Yearly Archives: 2016

Markets in 117 of the approximately 340 metro areas nationwide returned to or exceeded their last normal levels of economic and housing activity in the fourth quarter of 2015, according to the National Association of Home Builders/First American Leading Markets Index (LMI) released today. This represents a year-over-year net gain of 52 markets.

This week, attorneys with Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF) filed the Respondents’ Brief on the merits in United States Army Corps of Engineers v. Hawkes Co., Inc., a precedent-setting case that asks whether landowners may appeal to the judiciary if their property is labeled as “wetlands” subject to the federal Clean Water Act.

Leading solar power company EnergyONE has announced to make Houston homes energy independent with best & most advanced solar panels made in America. The company caters to commercial customers as well

Mercy Housing Northwest, one of the region’s largest not-for-profit affordable housing providers, hosted a celebration event at noon on Thursday to mark the start of construction of Mercy Othello Plaza. Bill Rumpf, Regional President, was the Master of Ceremony. Seattle Mayor Ed Murray, King County Executive Dow Constantine, Sound Transit CEO Peter Rogoff and community leaders joined Mercy Housing staff in the celebration

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) has had a long history of tracking the evolution of home buyer preferences. Builders and other industry professionals now have an opportunity to find out what baby boomers want compared to other home buyers in Housing Preferences of the Boomer Generation: How They Compare to Other Home Buyers, a study recently released by NAHB's publishing arm, BuilderBooks

On Friday, February 26th, U.S. EPA Deputy Assistant Administrator for Water Joel Beauvais will end his California tour of several sustainable water facilities at the Oro Loma wastewater treatment and purification plant in San Lorenzo. His visit will focus on their innovative “horizontal levee” ecotone project, which is transforming a 10-acre weedy field to provide wastewater treatment, wet weather storage, shoreline habitat, and infrastructure protection from rising sea level. The levee is also an outdoor laboratory used to research climate change adaptation methods to protect infrastructure around San Francisco Bay.

Through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act), President Obama made the largest single investment in clean energy in history, providing more than $90 billion in strategic clean energy investments and tax incentives to promote job creation and the deployment of low-carbon technologies, and leveraging approximately $150 billion in private and other non-federal capital for clean energy investments.

The City of Elk Grove Development Services Department will host a community meeting to provide more information related to The Ridge Shopping Center and Costco Wholesale projects. There will also be an opportunity for residents to ask questions and provide their input to the developers of the projects. The community meeting will be held on Monday, March 7 at 6:00 pm in the City Hall Council Chambers

Building new wind farms in the U.S has added $13 billion a year on average to the American economy over the past five years. According to information released today by the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), that’s more money each year than the annual revenue generated by Major League Baseball.

Through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act), President Obama made the largest single investment in clean energy in history, providing more than $90 billion in strategic clean energy investments and tax incentives to promote job creation and the deployment of low-carbon technologies, and leveraging approximately $150 billion in private and other non-federal capital for clean energy investments

It’s estimated that 10 percent of all the energy used in buildings in the U.S. can be attributed to window performance, costing building owners about $50 billion annually, yet the high cost of replacing windows or retrofitting them with an energy efficient coating is a major deterrent. U.S. Dept. of Energy (DOE)’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) researchers are seeking to address this problem with creative chemistry—a polymer heat-reflective coating that can be painted on at one-tenth the cost

Mortgage applications decreased 4.3 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending February 19, 2016. This week's results include an adjustment to account for the President's Day holiday

the World Trade Organization (WTO) ruled against a common-sense solar energy initiative in India that is a core component of the country’s contribution to the Paris agreement to tackle climate disruption.

The Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance held its second hearing of the 114th Congress to examine the impact of international regulatory standards on the competitiveness of U.S. insurers.

–Teams of specialists from FEMA will offer tips and techniques to lessen the impact of future disaster-related property damage at building supply stores in three Arkansas locations Thursday, Feb. 25 – March 1, 2016.

Hanley Investment Group, a nationally-recognized real estate brokerage and advisory firm specializing in retail property sales, announced today that Executive Vice President Eric Wohl negotiated the sale of Woodland Plaza, an 87,855-square-foot grocery-anchored shopping center in Harlan, Kentucky. Wohl represented both the buyer, Coastal Equities in Weston, Florida, and the seller, RCG Ventures of Atlanta, Georgia.

International award-winning firm KTGY Architecture + Planning is pleased to announce that Principal Manny Gonzalez was elevated to the prestigious College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) for his contributions to the 55+ housing industry. Fellowship is one of the highest honors the AIA can bestow upon a member.

Graduate Student Teams Representing Harvard University, Georgia Institute of Technology, and the University of Miami Advance to Finale in Atlanta; Winning Team to Receive $50,000 in Prize Funds

Sales of new single-family houses in January 2016 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 494,000, according to estimates released jointly today by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Census Bureau. This is 9.2 percent (±13.5%)* below the revised December rate of 544,000 and is 5.2 percent (±12.6%)* below the January 2015 estimate of 521,000.

On February 23, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued regulations amending the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (Housing Credit) compliance monitoring requirements to revise and clarify physical inspection and certification review rules. In conjunction with the new regulations, IRS published Revenue Procedure 2016-15, which further explains the implementation of the new regulations. The compliance monitoring regulations will be effective upon formal publication in the Federal Register on February 25