Yearly Archives: 2014

WASHINGTON, D.C. - March 11, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- Young home buyers remain optimistic and see their home as a good investment, while older...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - March 11, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Johnson (D-SD) and Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-ID) announced that they have reached an agreement on a housing finance reform proposal. Last fall, the Senate Banking Committee hosted an in-depth series of hearings exploring essential elements necessary for reform and over the past few months they have been negotiating and drafting the reform proposal. The bipartisan agreement includes measures from Committee Members on both sides of the aisle, the Administration and stakeholders. Chairman Johnson and Ranking Member Crapo are putting finishing touches on draft legislative text that they plan to release publicly in the coming days, and they plan to hold a markup in the coming weeks.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - March 11, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) and the National Black Chamber of Commerce (NBCC) signed a joint resolution March 7, expressing a commitment to promoting fair and open competition on taxpayer-funded construction contracts. The resolution formalizes a long-standing partnership between the organizations who will remain focused on providing value to taxpayers and opportunities for the contracting community by battling government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs), which discourage the vast majority of the construction workforce that chooses not to join a labor union from building our nation’s schools, roads and hospitals.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - March 7, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- Michael Giuliano and Keith Anderson of Lee & Associates-Ontario, representing American Bolt and Screw, negotiated the $21 million sale exchange of a 106,394-square-foot industrial complex, located at 601 Kettering Drive in Ontario, Calif., and they located to a 72,650-square-foot facility at 14650 Miller Ave. in North Fontana, Calif.

LAS VEGAS - March 7, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Associated General Contractors of America is planning to launch a new private insurance exchange in cooperation with Willis North America, association officials announced today. The new exchange, which will be called "The AGC Alternative," is anticipated to be live this summer and will allow the association's member firms to deliver better health insurance and related benefits to their employees at a lower cost, officials added

WASHINGTON, D.C. - March 7, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- Your company's participation in the 2014 NAIOP Commercial Real Estate Compensation Survey is important and will help shape the future of commercial real estate. Survey respondents at the overall company level will receive a complimentary electronic copy of the full comprehensive survey report – a $1,500 value!

WASHINGTON, D.C. - March 7, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- Job growth is the number one concern for the commercial real estate industry, says 74 percent of NAIOP leaders from across North America who attended NAIOP’s 2014 Chapter Leadership and Legislative Retreat in Washington, D.C. On the legislative front, the federal debt (38 percent) and federal tax policies (33 percent) caused the most worry, showing that uncertainty in Washington, D.C., is most certainly holding back the full recovery of the industry.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - March 7, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- President Barack Obama sent his fiscal year 2015 (FY15) budget request to Congress. The request includes strong funding for some rental housing programs, despite the tight spending caps set by Congress

New York, NY - March 7, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- A new report issued today by the NYU Furman Center analyzes the untapped potential of NYC’s transferable development rights program, a critical tool for high-density housing development in New York City

WASHINGTON, D.C. - March 6, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has developed a web-based tool to help consumers better understand the energy performance of building-related products. The Technology Performance Exchange™ (TPEx™) is a portal that helps manufacturers and other organizations that measure and test products easily share performance data with product consumers.

WASHINGTON - March 6, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- Continuing the transformation of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) into a 21st century organization, the President has proposed a $163.9 billion budget, a 6.5 percent increase over Fiscal Year 2014, that will support VA’s goals to expand access to health care and other benefits, eliminate the disability claims backlog, and end homelessness among Veterans. The budget includes $68.4 billion in discretionary spending, largely for healthcare, and $95.6 billion for mandatory programs – mostly disability compensation and pensions for Veterans

WASHINGTON - March 6, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- The following is a statement by National Association of Realtors® President Steve Brown

WASHINGTON - March 6, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- To help prevent thousands of people with disabilities from experiencing homelessness or unnecessary institutionalization, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today announced the availability of approximately $120 million in funding for state housing agencies to provide long term project-based rental assistance to extremely low-income persons with disabilities, many of whom are transitioning out of institutional settings or are at high risk of homelessness.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - March 6, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- Markets in 59 out of the approximately 350 metro areas nationwide returned to or exceeded their last normal levels of economic and housing activity, according to the National Association of Home Builders/First American Leading Markets Index (LMI), released today. This represents a net gain of one from the previous month

WASHINGTON, D.C. - March 6, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- Carol Morgan, of mRELEVANCE LLC in Atlanta, was recently sworn in as the 2014 chair of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Professional Women in Building (PWB) Council during the International Builders’ Show in Las Vegas

WASHINGTON - March 6, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today announced $2 million in grants to stimulate job growth and business opportunities in chronically underserved rural areas along the U.S.-Mexico border region.

WASHINGTON - March 6, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan today unveiled HUD’s fiscal year 2015 budget proposal. This year The President’s Budget provides a roadmap for accelerating economic growth, expanding opportunity for all Americans, and ensuring fiscal responsibility. The Budget adheres to the 2015 spending levels agreed to in the Bipartisan Budget Act and shows the choices the President would make at those levels.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - March 5, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- Sales of new single-family houses in January 2014 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 468,000, according to estimates released jointly today by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Census Bureau

WASHINGTON (February 26, 2014) – The following is a statement by National Association of Realtors® President Steve Brown: NAR supports reforms that promote economic growth, but we strongly oppose severely altering the rules that govern ownership and investment in real estate. Real estate powers almost one-fifth of the U.S. economy, employs more than 17 million Americans, and contributes a quarter of all federal and state tax revenue and as much as 70 percent of local taxes

WASHINGTON, D.C. - March 5, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- Pending home sales were essentially unchanged in January, according to the National Association of Realtors®. Monthly gains in the South and Northeast were offset by declines in the West and Midwest.