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HMS Associates
To Utilize Services
of Top Commercial Appraisers
HMS Associates, the New York City-based appraisal firm, will collaborate with senior level commercial appraisers to conduct in-depth commercial real estate appraisals.
HMS will draw from the experience of appraisers whose work includes complex underwriting projects for major hotels, office and retail properties, refinancings, acquisitions and litigation support.
"Collaborating with commercial appraisers will add quality to our growing repertoire of services," said Sam Heskel, founder and vice president of HMS.
Theres a huge need for top-notch appraisal services in the commercial area, which we can help meet, he said.
HMS provides commercial and residential appraisal services in New York citys five boroughs plus Long Island and Westchester, Rockland, Orange, Putnam and Ulster counties and is planning to expand into Connecticut and New Jersey.
Information about HMS services is available at www.hmsasso ciates.net.
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Greetings!
New HMS Website Offers 24-Hour Service
HMS Associates recently launched a newly designed website that allows clients to access their individual appraisal reports online.
Our clients will be able to get a user name and log in any time they want, said HMS vice president and founder Sam Heskel. They can place their order online, whenever its convenient. The whole process will be expedited tremendously, helping them get what they need as soon as they need it.
The companys website is www.hmsassociates.net.
HMS Associates is a full-service appraisal firm based in New York City. The firm serves the five boroughs of New York, plus Long Island and Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, Orange and Ulster counties.
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- Lenders Foresee Soft Landing for Housing Market in 2006
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Home sales will finish out the year lower than previously anticipated, but lenders and real estate professionals are optimistic housing markets are approaching a soft floor and not a crash landing.
The National Association of Realtors said in October that home sales will be weaker than previously expected for the remainder of 2006. But the group expects sales activity to pick up again in early 2007.
Existing-home sales are forecast to be fairly stable in the fourth quarter of 2006 and sales for all of 2006 are expected to drop 8.9 percent to 6.45 million still the third-strongest year after consecutive records in 2004 and 2005. New-home sales are forecast to fall 17.3 percent this year to 1.06 million, the fourth highest year on record.
David Lereah, the groups chief economist, said the housing market is showing signs of life and that sales may be leveling out. Many potential home buyers who have been taking a wait-and-see attitude or taking their time and being methodical in the search process are being enticed by lower home prices, he said. Given a positive economic backdrop of lower interest rates and job creation, we expect sales activity to pick up early next year.
Overall, mortgage applications were 13.8 percent lower than applications one year ago, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
But lending giant Freddie Mac notes that mortgage applications, while lower than last year, have stabilized in recent weeks around the level that prevailed in 2003, a period of moderately strong demand for housing.
Notwithstanding this clear slowdown, 2006, taken as a whole, is still shaping up to be an OK year for the mortgage market in historic terms, Timothy Bitsberger, Freddie Mac Senior Vice President and Treasurer said in prepared remarks this fall. Housing price appreciation is still on solid ground. Home sales and housing starts are likely to follow suit. At the levels we currently anticipate, 2006 would come in pretty much like 2003, or about the third best year for housing ever.
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- Survey Shows First Half 06 Originations Volume Down;
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First mortgage originations volume decreased 16 percent based in the first half of 2006 according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA's) Mortgage Originations Survey. The survey results continue to show strong demand for interest-only and payment option mortgages, so-called non-traditional products.
In the context of a decelerating housing market and a slowing of overall mortgage originations activity, consumers continued to choose IOs and payment option loans in the first half of 2006, said Doug Duncan, MBA's chief economist and senior vice president of research and business development. As expected, consumers respond to changing opportunities in the marketplace, but it looks like these products serve an important need.
Key findings from the survey include:
- Total first mortgage originations decreased by 16 percent from the second half of 2005 to the first half of 2006.
- For first mortgages, fixed-rate loans, including IOs, accounted for 49 percent of loans in the first half of 2006 compared to 47 percent in the second half of 2005.
- IOs accounted for 26 percent of originations in the first half of 2006. However, the composition of IO originations changed, with fixed rate IOs accounting for 24 percent of all IOs in the first half of 2006 compared to 13 percent in the second half of 2005.
- First-time homebuyer purchases represented almost one in three home purchases in the first half of 2006.
- Of the first half originations, 19 percent were for single-family attached homes, 75 percent for single- family detached homes, 1 percent for manufactured and mobile homes and 4 percent for two- to four- unit structures.
- From the second half of 2005 to the first half of 2006, reverse mortgage dollar volume decreased 23 percent. However, the total number of reverse mortgage loans increased 31 percent.
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