Yearly Archives: 2016

In another victory for equality for the District of Columbia, the office of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) announced that the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee today passed her bill to require the Library of Congress to install the District’s seal in the stained-glass windows of the Thomas Jefferson Building’s Main Reading Room, which contains the seals of all states and territories that existed when the building was constructed, except for the District seal.

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) today urged Congress to take action to keep the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) new silica standards from taking effect.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - April 21, 2016 - (RealEstateRama) -- The ICC/ASHRAE 700-2015 National Green Building Standard™ (NGBS) has been approved by the American National...

Bolstered by big gains in the Northeast and Midwest, existing-home sales bounced back in March and remained slightly up from a year ago, according to the National Association of Realtors®.

Mortgage applications increased 1.3 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending April 15, 2016

Sen. Cantwell’s Yakima Bill Will Help Restore Historic Fish Runs Blocked for More Than a Century and Support Drought Resilience for Ecosystems, Communities and Agriculture in the Yakima River Basin

Consumers Energy is reaching out to contractors and others as Michigan weather warms up to remind them to look up and look down – to watch out for overhead electric wires and underground electric lines and gas pipelines when doing work outdoors

Days after it closed seven Michigan coal plants, Consumers Energy today started operations at its first large-scale solar project on 17 acres at Grand Valley State University. “The first location in our Solar Gardens program demonstrates our commitment to building a sustainable future for Michigan,” said Dan Malone, Consumers Energy’s senior vice president of energy resources. “We are pleased to work with Grand Valley State University to develop a new source of renewable energy that will help power homes and businesses.”

Green Business Certification, Inc. (GBCI), the premier organization independently recognizing excellence in green business industry performance and practice globally, announced its incorporation in India. The new GBCI office, located in Gurgaon, will serve to facilitate the global growth of GBCI and its sustainability programs

HCI is seeking full-time college undergraduate students who are interested in participating in the 2016 Fall Congressional Internship Program. Selected individuals will receive an unmatched experience, learning first-hand about our nation’s legislative process while working for a member of Congress and receiving weekly leadership programming from CHCI.

Why do some affordable housing properties perform better than others? What characteristics are associated with stronger-performing and weaker-performing projects? HDC’s Deep Dive project aims to shed light on those questions, through an analysis of financial data from 142 affordable housing properties across Oregon

Eighty-six percent of the typical bank’s mortgage loans made last year were “qualified mortgages,” according to the American Bankers Association’s 23rd annual Real Estate Lending Survey. Despite an increase in non-QM lending, the survey results revealed that 72 percent of respondents expect the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s mortgage lending rules will continue to cause a reduction in credit availability.

The National Apartment Association (NAA)’s first global alliance partner, the United Kingdom Apartment Association (UKAA), launched last week in London. With momentum building in the UK’s residential rental sector, UKAA is the first cross-industry organization in the country dedicated to improving the professionalization of multifamily housing

As global temperatures rise, cities in the Great Lakes region are adjusting to a new normal of more frequent and intense storms, heavy downpours, heat waves, and cold snaps. By far the hardest hit by extreme weather are those people in the region’s low-income communities and communities of color. The Center for American Progress has released a report analyzing steps that several Midwestern cities are taking to improve social equity and climate change resilience in these communities.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Census Bureau jointly announced the following new residential construction statistics for March 2016: Privately owned housing units authorized by building permits in March were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,086,000. This is 7.7 percent (±1.2%) below the revised February rate of 1,177,000, but is 4.6 percent (±0.9%) above the March 2015 estimate of 1,038,000.  Single-family authorizations in March were at a rate of 727,000; this is 1.2 percent (±1.1%) below the revised February figure of 736,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 324,000 in March.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will evaluate a biennial Emergency Preparedness Exercise at the Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station. The exercise will occur during the week of April 25th, 2016 to assess the ability of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the State of Maryland to respond to an emergency at the nuclear facility.

The National Association of Realtors®’ strategic investment fund, Second Century Ventures, today announced the seven companies chosen to be part of the fourth class of NAR REach®, a vertical tech accelerator helping launch companies into the real estate, financial services, banking, home services and insurance industries. The program is focused on providing these early- to mid-stage companies access to the expertise, influence and key relationships NAR provides, as they are launched into the trillion dollar real estate space

This week, representatives from USDA's Rural Development team will be celebrating Earth Day by visiting newly funded projects that will improve rural water quality and safety in 33 states across the country. USDA is investing $183 million in 60 water and wastewater infrastructure projects through Rural Development's Water and Environmental Program (WEP), which provides technical assistance and financing to develop drinking water and waste disposal systems for communities with fewer than 10,000 residents.

The National Association of Mortgage Field Services (NAMFS) is pleased to announce that early registration for the 2016 Annual Conference of Mortgage Field Services in Dallas, Texas. Early registration is open through April 30.