Yearly Archives: 2017

The installed cost of solar power fell to record lows in the first quarter of 2017 because of the continuing decline in photovoltaic (PV) module and inverter prices, higher module efficiency, and lower labor costs, according to an analysis by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).

Commercial real estate price growth in large markets is expected to flatten over the next year, but strong leasing demand and investor appetite in smaller markets should keep the sector on solid ground, according to the latest National Association of Realtors® quarterly commercial real estate forecast

The Boulder Group, a net leased investment brokerage firm, has completed the sale of a single tenant net leased Advance Auto Parts located at 1386 Butterfield Road in Aurora, Illinois for $2,150,000. The Advance Auto Parts property is located just off of the heavily trafficked signalized intersection of Kirk Road and Butterfield Road.

The DC Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) was selected as the 2017 winner of the prestigious Robert C. Larson Housing Policy Leadership Award by the Urban Land Institute (ULI). The award recognizes exemplary state and local programs that are using innovative strategies to produce, rehabilitate, or preserve workforce and affordable housing.

U.S. Housing and Urban Development today announced HUD will speed federal disaster assistance to the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and provide support to homeowners and low-income renters forced from their homes due to Hurricane Irma.

Washington, D.C.’s Department of Housing and Community Development has been selected by the Urban Land Institute’s (ULI) Terwilliger Center for Housing as the winner of the 2017 Robert C. Larson Housing Policy Leadership Award, which is an annual recognition of the innovative ways the public sector is addressing the country’s affordable housing crisis.

Newark’s Hahne & Co. Building, Boston’s Mosaic on the Riverway, and Austin’s Wildflower Terrace have been selected by the Urban Land Institute (ULI) Terwilliger Center for Housing as the winners of the 2017 Jack Kemp Excellence in Affordable and Workforce Housing Award. The annual award, which honors developments that ensure housing affordability for people in a broad range of incomes, is provided to developments in which all or a portion of the units are affordable to households earning up to 120 percent of the area median income (AMI).

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced $188 million in grants for two programs benefiting homeless Veterans. The grants were made through the Grant and Per Diem (GPD) program, awarded to community agencies providing services to homeless Veterans.

Mortgage credit availability increased slightly in August according to the Mortgage Credit Availability Index (MCAI), a report from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) which analyzes data from Ellie Mae's AllRegs® Market Clarity® business information tool.

David H. Stevens, President & CEO of the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), released the following statement in response to questions about what steps homeowners should take if their homes suffered damage from Hurricanes Harvey or Irma.

Meridian, a full-service commercial real estate developer based in California, is pleased to announce the purchase of Grunow Memorial Medical Center, a landmark 51,150-square-foot two-story medical office building located at 926 East McDowell Road in Phoenix, Arizona. The seller was PacVentures, a real estate investment firm based in San Diego, California. Meridian paid nearly $5 million for the 40 percent leased building located near Banner Health University Medical Center’s Phoenix Campus and Phoenix Children’s Hospital. The acquisition of Grunow Memorial Medical Center represents Meridian’s first major transaction outside of California

The Boulder Group, a net leased investment brokerage firm, has completed the sale of a single tenant net leased Bakers Square Restaurant located at 7409 Kingery Highway in Willowbrook, Illinois for $1,317,000.

Granger MacDonald, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder and developer from Kerrville, Texas, today issued the following statement regarding the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s decision to halt new FHA multifamily mortgage insurance applications in counties impacted by Hurricane Harvey and designated as Presidentially Declared Disaster areas

Four organizations will serve as keystone partners of Habitat for Humanity’s response to Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, each making contributions of $1 million or more to support the Habitat Hammers Back initiative. The gifts from the Dow Chemical Company, General Motors, Thrivent Financial and a group of American wind energy companies will support on-the-ground responses to the hurricanes in Texas, Florida and other affected areas.

MISMO®, the Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization, is inviting mortgage industry participants to collaborate on developing new electronic and online notary standards and best practices for use within the mortgage process

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is accepting public comments on the State of Idaho’s application to assume the role of writing, administering and enforcing water quality discharge permits in the state. Until now, the job of writing wastewater and stormwater discharge permits, performing facility inspections and otherwise enforcing the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (part of the federal Clean Water Act) has been the sole responsibility of federal authorities at EPA.

The release of the First Edition of Profiles in American Solar Manufacturing highlights some of the 600 American solar manufacturing facilities that have achieved success in the solar boom, and that themselves will be severely injured if a trade case brought by two deeply flawed solar cell companies is successful.

The DC Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) closed three loan agreements totaling more than $18.9 million that will help preserve 360 affordable housing units in Wards 2, 7 and 8. The funding was made available through the Housing Production Trust Fund (HPTF).

Congress must help communities devastated by Hurricane Harvey become more resilient to extreme weather, flooding, and other climate change risks, according to a new column from the Center for American Progress.