Legislation Would Produce More Than 3 Million New Housing Units, Reduce Rents for Working Families by 10%, and Create 1.5 Million New Jobs with No Deficit Impact; Bill Would Also Promote Home Ownership and Reverse Decades of Discriminatory Housing Policy

BondLink, the municipal market’s premier provider of investor outreach solutions, today announced the Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency (MassHousing) has launched an investor relations website, MassHousingBonds.com

The Massachusetts Association of Realtors® (MAR) reported today that the number of single-family homes and condominiums put under agreement in the month of July experienced double-digit percent increases over the same time last year. The median price for pending home sales remained above the $400,000 for the third straight month. July's Hot Topic' question found that the vast majority of Realtors® reported that their clients are concerned about finding a home to buy after they sell.

One of 19 awards from Baker-Polito Administration, totaling $57 million in affordable rental housing awards and $33 million allocation in tax credits to support creation and preservation of nearly 1,500 housing units

The Massachusetts Association of Realtors® (MAR) today announced that Corinne Fitzgerald of Northfield, Broker/Owner of Fitzgerald Real Estate in Greenfield, has been named the 2018 recipient of the MAR Private Property Rights Award. Fitzgerald received the award at the Association’s annual Realtor® Day on Beacon Hill event that took place at the Massachusetts State House on June 7, 2018.

FY 2019 first quarter Real Estate and Personal property tax bills will be due on Wednesday, August 1st, 2018. Bills were mailed to all property owners on June 30th, and include both the August payment stub and the November stub (due on November 1, 2018).

A Heath Street gang member was sentenced today in federal court in Boston for distributing drugs in and around the Mildred C. Hailey Apartments in Jamaica Plain. Javonte Robinson, a/k/a “Biggie,” and “Big Dog,” 21, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge William G. Young

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.