RealEstateRama

WASHINGTON, D.C. - July 11, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) released a detailed outline of a bill to reform the entire housing-finance system, including Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Housing Administration, or FHA. Julia Gordon, Director of Housing Finance and Policy at the Center for American Progress, issued the following reaction:

WASHINGTON, DC - July 11, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Chairman Johnson, Ranking Member Crapo, and members of the Committee, thank you for inviting me to testify today on behalf of the Treasury Department.

LIVINGSTON, N.J. - July 11, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- In Bergen County, N.J., where for-sale multi-family investment properties are sparse, Gebroe-Hammer Associates has orchestrated more than $18 million in investment sales during the past 12 months. The latest trade involves the $2.025 million sale of 15 units at 82 Brinkerhoff St., in Ridgefield Park

WASHINGTON, DC - July 11, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki announced today the award of nearly $300 million in grants that will help approximately 120,000 homeless and at-risk Veterans and their families. The grants have been awarded to 319 community agencies in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - July 11, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Homeowners in the Anaheim-Santa Ana, Calif., metro division paid a median of $270,000 for their homes, according to a 2011 American Housing Survey profilereleased today. The median purchase price of homes constructed in the past four years was higher at $535,000. Nationally, homeowners paid $110,000 overall and $235,000 for new construction.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - July 10, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) finalized corrections, clarifications, and amendments to its Ability-to-Repay and mortgage servicing rules. Today’s clarifications were first proposed in April 2013 and reflect the Bureau’s commitment to facilitating implementation in order to better protect consumers

WASHINGTON, D.C. - July 10, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Assembly Republican Whip Scott Rumana, R-Passaic, Bergen, Essex and Morris, issued the following statement regarding today’s state Supreme Court 5-2 ruling that Gov. Chris Christie is not permitted to scrap the Council on Affordable Housing (COAH), a state agency charged with overseeing the building of affordable-housing units for New Jersey’s residents:

WASHINGTON, D.C. - July 10, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Following Super Storm Sandy’s devastation along the East Coast of the United States, the City of New York called upon the Urban Green Council to convene a NYC Building Resiliency Task Force –a group of real estate owners, property managers, architects, engineers, contractors, city officials, code consultants, and attorneys – with a mission to make recommendations to improve building resiliency and maximize preparedness for future weather emergencies, as well as re-evaluate sections of the New York City Building Code

WASHINGTON, D.C. - July 10, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Housing Assistance Council (HAC) is holding a conference, Housing Seniors & Veterans in Rural America: Preservation, Development & Services, Aug. 28-29, 2013, at the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs, IA.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - July 9, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau housing experts will be available for phone interviews during the morning drive time window to discuss new statistics in 29 metro areas from the American Housing Survey. The survey provides the most detailed look at housing, including cost of owning or renting, vacancy units, air condition/heating systems and other physical condition characteristics

WASHINGTON, D.C. - July 9, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today Mayor Mike McGinn announced the High-Performance Buildings Pilot Project, a new smart buildings partnership between the City of Seattle, Microsoft and the Seattle 2030 District aimed at reducing power consumption through real-time data analysis of Seattle buildings. This pilot program will use information technology to analyze the performance of buildings in real-time, allowing building owners to drive energy efficiency into existing buildings, without costly retrofits and without disrupting tenants.

HARRISBURG - July 9, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency today launched its Mortgage Credit Certificate (MCC) Program, which provides a limited tax credit for eligible homebuyers. A mortgage credit certificate lets qualified homebuyers claim a tax credit that reduces, on a dollar-for-dollar basis, their federal income tax liability, if any, for the life of the loan. The mortgage credit certificate provides this benefit as long as the home remains the homeowners’ primary residence.

Arlington, VA - July 9, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) today announced it has signed a strategic partnership with Maxwell Systems, a leading provider of construction management software solutions, expert services and best practices that empower contractors to eliminate waste and run a more efficient and profitable business.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - July 9, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Senators Bob Corker (R-TN) and Mark Warner (D-VA) introduced bipartisan legislation last month to address the nation’s troubled housing finance system. Senators Corker and Warner will discuss the details of the proposal and prospects for housing finance reform at the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) on Wednesday, July 17 at 8:30AM.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - July 9, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- A new energy-efficient approach to building occupancy detection, a better way to detect heat loss in electric-vehicle batteries and a high-efficiency silicon solar cell – all developed or advanced at the Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) – have been named among this year’s most significant innovations by R&D Magazine.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - July 8, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- With the market picking back up, there is a resurgence in new home communities across the country. If you’re in the market for a home, you may be asking yourself the question, new home, or old home?

Washington, DC - July 8, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- The National Council on Aging (NCOA) has announced special reduced counseling fees?$90, down from $125—for older homeowners considering a Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM), popularly known as a reverse mortgage.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - July 8, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- On July 20, 2013 Fannie Mae will enhance our at-issuance and on-going disclosures for Multifamily Mortgage-Backed Securities (MBS). These enhancements will improve transparency for Multifamily MBS backed by adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs) which employ the Actual/360 (A/360) day count convention for payment of interest. The following will be impacted by this enhancement.

Washington, D.C. - July 8, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Refinance volumes remained high in April as mortgage rates dipped slightly from March, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s April 2013 Refinance Report. More than 463,000 refinances took place in April. Of these, nearly 107,000 loans have been completed through the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP), bringing the total number of HARP refinances to more than 2.5 million since April 2009.

San Francisco, CA - July 8, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- On June 7, the 17th Annual Meritus College Fund awards were presented to 50 high school graduates for their pursuit of higher education. Zephyr Real Estate sponsored the awards ceremony, and agents from Zephyr provided a scholarship valued at $14,000 to Joshua Consul, one of those graduates. Joshua graduated from International Studies Academy and will attend San Francisco State University