Archives

Georgetown-based lender will commit $1.5 million for loan program for veterans. BOSTON, MA - January 19, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- MassHousing announced today that Georgetown Savings Bank is now an approved lender of MassHousing’s A Home for the Brave loan program for Massachusetts veterans.

January 15, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Mayor Thomas M. Menino today announced that the City’s Department of Neighborhood Development (DND) has been awarded $13.6 million in the second round of Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) funding to assist the City’s ongoing foreclosure prevention and reclamation efforts. Specifically, the competitively awarded funding will allow the City to support responsible redevelopment of up to 275 foreclosed homes in those neighborhoods most burdened by Boston’s bank-owned properties, namely Dorchester, East Boston, Roxbury, Hyde Park, and Mattapan.

All 194 apartments at housing community near Interstate 93 will stay affordable. BOSTON, MA - January 11, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) --January 11, 2010 – MassHousing announced a loan commitment today of up to $14.4 million to preserve affordability at Mountain View Terrace in Stoneham, a 194-apartment housing community for senior citizens and families

January 11, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- As part of the Patrick-Murray Administration’s Massachusetts Recovery Plan to secure the state’s economic future, Governor Deval Patrick and Lieutenant Governor Timothy Murray were in New Bedford today to announce that the state will invest $153.9 million in resources leveraged from various affordable housing programs, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds, and private investment to support 26 projects in 17 communities across the state. When completed, those projects will create or preserve 1,305 rental homes, 1,147 of which will be affordable to low-and moderate-income working families and individuals, including 144 units set aside for families transitioning to permanent housing from homelessness

WALTHAM, MA - January 5, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Massachusetts Association of REALTORS® (MAR) reported today that the number of single-family homes put under agreement in December was up 5 percent over the same time last year, while condominiums were up 26 percent. December marks the sixth straight month that the number of homes put under agreement had increased over the year before

Homes put under agreement in November up for the sixth straight month. WALTHAM, MA - December 22, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Massachusetts Association of REALTORS® (MAR) reported today that single-family home sales were up a record 63.1 percent compared to November 2008, as buyers expected the first-time homebuyer tax credit to expire at the end of the month (instead it was extended to April 2010). Condominium sales also hit record levels going up 76.2 percent compared to the year before. Median prices were up 0.7 percent compared to last year, while condominium median prices were essentially flat going down only 0.4 percent. November pending sales (homes put under agreement) were up 15 percent from the same time last year. Pending sales have now gone up for six straight months

December 21, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- Mayor Thomas M. Menino today announced that the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) is now accepting contract bids on behalf of the City of Boston for $21.5 million worth of road repair and resurfacing projects in Boston. The funding, awarded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), will support five separate construction contracts covering a total of 18.6 miles of roadway in various neighborhoods of the City. Allston-Brighton, Charlestown, Dorchester, Hyde Park, Jamaica Plain, Mattapan, Roslindale, South Boston, West Roxbury, and Downtown will all benefit from projects made possible by this funding.

December 17, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, Mayor Thomas M. Menino announced that Boston is one of the first cities in the nation to receive a major grant of $1.9 million from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) through the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

December 17, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, Mayor Thomas M. Menino announced that the City of Boston has joined with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in seeking $60 million of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding to support energy efficiency statewide and the Renew Boston Rental Property Retrofit Program. Under the grant proposal, $15 million would support the Renew Boston program with targeted investments along the Blue Hill Avenue corridor utilizing a full compliment of incentives to afford landlords the opportunity to invest in energy efficient upgrades that benefit their tenants. Over 60 percent of corridor residents living in rental housing and many residents spend more than 10 percent of household income on energy. The program will also compliment the city’s green jobs program, including a pending $4 million U.S. Department of Labor Pathways Out of Poverty grant request.

WALTHAM, MA - December 15, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Massachusetts Association of REALTORS® Charitable Foundation made a $3,000 donation to Homes for Our Troops, a national non-profit organization that provides homes at no cost to severely injured Servicemen and Servicewomen and their immediate families. The donation was presented to Homes for Our Troops at the “Build Brigade” for the construction of the home for Army Sergeant Michael Downing on Friday, December 11, 2009 in Middleboro. Downing was on his second deployment when he was left a double amputee after an IED explosion in Afghanistan in September 2008.

December 4, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, Mayor Thomas M. Menino announced that the number of new property tax liens expected to be filed for Fiscal Year 2009 is 18 percent less than FY 2008. The value of these new liens represents only half a percentage point of the total FY 2009 tax levy of $1.4 billion

BOSTON, MA - December 3, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- MassHousing announced a $1.4 million loan commitment today to help develop 43 affordable apartments for low-income families as part of a 62-apartment mixed-income historic redevelopment in Mission Hil

BOSTON, MA - December 3, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- MassHousing announced loan commitments today of up to $5.9 million for the development of Maple Ridge, a 72-unit affordable rental community in Tyngsborough

New law, leveraging of public/private funds protects tenants. BOSTON, MA - November 30, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- Standing with housing and community leaders, Governor Deval Patrick today highlighted a law he signed last week to keep publicly-assisted rental properties affordable and announced the roll-out of a $150 million loan fund leveraged primarily through private dollars to support and secure long-term affordable housing preservation efforts.

Boston, MA - November 30, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- The owner of a 25-unit apartment building in Springfield, Mass. has agreed to pay a fine of $10,000 to settle an EPA enforcement action alleging violations of federal lead-based paint disclosure requirements.