Tri-state briefs

LONG ISLAND
Residents protest Bourne Estate rezoning
Area residents last month spoke out against a proposal to build hundreds of housing units on the historic Bourne Estate in Oakdale, Newsday reported. The 170-acre estate — the former home of Frederick Bourne, onetime president of the Singer sewing machine company — serves as a satellite campus of St. John’s University. The school last summer proposed a $40 million plan to renovate the estate’s original structures, including Bourne’s 115-year-old mansion, preserving them as landmarks. In order to pay for the work, the school has proposed building 384 townhouses and apartments on the property, 20 percent of which will be affordable. At a public hearing last month, town officials considered whether to rezone the estate as a planned landmark preservation, but tabled the decision after almost two hours of passionate public testimony, saying they needed to “process” what they had heard. Suffolk County residents said they worried about the impact of the development on the beauty and tranquility of the estate, and said it would worsen traffic and property values in the area. The plans call for the mansion to be used for weddings and other events, with the second and third floors serving as a “boutique” hotel for guests attending events. A boathouse on the property would be renovated and serve as a space for conferences, private events and recreational use.

CONNECTICUT
Foreclosed homes sell for massive discount
Connecticut homes in foreclosure sell for around half as much as houses where the owners are current on their mortgage payments, according to a new study by RealtyTrac.

In 2011, foreclosed-on properties in the state sold for an average of $175,715, some 47 percent less than the average sale price of $329,731 for homes not in foreclosure, the Hartford Courant reported.

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Daren Blomquist, vice president of RealtyTrac, said foreclosed-on homes tend to be in poorer condition — and their owners far more anxious to sell — than nondistressed sales. In Connecticut as a whole, some 11,282 homes went into foreclosure last year, according to RealtyTrac, and foreclosure sales accounted for 15 percent of all residential transactions. Overall, residential sales in the state rose modestly in 2011, increasing 2.2 percent to 4,328. New Haven County saw 3,023 foreclosures last year, more than any other county in Connecticut, and 19 percent of all sales in the county were foreclosures. Tolland County had the fewest foreclosures in the state last year, with 313.

NEW JERSEY
NJ to lend at record-low mortgage rates
In hopes of bolstering the housing industry, the state’s Department of Community Affairs and the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency last month announced plans to lend $170 million at an interest rate of 3.75 percent, which beats previous record lows for 30-year mortgages, NJBiz reported. According to HMFA executive director Anthony Marchetta, the low rates will impact approximately 1,000 mortgages. “This is the lowest rate the HMFA has ever published, and we think it will drive a lot of people who are not even contemplating homeownership into buying a home,” said Richard Constable III, the state’s acting DCA commissioner and HMFA chairman. “There are a lot of foreclosures out there, so we’re hoping that this low-interest mortgage rate will stabilize the real estate market.” In addition, the HMFA introduced 30-year-term mortgage interest rates below 3 percent for members of the Police and Firemen’s Retirement System, the lowest ever offered by the agency in the state.