Our Chatham based associate Nancy Cuddihy has been working with Columbia County Habitat for Humanity to create new housing in Hudson and is built with passive energy design and engineering. That's Nancy on the right, on the site and totally on the ball!

2012-13 Build of Energy-Saving Columbia Passive Townhouses Underway

The architect’s rendering of the Columbia Passive Townhouses.

Columbia County Habitat for Humanity (CCHfH) has started work on two townhouses that will bring energy efficiency to unprecedented levels in affordable housing.  Designed by ground-breaking green architect Dennis Wedlick Architect LLC (DWA), the Columbia Passive Townhouses at 244-246 Columbia Street in Hudson will be the first Habitat townhouses in New York to be constructed using passive energy design and engineering.  This process cuts energy consumption by 90%.
Wedlick explained the concept of behind passive designs:  “Generally speaking, a Passive House is a high performance residence that is able to maintain a constant comfortable indoor temperature, year-round, with little need for heating or air-conditioning.  It is able to do so because of carefully calibrated construction details that include advanced wall framing and state-of-the-art insulation techniques. This Passive House concept represents today’s highest standards for energy efficiency. While the Passive House concept is well established in several European countries, few buildings have been able to achieve these standards in the United States. The Columbia Passive Townhouses will be one of a handful of buildings in the nation to do so.”

CCHfH President Janis Smythe said, “The Board is delighted to be the first Habitat in New York State to invest in passive building.  Habitat is about affordable home ownership for families, not just in the initial cost but in long-term financial sustainability as well.” Compared to conventional buildings, Passive House buildings have been known to use 90% less energy for heating and cooling.

In 2011, DWA designed and the Bill Stratton Building Company constructed the first certified Passive House in New York State in nearby Claverack that continues to receive national attention. The remarkable energy conservation that has been achieved in this structure–and will be achieved in the Columbia Passive Townhouses–is credited to the home’s ability to maximize the warmth of the sun, natural lighting and internal air flow. Air quality in Passive Houses is also significantly higher than in conventionally built or renovated homes because of the Energy Recovery Ventilating (ERV) systems that complete the Passive House designs. The ERV systems provide for fresh air 24 hours a day with virtually no heat loss or heat gain.

MILLINER'S OPENING, CHATHAM OFFICE

The folks in our Chatham office are pleased to host a community welcome for Milliner Victoria DiNardo on Saturday the 15th.

Please join us in welcoming Victoria and have a little holiday nibble with us.

IT'S SEEMS TO BE MOVING FORWARD

For those of you who've been following the progress of the plan to re-establish passenger train service between the Berkshires and NYC here's a progress update.

http://www.berkshireeagle.com/local/ci_21279298/new-york-city-pittsfield-train-line-step-closer

It's good to know that this project is on track (yes, I did that on purpose!)

ANOTHER POSITIVE SIGN

Bloomberg.com reports this morning that home equity levels made their biggest gain in 60 years with a gain of 7.3% in the first quarter.  It was also reported that home equity levels have recovered to their 2008 values.  Little by little home values are recovering.

That news made me think about the market conditions here in the Berkshires.  In this office we have been seeing a choppy but steady increase in activity from sellers choosing to list their property as well as buyers who are showing a real commitment to buying.

I'm developing a better sense of what a recovery looks like and it's never really a straight trajectory.  It's about people putting their toes back in the water, finding that it's tolerable and carving a path for others.

And, at the end of the day, isn't that really how things get better?  Little by little, 2 steps forward/one step back?

Thanks, everyone.

Latest data from the National Association of Realtors ( using info from a recent Gallup poll) show that real estate professionals have an improved public rating.  I find that really gratifying since we, at Stone House Properties, LLC, work so hard to be sure that all of our clients needs are met in the most responsible fashion.

So, from all of us here at Stone House, thanks for recognizing the hard work your Realtor does on your behalf.

Real Estate Agents Inch Up in Public Opinion

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | WEDNESDAY, MAY 30, 2012

Real estate professionals rank higher than lawyers, business executives, and advertising practitioners when it comes to the public’s perceptions of honesty and ethics, according to a recent Gallup poll. 

In fact, real estate professionals received their highest rating yet in the poll, since Gallup began measuring Americans’ perceptions of honesty and ethics of 21 professions since 1976. 

In the survey, 20 percent of respondents gave real estate professionals a “very high to high” rating on honesty and ethics. Fifty-seven percent of the Americans surveyed rated them as “average” when it comes to honesty and ethics. 

Meanwhile, the profession that scored the lowest of the 21 professions ranked were members of Congress, in which only 7 percent of respondents rated them “very high to high” when it comes to ethics and honesty -- the lowest on record. 

The professions that scored the highest in honesty and ethics belonged to the medical profession, with nurses, pharmacists, and doctors -- who were all at the top of the list.  

Source: “Housing Prices Show Signs of Stability,” The Wall Street Journal (May 29, 2012) and “Record 64% Rate Honesty, Ethics of Members of Congress Low,” Gallup (Dec. 12, 2011)

Read More

Gallup Poll: View of Practitioners Improving

IT'S EVEN BETTER THAN I THOUGHT

Take a look at this posting from the National Association of Realtors showing what national economists are saying about where the real estate market is heading.

Home Prices to Rise 4% Per Year?

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | WEDNESDAY, MAY 09, 2012

Have home prices finally hit bottom? Many analysts think so. According to the latest forecast by Fiserv, the market watcher sees a big boost to home prices on the horizon, projecting that home prices will rise nearly 4 percent per year for the next five years.

The real estate markets expected to see the biggest increases in home prices will likely be those hardest hit the last few years by foreclosures, such as in Phoenix and Las Vegas, and areas where prices have fallen the most, according to Fiserv’s forecast. 

Housings rising affordability mixed with falling inventories of for-sale homes are the main factors driving the expected price increases, according to Fiserv. 

Initially, investors are expected to help drive most of this price increase, and then followed by first-time and trade-up buyers as they re-emerge in bigger numbers to the market.

Source: “U.S. Home Prices Could Rise 4% a Year, Forecast Says,” USA Today (May 8. 2012)

THE BEGINNING OF THE BEGINNING

As far as I'm concerned, Berkshire real estate has seen the end of its recent downturn.  While the national media said the real estate market had hit bottom sometime in the late Fall of 2011 my thought for the Berkshire market was that late August 2011 was the turn-around point.

It took a few months of steady (yes, and slow) progress to be sure that was the case and it does appear so.  Homes coming on the market for the first time are at a price that makes sense to buyers, who are still looking for extraordinary values.  Property coming back on the market is also priced well.

In terms of actual buying patterns there are two price ranges that feel strong - homes priced under $350,000 and high end homes.  We are actually seeing competing bids for houses in those price ranges.  In fact, county wide compared to this time last year we are up nearly 20% in the number of sales and our inventory is down nearly 13%.

In short, this is a good time for buyers to buy - prices are still good and bank rates are still excellent.  It's a great time for sellers to put a house on the market (as long as it's priced right) because there's not as much out there as there used to be.

This great village home in West Stockbridge is newly listed at an amazing $239,900.