Massachusetts RealEstateRama

The Massachusetts Association of Realtors® (MAR) reported today that homebuyers took advantage of mild winter weather, moderating home prices and mortgages rates hitting a 12-month low (3.695%*) to push pending home sales up to their highest level in the month of February since MAR began recording this data in 2004. Unsurprisingly, Realtors® confidence in the market was positive again in February.

Each year, CHAPA travels across Massachusetts to meet with housing professionals, advocates, community members, elected officials, and other stakeholders that want to expand access to safe, quality, and affordable housing. Please join us as we share updates on affordable housing and to help us develop agendas for our public policy, research, and programming for the year

MassHousing announced today that North Shore Bank is offering Operation Welcome Home, MassHousing's mortgage program designed to make it easier for Massachusetts veterans to purchase their first home.

U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Congressman John K. Delaney (Md.-6) and Congressman Ben Lujan (N.M.-3) have filed resolutions in the House and Senate affirming the establishment of a national goal of more than 50 percent of America’s electricity production coming from clean and carbon-free electricity sources by 2030 and calling for the enactment of new legislation to achieve this goal. In a show of significant support for this initiative, the “50x30 Resolutions” are cosponsored by 30 Senators and 103 House Members.

Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) released the following statement after the full U.S. Senate yesterday voted to pass the “Securing America’s Future Energy: Protecting our Infrastructure of Pipelines and Enhancing Safety (SAFE PIPES) Act, which included three Markey amendments to strengthen America’s natural gas pipelines. Two of Senator Markey’s amendments would help address lost and unaccounted for natural gas from aging, leaky pipelines. The Obama Administration’s recently released Quadrennial Energy Review highlighted the fact that most safety incidents on natural gas pipelines occur on distribution pipelines.

Mayor Martin J. Walsh announced today that the City has selected Boston Garden Development Corporation as the vendor who will work with the City of Boston to enhance City Hall Plaza.

Families living at the 71-unit Chelsea Square apartments in Chelsea will see the extension of affordability as a result of $5.1 million in MassHousing financing. Chelsea Square Associates, which owns Chelsea Square, is refinancing the property and will extend the federal Section 8 Housing Assistance Payment contact on the 71 apartments for 20 years.

Crowninshield Management Corporation has refinanced King's Beach Tower and has extended the federal Section 8 Housing Assistance Payment contact on the 183 apartments for 20 years as part of the MassHousing financing.

Rep. Bill Keating’s office will be holding two Mobile Office Hours in March on the Cape. The first will take place Wednesday, March 2nd in Harwich. The second will be on Tuesday, March 15th in Brewster.

Congressman Jim McGovern (MA-02) spoke on the House floor today about his recent overnight stay at the Interfaith Hospitality Network (IHN) of Greater Worcester, a local homeless shelter. This was Congressman McGovern’s second time staying at the shelter and part of his ongoing efforts to raise awareness about homelessness and increase support for efforts to reduce it in Massachusetts and across the country.

MERSCORP Holdings, Inc. today announced that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Appeals Court, in affirming the dismissal of a borrower’s wrongful foreclosure lawsuit against a loan servicer, upheld MERS’ interest as the mortgagee and the right to assign the interest

The Boston Public Library celebrates the first anniversary of Phase One of the Central Library Renovation this month. It opened its doors to the new second floor of the Johnson building at the Central Library in Copley Square in February 2015. In the past year, 1,290 programs were held at the new Children’s Library and Teen Central, and more than 1.5 million library users visited, checking out over 832,000 items. Phase Two of the $78 million Central Library Renovation is underway now, and is slated to open in summer 2016

Congresswoman Niki Tsongas announced today that Third District communities Fitchburg, Haverhill, Lawrence and Lowell will receive federal Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) to support housing rehabilitation, public service projects and local infrastructure

National mortgage lender and servicer HSBC has agreed to pay $4 million to resolve allegations that it received commissions and other kickbacks relating to force-placed insurance policies that it procured for struggling Massachusetts homeowners, Attorney General Maura Healey announced toda

Mayor Martin J. Walsh announced today that the City has selected Green River as the vendor to create a new Coordinated Access platform to streamline Boston's approach to helping homeless individuals access housing and services. This technology is a key deliverable on the Walsh Administration's Action Plan To End Chronic Homelessness Among Individuals in Boston.