Eric Bernstein Realtor

DID YOU KNOW? More money has gone into stock-based funds over the past five months than the previous 12 years combined, according to Bank of America. In raw num...bers, $569 billion has flowed into global equity funds since November, compared to $452 billion going back to the beginning of the 2009-2020 bull market. (CNBC) DID YOU KNOW? The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dropped to 3.13% for the week ending Apr. 8, 2021, according to the latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey from Freddie Mac. This is down five basis points from 3.18% last week, and down from 3.33% last year. DID YOU KNOW? The economy is just starting a boom period, where 2nd quarter growth could top 10%, and 2021 could be the strongest year since 1984. The 2nd quarter is expected to be the strongest, but the boom is not expected to fizzle, and growth is expected to be stronger than during the pre-pandemic into 2022. A period of supercharged growth is just starting, and it's showing up in surging consumer spending and in an increasing shortage of skilled workers. With surging demand could come inflation, something the economy has avoided for more than two decades.....real estate is considered a good hedge against inflation. Already replacement/building costs are surging..... DID YOU KNOW? Bank of America estimates Americans have $3.5 trillion in bank accounts they didn’t have before the pandemic, both from government checks and savings..... (CNBC) DID YOU KNOW? ‘Regenerative’ and ‘regenerated’ are replacing ‘sustainable’ as the marketing words du jour in fashion circles.... (FT) DID YOU KNOW? Ever dream of escaping the rat race for an island in the Caribbean? La Soufriere volcano on the eastern Caribbean island of St. Vincent erupted yesterday after decades of inactivity, sending dark plumes of ash and smoke billowing into the sky and forcing thousands from surrounding villages to evacuate. It's perfect nowhere!

Happy Listing Day! DID YOU KNOW? The U.S. housing market is suffering from its lowest supply in history, and that is taking an increasingly hard toll on sales. ...Pending home sales, a measure of signed contracts on existing homes, fell a wider-than-expected 10.6% in February compared with January, according to the NAR. Sales were 0.5% lower year over year. There were just 1.03 million homes for sale at the end of February, a 29.5% drop compared with February 2020. That is the largest annual decline ever and the lowest supply on record. (CNBC) DID YOU KNOW? A 2% transfer tax raised on property sales in the five towns comprising Long Island’s Hampton's/East End from $78m in 2019 to $139m in 2020! (FT) DID YOU KNOW? Apple had its IPO on December 12,1980. Three years later it introduced the MAC on January 24, 1984. 26 years later it introduced the i-phone on January 9, 2007. Amazon had its IPO in 1999.....it introduced ALEXA in 2014, and opened its first retail bricks-and-mortar store in 2016, now with 89 outlets. The next year it bought out WholeFoods with 500 bricks-and-mortar, not-very-tech-exclusive stores.....making AMAZON a "high-tech, high-touch" or "new-world, old-world" hybrid company too.

DID YOU KNOW? The MacArthur Foundation is awarding Community Solutions with a $100 million grant, selecting the nonprofit out of 6 finalists in its global 100&C...hange competition. Community Solutions, based in New York City, will use the funds to expand its mission of ending homelessness to 75 U.S. communities in the next 5 years through its Built for Zero initiative. This data-based approach has been successful at ending chronic and veteran homelessness in 15 communities and reducing its prevalence in 50 others. The organization also has secured homes for 235,000 homeless individuals since 2010. DID YOU KNOW? A recent survey found that 52% of listing agents reported an increase on the dollar value offered by buyers on staged homes in comparison to similar, unstaged homes with the biggest chunk reporting an increase of 1- 5%. 19% thought staging a home had no impact on its dollar value while 28% were not sure. (NAR) DID YOU KNOW? The world is now home to 2,755 billionaires - a world record - and a startling 30% increase compared to a year ago (a moment when world markets had crashed due to COVID). 86% are richer than they were a year ago....and their combined net worth rose over $5 trillion from a year ago... Should high earners and companies that prospered in the coronavirus crisis pay additional tax to show solidarity with those who were hit hardest by the pandemic? The IMF thinks a temporary tax would help to reduce social inequalities that have been exacerbated by the economic and health crisis of the past year.... McKenzie Scott already voluntarily donated $5.7 billion in 2020 and her ex Jeff Bezos over $10 billion! Only $92 million in total was donated towards housing and homelessness (FT) DID YOU KNOW? Tech giant AMAZON plans to open 4 bricks-and-mortar grocery stores on the East Coast, based in Washington, D.C., northern Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. They will mirror Amazon’s Fresh grocery chain. Amazon opened its first bricks-and-mortar Fresh grocery store in California in September and it has since expanded rapidly. APPLE has over 500 retail bricks-and-mortar outlets too. (CNBC) DID YOU KNOW? Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Maine, and New Hampshire are US states with at least 40% of their entire population with at least one vaccine shot.....and 21%-25% are fully vaccinated! Florida and New York have the highest number of new cases, although Florida's testing per capita is half that of New York's.

