Annie Blatz, broker-manager at Kinlin Grover Real Estate in Brewster, was installed on December 7, 2015, as president of the 21,000-plus-member Massachusetts Association of REALTORS® (MAR) for 2016. The event took place at the Ocean Edge Resort and Golf Club in Brewster, Mass. and included the installation of the MAR Board of Directors and Executive Committee. Blatz’s term officially begins on January 1, 2016.

Paul Yorkis, President of Patriot Real Estate, Inc., in Medway, was installed on December 7, 2015, as president-elect of the 21,000-member Massachusetts Association of REALTORS® (MAR) for 2016. The event took place at Ocean Edge Resort and Golf Club in Brewster, Mass. and included the installation of the MAR Board of Directors and Executive Committee. Yorkis’s term officially begins on January 1, 2016

The Massachusetts Association of REALTORS® (MAR) reported today that home sellers were thankful for strong buyer activity in November as pending home sales were up close to 40 percent compared to the same month last year. REALTORS’® confidence in the market was high in November as the REALTOR® Market Confidence Index was up significantly from the same time last year.

Mayor Martin J. Walsh today announced that John Hanlon has been appointed Commissioner of the Property and Construction Management Department for the City of Boston. Hanlon, a Dorchester resident, brings over 13 years of nonprofit executive experience in management, budgeting, financial reporting, data analysis and professional development to his new position

The Boston Housing Authority (BHA) announced today that it has selected affordable housing non-profit IBA - Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción as the developer for its West Newton/Rutland Streets properties, which includes the revitalization of 146 units in the public housing site in Boston’s historic South End

Congressman Jim McGovern (D-MA) and Senator Edward J. Markey (D-MA) announced that Massachusetts has been awarded $63.7 million by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to help finance improvements to water projects that are essential to protecting public health and the environment.

The Boston Housing Authority has awarded Community Builders, Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development Corporation, and Urban Edge the developer designation for its Amory Street Development. Amory Street is an elderly/disabled public housing development in Jamaica Plain.  The three accomplished non-profit and local developers have joined together to create the Amory Partners, a joint venture, led by The Community Builders group.

Mayor Sarno reminded residents of the senior citizen circuit breaker income tax credit available when they file their personal income tax returns. In calendar 2013, the last year for which data is reported, some 1174 Springfield households claimed the credit, for an average credit of $718.

Nearly 200 Boston residents participated in the pilot program in the North End and East Boston in the fall of 2014, where feedback was collected through a community participation survey advertised at local farmers’ markets and community events. Because of the success of the pilot locations – where in the past six months, 13,500 pounds of food waste have been diverted – four new sites were chosen to expand the free composting program across the City of Boston.

A Virginia man and woman who recruited participants into a multi-year, multi-property mortgage fraud scheme in Roxbury and Dorchester were sentenced this week in U.S. District Court in Boston.

The House Natural Resources Committee held a legislative hearing on the Protecting America’s Recreation and Conservation Act, a bill that proposes extensive and dismantling changes to the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). Rep. Tsongas has championed the LWCF and has been one of the leading voices calling for its reauthorization.

The conspiracy began in approximately August 2007 and continued through June 2010, a period that included the height of the financial crisis and its aftermath. Home values in Massachusetts and across the nation declined precipitously, and many homeowners found themselves suddenly “underwater,” with their homes worth less than the mortgage debt they owed.

The Baker-Polito Administration announced a program that will provide homeless veterans with housing services. Under the Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program, the administration is allocating 65 rental vouchers to chronically homeless veterans who were identified by the local veterans’ committees across the Commonwealth.

MassHousing developed the loan program after finding that VA loans have some restrictions that make it more challenging to use in Massachusetts than in other states. There are relatively few lenders in Massachusetts offering the VA loan.

The City of Boston is committed to connecting Boston's military families with the resources and assistance they are entitled to. Earlier this year, Mayor Walsh released "An Action Plan to End Veteran and Chronic Homelessness In Boston: 2015 - 2018", which outlines the City's strategies to transform Boston's homeless response system in order to end veterans homelessness by 2015 and chronic homelessness by 2018.