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Legislation will reduce disaster losses and save lives by shifting the federal focus to pre-disaster mitigation and resilient construction. The American Institute of Architects (AIA) today applauded Reps. Carlos Curbelo, R-Fla., and Albio Sires, D-N.J., for the introduction of bipartisan legislation to focus federal disaster policy on preventing losses.

Relentless supply constraints and home price growth outpacing wages are testing the patience of homebuyers this year, but existing-home sales are still on track to come in at their highest pace since 2006, according to an economic forecast forum here at the 2016 REALTORS® Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo.

Mortgage applications increased 0.4 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending May 6, 2016.

A Newaygo resident who has dedicated herself to helping those with mental health issues and the elderly to live with dignity was named Senior Citizen of 2016 today on the Capitol lawn. Adele Hansen, 87, accepted the award during Older Michiganians Day celebrations, which Consumers Energy sponsors. The award from the Area Agencies on Aging and Network Partners includes a Certificate of Proclamation from Gov. Rick Snyder and a $1,000 check from Consumers Energy.

On average, regulations imposed by all levels of government account for 24.3 percent of the sales price of a new single-family home, according to a new study by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).

There is growing consensus in the buildings industry that focusing on building systems—a combination of equipment, controls, operations and interconnections—will become increasingly necessary to achieve future meaningful and cost-effective energy savings in buildings. The Alliance to Save Energy and its partners released theSystems Efficiency Initiative (SEI) Year 1 Report at the 2016 EE Global Forum in Washington, D.C.

While the Federal Housing Administration’s overhaul of its Single-Family Housing Policy Handbook last year offered loan originators more clarity on lending policies and loan underwriting standards, some changes made to the property valuation policies are causing confusion and delays, according to speakers at a real property valuation forum yesterday at the 2016 REALTORS® Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo.

Second Century Ventures, the strategic investment arm of the National Association of Realtors® has accepted RealScout(link is external), an agent-branded web and mobile platform, as the eighth company in its 2016 REach® accelerator class. Last month, SCV announced seven other companies had been chosen to be part of the fourth class.

Today the Alliance to Save Energy’s (Alliance) 9th annual Energy Efficiency Global Forum (EE Global) opened, welcoming nearly 500 international delegates from the business, government and nonprofit sectors to Washington, D.C. for the world’s premiere, invitation-only forum dedicated to energy efficiency

Fullerton Tool Receives Rebate Worth Over $26,000 for New Construction. A family-owned tool manufacturer based in Saginaw received $26,291 in rebates from Consumers Energy today for using a program that rewards energy efficiency during new construction.

Struggles exist for many young adults trying to become homeowners, and the burden of repaying their student loan debt is in part delaying their ability to buy, according to speakers at a regulatory issues forum on student debt and homeownership at the 2016 REALTORS® Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo

Thousands of Realtors® from across the nation are meeting with legislators, regulators and industry leaders this week to advance the issues critical to their businesses, communities and clients as the REALTORS® Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo begins.

With more than 61 percent of households headed by an adult aged 60+ carrying some form of debt, economic security is a real and pressing issue for millions of older Americans, even those with retirement savings.

The University of California, Berkeley, School of Law published a new report on how solar energy development in the San Joaquin Valley can be “smart from the start” by siting projects on degraded lands with low habitat values for wildlife. The report, A PATH FORWARD Identifying Least-Conflict Solar PV Development in California’s San Joaquin Valley, represents a multi-stakeholder approach, featuring representatives from local government, industry, agriculture, renewable energy development, and the governor’s office to address solar energy development in the San Joaquin Valley

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD’s) program for selling defaulted Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans is the largest auctioning off of government-insured home mortgage loans in the nation’s history, yet the big winners are the large mortgage servicers who flout HUD rules while homeowners often unnecessarily lose their homes

White House Conference on Resilient Building Codes will help greatly to raise awareness of the critical need for building codes to encourage urban development that is more resilient to the impacts of climate change, according to the Urban Land Institute (ULI).

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) today announced that it will create a resilience curriculum for the professional development of architects, including resilient design and decision-making on hazard mitigation, climate adaptation and community resilience

Pacific Legal Foundation attorneys are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to decide whether San Juan County, Washington, can force shoreline property owners to set aside large sections of their land as buffers to filter out storm water pollution from other properties, without establishing a link between any specific development proposal and the mandatory buffer set-aside requirement.

EXIT Realty Corp. International, a real estate franchisor with brokerage operations throughout North America, has pledged $500,000 to Habitat for Humanity, bringing its total pledges to Habitat to $3 million to date

The American Institute of Architects (AIA), National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS) and 38 other leaders of America’s design and construction industry, today released a report on progress made on the resilience front since the Resilience Building Coalition announced the Building Industry Statement on Resilience two years ago.