Q1 Westchester Real Estate Market Insights.

DID YOU KNOW? A $2 trillion infrastructure bill could improve the roads, bridges, internet, etc around the US dramatically and be an enormous driver of economi...c activity. One area that concerns many is how to pay for this (along with the other multiple trillions of recent borrowing). The corporate tax rate could be increased to 28% from 21% (it used to be 35%).....we should note that 400 of America’s largest corporations paid an average federal tax rate of about 11.3% on their profits in 2018 after tax breaks, deductions and loopholes. DID YOU KNOW? U.S. home prices are rising at the fastest pace in 15 years, reflecting how fiercely buyers are competing for a limited supply of homes in nearly every corner of the country. From small cities like Bridgeport, Conn., to large ones like Seattle, prices have been steadily moving higher. Two closely-watched house-price indicators released Tuesday posted double-digit national price growth, demonstrating the widespread strength of the market. A number of forces have merged to fuel the red hot housing market, including mortgage rates dropping below 3% in July for the first time ever. Millions of millennials are aging into their prime-homebuying years in their 30s. New-home construction has lagged behind demand and homeowners are holding on to their houses longer. (WSJ) DID YOU KNOW? The high-end markets in Manhattan and Brooklyn continue to improve: signed contract volume in March 2021 is up over 150% compared to January!

DID YOU KNOW? Our bodies have evolved over thousands of years to follow a natural 24-hour light-dark cycle. We sleep when it gets dark and wake when the sun ris...es. Your sleep-wake circadian rhythm is an internal clock that runs constantly, cycling between alertness and sleepiness. In these COVID days, most of us are spending more time indoors......in a biological cave. While your indoor lighting may appear appropriate, the intensity and temperature of the light might be inadequate considering the time of day, sending confusing signals to our brain, negatively impacting our sleep, well-being, and health, and thus throw our body’s circadian system into chaos. Experiencing the natural light cycles of a day may require adjusting the intensity of light in your home. DID YOU KNOW? U.S. single-family rent growth strengthened in November, increasing 3.7% year over year, showing solid improvement from the low of 1.4% reported for June 2020, and up from the 2.8% rate recorded for November 2019, according to the CoreLogic Single-Family Rent Index. The housing market we think is going to slow a little bit. That doesn’t mean it’s declining, it just means the pace of appreciation will be slower. We still expect a very strong year, probably stronger than 2019. It’s just that 2020 was completely historic. Last year’s house prices appreciation was at about 10%, which is simply not sustainable, from an affordability perspective. We think house prices will come down to about half of what they were over the year as builders catch up and people who could offer their homes for sale but were fearful of the virus start to list their homes. - Douglas Duncan, Fannie Mae

In 2020 I closed on this modern center hall colonial with a brand new Leicht custom kitchen including one of the largest center islands I've ever seen! Every bathroom has been renovated and upgraded with modern above average fixtures and finishes. Three floors of interior space along with a private yard the owners have dressed up with a composite multi-tiered deck/patio and luxury hottub!

A modern barn-style contemporary retreat on 15 acres that abuts Fahnstock State Park only one hour from NYC! This home is in mint condiiton and includes a large heated pool. Privacy is abundant and guaranteed. Currently available!

We are pending close in early 2021 at full price as well. Incredible retreat on over five acres of bucolic landscaped private property. This custom home is over 6,000 square feet with lots of rooms to explore!

In 2020 I sold this luxurious contemporary home in Dobbs Ferry for $2,850,000. World class marketing mixed with an amazing product had this home in contract within thirty days of listing it for sale.