News

WASHINGTON, DC - October 10, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced today that it is charging Metro Net Realty, LLC, a Queens, NY, real estate agency, and a salesperson for the agency with violating the Fair Housing Act by placing advertisements on Craigslist that discriminated against families with children. HUD brings the charge on behalf of the National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA), alleging that the advertisements that stated “Looking For: Mature couple or single with no children” were evidence of an effort to exclude children from housing.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - October 10, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The National Housing Conference announced this week that Jeanne Engel will serve as its interim president and CEO. Engel’s appointment follows the Sept. 23 announcement of former CEO Maureen Friar’s resignation.

Washington, DC - October 10, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The following is a statement by National Association of Realtors® President Ron Phipps. “Today, witnesses before the Senate Finance Committee were in complete agreement that now is not the time to make changes to the mortgage interest deduction. NAR is pleased that a range of witnesses testifying at the committee’s hearing on tax incentives for homeownership reinforced the message Realtors® have been delivering to Washington: do no harm.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - October 10, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- While the nation may have added 103,000 new jobs in September, the employment report showed relative weakness, particularly as it relates to the residential construction sector, which remains far below its job-creation potential in the absence of policies to restore the health of the housing marketplace, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).

WASHINGTON, D.C. - October 7, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) today announced the winners of the 2011 Multifamily Pillars of the Industry Awards. NAHB’s Pillars Awards, considered the most prestigious in the industry, honor excellence in multifamily housing development, design, marketing and management, and showcase future trends in the industry.

WASHINGTON, DC - October 6, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today awarded more than $28 million to 84 fair housing organizations and other non-profit agencies in 33 states and the District of Columbia to assist people who believe they have been victims of housing discrimination (see attached). This is in addition to the $10 million funding for high performing fair housing enforcement organizations awarded last month

WASHINGTON, D.C. - October 6, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The second edition of the National Association of Home Builders/ First American Improving Markets Index (IMI), released today, shows 23 individual housing markets now qualifying as "improving" under the new gauge's parameters. This is nearly double the 12 housing markets that made the list last month.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - October 6, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Chairman Johnson, Ranking Member Shelby, and members of the Committee, thank you for inviting me to testify today on behalf of the Financial Stability Oversight Council (the “Council”).

FRANKFORT, KY - October 6, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection announced that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded four brownfield grants to Kentucky totaling $800,000 to fund the assess...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - October 6, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Eliminating or curtailing the mortgage interest deduction would have a disproportionate impact on younger, middle-class families, who would see their ability to become home owners significantly diminished, with sober implications for their longer term financial prospects, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) told Congress today

ANCHORAGE, AK - October 6, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Alaska Housing Finance Corporation (AHFC) had the most efficient public housing program in the country during 2010. This according to a report recently published by the Center on Budget and Policy P...

TORONTO - October 6, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) LEED Automation program will be featured in a Master Series session as part of its annual Greenbuild International Conference & Expo, taking place this week in Toronto. The LEED Automation program is streamlining and creating increased capacity for the LEED green building certification process through a close collaboration with leading technology companies that offer supporting functionality, making the LEED project management, documentation and certification process faster and easier.

WASHINGTON, DC - October 6, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of the Treasury today released the September edition of the Obama Administration's Housing Scorecard – a comprehensive report on the nation’s housing market. The latest housing data offer continued mixed signals as home prices improved for the fourth consecutive month but showed continued strain from foreclosures and distressed sales. Also, mortgage defaults and foreclosure completions continued a downward trend as more homeowners were able to secure mortgage relief.

WASHINGTON, DC - October 6, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Eleven states will share more than $10.3 million in grants to community groups to provide enhanced services for homeless Veterans this year. This is in addition to the $59.5 million in preventive grants awarded earlier this year.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - October 6, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) --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 September 30, 2011.

Greenbuild – Toronto, Canada - October 6, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Green jobs are now firmly established in the design and construction workforce, according to a new study released by McGraw-Hill Construction at the Greenbuild International Conference and Expo this week in Toronto. According to the study, 35% of architects, engineers and contractors (AEC) report having green jobs today, representing 661,000 jobs and one-third of the industry workforce. That share is expected to increase over the next three years, with 45% of all design and construction jobs being green by 2014.

Clay Center, KS - October 5, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Officials from Kansas Housing Resources Corporation (KHRC), the Clay Center Housing Authority and Clay Center Chamber of Commerce Saturday celebrated the grand re-opening of Apollo Towers. The new...

>WASHINGTON, DC - October 5, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The National Multi Housing Council’s National Student Housing Council (NSHC) today released its 2011 income and expense benchmarking survey, the only such survey specifically targeting the growing off-campus student housing sector.

Washington, DC - October 5, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- We need to keep housing first on the nation’s public policy agenda, because housing and homeownership issues affect all Americans, and a housing recovery is necessary for the nation’s economic well-being

Washington, DC - October 5, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The following is a statement by National Association of Realtors® President Ron Phipps. “The National Association of Realtors® is pleased that a continuing resolution passed by Congress today included a short-term extension of the National Flood Insurance Program, but still believes a longer term extension is needed to ensure access to affordable flood insurance for millions of homeowners.