Yearly Archives: 2015

For the third year in a row, the Silicon Valley Association of REALTORS® (SILVAR) has earned the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) Platinum Award for Global Achievement. The platinum award is the highest distinction presented by NAR to an association for having demonstrated through its global business council exceptional commitment to building members' awareness of the global and multicultural business opportunities in their local markets

As winter conditions approach that could hinder meter readers from collecting electric use data at isolated locations, Consumers Energy is eliminating the potential for bills based on estimated meter reads by continuing installations of meters that can be read remotely.

Home prices continue to climb. Home sales dipped slightly and the days on market remain low. The median sale price rose 8.7 percent from October of last year. The median price was $126,500 in October 2014 compared to $137,500 this year. Homes were on the market for an average of 69 days last month compared to 86 days in October 2014. That is a decrease of almost 20 percent!

the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced the availability of new funding to help local communities across the country to redevelop severely distressed public and HUD-assisted housing and transform surrounding neighborhoods.

Mayor Martin J. Walsh announced today that the City of Boston is scaling up the Project Oscar community composting pilot program to include City Hall Plaza, in addition to three new neighborhood locations. Residents will now be able to drop-off their food scraps at Grove Hall Plaza in Dorchester, Curtis Hall Community Center in Jamaica Plain, Faneuil Gardens Housing Development in Brighton, as well City Hall Plaza. These four new sites are in addition to the two existing bins in the North End and East Boston.

Mortgage applications decreased 3.2 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending November 20, 2015. The previous week's results included an adjustment for the Veteran's Day holiday.

Sales of new single-family houses in October 2015 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 495,000, according to estimates released jointly today by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Census Bureau. This is 10.7 percent (±17.7%)* above the revised September rate of 447,000 and is 4.9 percent (±17.6%) above the October 2014 estimate of 472,000.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced a settlement with a Rockford, Illinois landlord to resolve a claim he failed to inform tenants, some with young children, that their homes may contain potentially dangerous lead.

Christy Goldsmith Romero, Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP) announced that Michael Lewis Parker, of Pomona, Calif., who worked at a Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. based business that offered bogus loan modifications was sentenced in California yesterday to serve a federal prison term of six years, and to pay restitution of over $6 million.

The Nevada Housing Division (NHD) has been awarded the 2015 Trailblazer in Affordable Housing Award by Raymond James. The award honors the Division’s highly successful launch of the Home Is Possible homebuyer grant program.

U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, made the following statement today after the U.S. Department of the Interior signed an agreement with the New Mexico Central Arizona Project Entity (CAP Entity) that initiates a process to thoroughly evaluate the full range of proposed water management alternatives for the upper region of the Gila River and examine their impacts and costs.

Councilmember Nick Licata, chair of the Budget Committee, released the following statement after the Budget Committee sent a 2016 Budget to the Full Council. "As my 18 years in office come to an end, I've reflected on how funding for human services has changed in Seattle. I compared the first budget I voted for in 1999 to the 2016 budget approved by the Budget Committee today. Here's what I found

U.S. Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse and Congressmen Jim Langevin and David Cicilline called on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to improve the methods for projecting electricity capacity and setting energy prices across New England. In a letter to FERC Chairman Norman C. Bay, the Rhode Island delegation said the operator of New England’s power grid insufficiently counts so-called distributed generation sources of energy, such as solar panels on consumers’ homes, when tallying the region’s future energy needs.

Dignitaries, developers, and residents celebrated the grand opening today of The Deaconess apartments at 2535 Esplanade Avenue in New Orleans. Formerly the Bethany Nursing Home, the renovated, 40-unit complex was awarded a $400,000 Affordable Housing Program (AHP) grant in 2014 from First NBC Bank and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas (FHLB Dallas). The funds were used for the building's rehabilitation and renovation.

The Appraisal Institute and the Building Codes Assistance Project today released guidance for homebuilders, buyers and lenders related to valuation of green and energy-efficient homes

Mayor Bill de Blasio today broke ground on new infrastructure for the largest new housing complex built in New York City in nearly forty years, and the largest affordable housing construction project to date under the Housing New York plan. Phase II of Hunter’s Point South will create nearly 3,000 new apartments, at least 60 percent of which will be affordable to low-, moderate-, and middle-income families. Between phases I and II, Hunter’s Point South will build 5,000 new apartments

Did you have a banner year? Did you hit your sales goal and then some? Submit your application for the NJ REALTORS® Circle of Excellence Award! The award recognizes those members who have demonstrated excellence in the field of salesmanship. This prestigious program comprises two awards: The NJ REALTORS® Circle of Excellence Award and the NJ REALTORS® Distinguished Sales Club application.

Pending home sales bounced back from the previous month at the statewide level in October, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.) said today. Pending sales were also significantly higher on an annual basis, portending higher closed escrows in the next couple of months

The Internal Revenue Service today simplified the paperwork and recordkeeping requirements for small businesses by raising from $500 to $2,500 the safe harbor threshold for deducting certain capital items.

The free class, presented by Blaine Fort, Department of Motor Vehicles Safety Program Consultant, Manufactured Housing Section, will cover the installation and safety aspects of setting up a manufactured home. Fort will also discuss what local inspectors look for when reviewing installations. A question and answer opportunity is also scheduled during the event.