaurants and the beach nearby.

8. 124 Beaver Dam Rd, Scituate, MA

Price: $599,000
Year built: 1750
Scituate style: Updated throughout, this antique two-bedroom home has a remodeled kitchen and new bathroom.

Other highlights include custom shelving in the living room and a sitting room with cedar floors, all just about a half-mile from Scituate Harbor.

9. 5 W Main St, Mendham Township, NJ

Price: $849,000
Year built: 1750
Center-hall Colonial: Colorful and classic, this four-bedroom home has wide-plank, pumpkin pine flooring, a fieldstone foundation, sunroom, and first-floor office.

There’s also a barn with workshop and storage. A private paved driveway offers plenty of parking.

10. 85 Lambtown Rd, Ledyard, CT

Price: $525,000
Year built: 1750
Eighty Five: After 50 years in this historic four-bedroom home, the current owners are ready to pass it on to a new owner.

Inside, you’ll find multiple fireplaces, wide-board floors, and raised-panel doors. The half-acre lot includes stone walls, fruit trees, and an antique well house. Eighty-five, as the current owners lovingly call this home, is listed with the Ledyard Historical Society.

The post Marvelous Massachusetts Estate Built in 1714 Is the Week’s Oldest Listing appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®.

source https://www.realtor.com/news/unique-homes/marvelous-massachusetts-estate-built-in-1714-oldest-listing/

Malibu’s Iconic Rosenthal Vineyard Estate on the Market for $38M

While Napa and Sonoma leap to mind when the grape-growing regions of California are mentioned, don’t sleep on Malibu. The hills above the coveted beach community are where you’ll find the Rosenthal Estate, where developer George Rosenthal cultivated grapes for his Rosenthal Wine label.

Now Rosenthal is ready to let his beloved estate go for the asking price of $38 million.

Rosenthal toyed with selling the luxe property in 2012 and listed it for $59.5 million. Nearly a decade later, he’s now in his mid-80s and more serious about selling the vast estate he’s been carefully piecing together since he paid $1,076,000 for a considerably smaller plot of land in 2000. His domain now spans 180 acres.

Ever since Rosenthal developed the property into a vineyard estate, visitors have made their way up winding Kanan Dume road to tour the facility.

A total of 10,000 grapevines flourish on the property, including cabernet, shiraz, chardonnay, and merlot grapes. There’s room to add another 10,000 vines.

Rosenthal vineyard estate in Malibu, CA
Realtor.com

And grapes aren’t the estate’s only agricultural offering. There are also 600 avocado trees bearing fruit.

In addition to being a working agricultural property, the Rosenthal estate is a luxury resort. Residences include a spacious hacienda-style mansion and three guest cottages. With two pools, these amenities offer an ideal weekend getaway for Los Angelenos.

The elegant 12,000-square-foot, hacienda-style main residence was inspired by the high-end country estates of Mexico. It features soaring, wood-beamed ceilings accented by leaded-glass skylights.

There are six grand fireplaces, including in the kitchen and the adjacent breakfast room.

The kitchen is equipped with a custom-tiled backsplash, an island with seating, a leaded-glass skylight, custom wood cabinetry, stainless-steel appliances, and a three-basin sink.

Ornate, carved wood can be found throughout, including in the bathrooms. Numerous double French doors open to terraces with expansive views of the property.

And that’s just the main residence.

The lavishly appointed guesthouses mean overnight stays are a true treat.

Guesthouse with its own pool
Realtor.com

Outdoor amenities include a giant pool, spa and cabana, patios, decks, lawns, fountains, manicured gardens, a pond, and private access to the Backbone Trail.

The grounds are highlighted by curated sculptures and art installations.

The property, including the equestrian-style tasting room, could be put to use to host anniversary celebrations, weddings, and private parties.

Equestrian-style tasting room
Realtor.com

The estate includes just about everything a buyer would need to become a turn-key winemaker.

However, there’s one thing not included in the sale price: the Rosenthal label. New owners can use the grapes produced on the property in their own wine, or sell them to other vinters.

“Although a universe all its own immersed in miles of nature, this prized location is just five minutes from Malibu’s beautiful beaches and 20 miles from Santa Monica. It offers possibilities and ample space for creative endeavors and a lifestyle of intimate dinners, poolside afternoons, and laughter-filled social gatherings,” says co-listing agent Joyce Rey, of Coldwell Banker.

Rey is listing the property along with Jade Mills, also of Coldwell Banker, as well as Sandro Dazzan of The Agency Malibu.

The post Malibu’s Iconic Rosenthal Vineyard Estate on the Market for $38M appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®.

source https://www.realtor.com/news/unique-homes/malibu-rosenthal-vineyard-estate-for-sale/