Yearly Archives: 2017

Kurt Thompson, Templeton resident and Realtor® with Keller Williams Realty - North Central in Leominster, was installed on December 7, 2017 as Treasurer of the 24,000-member Massachusetts Association of Realtors® (MAR) for 2018. The event took place at Hotel 1620 in Plymouth, Mass. and included the installation of the MAR Board of Directors and Executive Committee. Thompson’s term officially begins on January 1, 2018.

Anne Meczywor, broker/associate at Roberts & Associates Realty Inc. in Lenox, was installed on December 7, 2017 as President-Elect of the 24,000-member Massachusetts Association of Realtors® (MAR) for 2018.  The event took place at Hotel 1620 in Plymouth, Mass. and included the installation of the MAR Board of Directors and Executive Committee. Meczywor’s term officially begins on January 1, 2018.

Paul Yorkis, President of Patriot Real Estate, Inc., will serve as Immediate Past President of the Massachusetts Association of Realtors® (MAR) in 2018. As the Immediate Past President of the Association, Yorkis will serve in an advisory capacity to the MAR president, act as an association spokesperson, and assist in the administration of the affairs of MAR between meetings of the MAR Board of Directors. 

MassHousing has provided $10.8 million in financing to the nonprofit developer Home City Development, Inc, to advance the second phase of the substantial rehabilitation of the 136-unit E. Henry Twiggs Estates in Springfield. The project will complete major renovations of 61 scattered-site apartments for low-income families in the Mason Square neighborhood of Springfield.

The Baker-Polito Administration announced a comprehensive new initiative to substantially increase housing production across the Commonwealth. The Administration’s Housing Choice Initiative creates a new system of incentives and rewards for municipalities that deliver sustainable housing growth; creates a new technical assistance toolbox, to empower cities and towns to plan for new housing production; and proposes legislative changes, through An Act to Promote Housing Choices, to deliver smart, effective zoning at the local level.

The Massachusetts Association of Realtors® (MAR) reported today that single-family pending home sales rose over 12 percent this month from November of last year, with prices rising over four percent. Pending condominium sales were also up, rising more than two percent over last year, while prices increased slightly.

As Republicans on the congressional tax scam conference committee try to finalize their partisan plan this week, Senators Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Tom Udall (D-N.M.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) are demanding removal of renewable energy provisions from the final conference report that would devastate clean energy deployment and job growth.

Mayor Domenic J. Sarno announced today his preliminary recommendation for Fiscal Year 2018 property tax rates. This will now be sent to the Springfield City Council for consideration at a meeting scheduled for Monday, December 11, 2017 at 6:00 p.m. The recommended rates are $ 19.69 for residential and $39.25 for commercial, industrial, and personal property (CIP) (per $1,000 valuation).

The Massachusetts Association of Realtors® (MAR) reported today that closed sales for single-family homes saw a hike of almost six percent, while prices rose more than five percent. Year-over-year condominium sales also saw a bump, with prices rising almost four percent. Inventory dropped to a record low for the month of October

The grants come from the Center for Community Recovery Innovations, Inc. (CCRI), a nonprofit subsidiary corporation of MassHousing that helps nonprofits create or preserve affordable sober housing in Massachusetts for individuals in recovery. To date, CCRI has awarded more than $10 million in grants for the creation or preservation of more than 2,100 units of substance-free housing, in 50 communities, serving recovery populations that include men, women, families, veterans, the homeless and ex-offenders.

Congressman Joe Kennedy III released the following statement today after House Republicans rejected his amendment to extend the Earned Income Tax Credit to working childless adults by simply maintaining the estate tax.

At a hearing of the Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources, Congresswoman Niki Tsongas (MA-3) spoke in strong opposition to a Republican bill, the Accessing Strategic Resources Offshore Act orASTRO Act, which wouldoverturn reforms put in place after the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster and dramatically expand offshore drilling.

Mayor Domenic J. Sarno and Congressman Richard E. Neal are pleased to announce that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development have approved a $3,650,000 million loan guarantee to the City of Springfield to finance a $41 million redevelopment of the Historic Paramount Theater and Massasoit Building. This transformative project is intended to provide a focal point for cultural and entertainment activities in western Massachusetts

The Massachusetts Association of Realtors® (MAR) reported today that single-family pending home sales jumped over four percent this month from September of last year, with prices rising close to five percent. Pending condominium sales were also up, rising more than three percent over last year, while prices increased slightly. Realtors® confidence in the market and in home prices were both up again in September. This month’s “Hot Topic” question asks Realtors® how they would describe the appraisal process in the last six months

The president and founder of a Falmouth mortgage company pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court in Boston in connection with defrauding the Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae) out of approximately $2.5 million.