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Today, in response to the vote on the Financial CHOICE Act, H.R. 5983, by the House of Representatives Financial Services Committee, the National Community Reinvestment Coalition’s (NCRC) President and CEO John Taylor made the following statement

Data released today by the U.S. Census Bureau show improvement in household income and poverty over the past year. Median household income in the U.S. is more than 5% higher, while 3.5 million fewer Americans live in poverty in 2015 than in 2014. The National Low Income Housing Coalition welcomes this news, but recognizes that not all Americans are benefitting from the improving economy

The Board of Directors of the National Apartment Association (NAA) is delighted to announce the selection of Robert "Bob" Pinnegar, CAE, as the new President and Chief Executive Officer of the association. Established in 1939, NAA and its federation of nearly 170 affiliates serve as the leading industry trade group for the apartment housing industry

The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) formally launched at Solar Power International a first-of-its-kind national solar photovoltaic (PV) recycling program to cement the sustainability of the U.S. solar industry.

For the first time in its 74-year history, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) is officially endorsing candidates for the U.S. House and Senate in the upcoming Nov. 8 elections. “As housing goes, so goes the economy,” said NAHB Chairman Ed Brady, a home builder and developer from Bloomington, Ill. “This election could determine if the housing and economic recovery stays on track or veers off course. The incumbents and candidates from both political parties that NAHB will be endorsing have all exhibited a commitment to advance policies that will promote homeownership and rental housing opportunities for all Americans.”

Following a two-year effort, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has issued a report, Bridge Information Modeling Standardization, which sets a path to implement the use of computer modeling for bridge construction in the United States.

The National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) 2015 NEHRP Recommended Seismic Provisions for Buildings and Other Structures, as well as American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Structural Engineering Institute (SEI) ASCE/SEI 7-16, Minimum Design Loads for Buildings and Other Structures, contain updated requirements to both the Response Spectrum Analysis (RSA) method and Linear Response History (LRH) analysis method. Highlighting these updates, the National Institute of Building

MISMO® , the Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization, announced today that it has launched a new program for organizations that wish to be recognized as leaders in the mortgage industry. The new program, known as MISMO Champions, will be available to organizations that are members of MISMO and that seek to lead and support the development of standards for the benefit of the entire mortgage industry.

Members of the National Association of Home Builders are celebrating Professional Women in Building (PWB) Week Sept. 12 – 16. The goals of PWB Week are to highlight the many contributions women make to the residential construction industry and offer an opportunity for PWB members to share the value of council membership

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Office of Regional Operations (ORO), Region 10 (AK, ID, WA, OR), is hosting the webinar "Homelessness in Select Populations" on Sept. 28, 2016, from 10:00 am – 12:00 pm PST (1:00 pm – 3:00 EST).

As construction contractors can be exposed to preference actions in a municipal bankruptcy, an article in the September ABI Journal explores potential defense strategies for contractors and why a legislative fix might be required to complete necessary infrastructure projects in financially distressed cities. “Municipalities need the expertise of the construction industry to repair their infrastructures, but the Detroit bankruptcy was a rude awakening for the construction industry,” Lisa S. Gretchko and Mark A

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is illegally foisting union activists onto non-unionized businesses, through an unlawful rule allowing agents from organized labor to participate, as of right, in OSHA health and safety inspections.

James S. Lee., CRE, co-founder and senior principal, Kensington Realty Advisors, Chicago, spoke today at MIPIM Japan 2016 in Osaka. MIPIM Japan is Asia’s largest international real estate conference. He represented The Counselors of Real Estate professional association where he is the 2016 Chair of the Board. Two other Counselors of Real Estate, Hiroyuki Isobe, CRE, and Masayuki Yoshimura, CRE, also spoke at MIPIM Japan.

Growing 43 percent year over year, the U.S. saw 2,051 megawatts (MW) of solar photovoltaic (PV) installed in the second quarter of 2016. According to GTM Research and the Solar Energy Industries Association’s (SEIA) latest U.S. Solar Market Insight report, this marks the eleventh consecutive quarter in which more than a gigawatt (GW) of PV was installed.

The National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI) announced a big change with the launch of its new branding and industry-wide tagline. Much more than a logo update, rebranding has created a system of expression that galvanizes NARI’s 6,000 member-companies, cements the value of NARI’s programs and services and telegraphs externally to consumers a brand promise that emboldens the value of remodelers to homeowners and communities.

Mortgage applications increased 0.9 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending September 2, 2016.

Builds include first home in a Habitat development for military veterans in Seattle, two homes funded through recycling initiatives. Delta Air Lines employees from across the country will build or renovate affordable, single family homes in partnership with Habitat for Humanity International this fall.

Over the last two weeks, the Public Justice Center and others in the PORT3* coalition have been negotiating with Sagamore Development to ensure that Baltimore City’s proposed $660 million investment in the Port Covington development includes good jobs and affordable housing for Baltimore residents. We have insisted that the deal not hurt school funding, and that both the developer and the City be held to the highest standards of transparency and accountability

GRESB, the leading data provider for environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance of real assets, today released the results of the 2016 GRESB Real Estate, Developer and Debt assessments. The new data shows that real estate companies and funds are improving across all aspects of ESG performance, including a 1.2 percent reduction in energy consumption, 2 percent reduction in GHG emissions and close to 1 percent reduction in water use and are putting greater focus on occupant health and well-being