Massachusetts RealEstateRama

WASHINGTON, D.C. - December 1, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Representative Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) today led a letter, cosigned by 62 of his colleagues in the House of Representatives, calling for funding the Low-Income Home Heating Assistance Program (LIHEAP) through September 30, 2011 at least at the FY2010 levels of $5.1 billion – the highest funding level in the history of the program.

December 1, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- City officials, Governor Deval Patrick, and Nuestra Comunidad Development Corporation today celebrated the continued revitalization of the Blue Hill Avenue corridor at a ribbon cutting ceremony for Nuestra’s $22 million mixed-use development at the former Kasanof Bakery site in Roxbury, dedicated today as the Thomas I. Atkins Apartments.

BOSTON, MA - November 26, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- A local mortgage broker has pled guilty in connection with participating in a complex scheme in which fraudulent documents were used to defraud homeowners and mortgage lenders in real estate transactions involving 26 distressed properties in the Greater Boston area, Attorney General Martha Coakley’s Office has announced.

BOSTON, MA - November 19, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- A real estate investor and a local mortgage broker have pled guilty for their roles in a complex scheme in which fraudulent documents were used to defraud homeowners and mortgage lenders in real estate transactions involving 26 distressed properties in the Greater Boston area, Attorney General Martha Coakley’s Office has announced.

WORCESTER, MA - November 17, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- An Oxford man has been sentenced to State Prison after pleading guilty in Worcester Superior Court for his role in a complex scheme in which fraudulent documents were used to defraud homeowners and mortgage lenders in numerous real estate transactions involving distressed properties in the Worcester County area, Attorney General Martha Coakley’s Office announced today.

BOSTON, MA - November 16, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- MassHousing has awarded $453,037 in financing to help create or preserve more than 100 units of affordable sober housing in eight communities across Massachusetts.

November 8, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Mayor Menino today welcomed new homeowners to Twenty at Luma, the final phase of the Boston Housing Authority’s Orchard HOPE VI Redevelopment effort. Currently, seven families have moved in and others are due to be moving in during the next few weeks.

Washington, D.C. - November 5, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Department of Energy announced yesterday that as of September 30, 2010, Massachusetts has weatherized more than 6,900 homes with funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Recovery Act, plus more than 2,800 additional homes with annual funding for the weatherization program. In total, the state has already weatherized more than 9,700 homes since the Recovery Act began. As a result of this progress, the state will now have access to an additional $61 million in Recovery Act weatherization funding to continue providing energy efficiency services to Massachusetts’ low-income families.

November 1, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Mayor Thomas M. Menino has announced the newest initiative in moving forward his plan to make Boston one of the greenest cities in America. The City has released a comprehensive Solar Permitting Guide and Mayor Menino has filed a new ordinance that will reduce building permit fees for building owners implementing solar rooftop technologies. The announcement was made at A View from the Top: Sustainable Roofs in Boston, an event hosted by the Mayor’s Office of Environmental and Energy Services and the Boston Redevelopment Authority.

November 1, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Mayor Thomas M. Menino today joined the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development Corporation (JPNDC), New Atlantic Development Corporation (NADC), Harvard University officials, and community members in celebrating the new Doña Betsaida Gutiérrez Housing Cooperative, located at the corner of Centre and Creighton Streets. The mixed-use building, named for a long time Jamaica Plain activist, is the latest completed phase of affordable housing development at the $50 million Blessed Sacrament parish site

BOSTON, MA - October 29, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Governor Deval Patrick today announced that the state will target $2,513,973 in federal weatherization recovery funds to replace old, inefficient heating systems with new state-of-the-art units for public housing authorities in Chicopee, Hopkinton, Leominster, Lunenburg, Mansfield, Middleboro, Provincetown, Randolph, Reading, Spencer, Wakefield, Whitman, Winchendon, Winchester and Woburn

BOSTON, MA - October 25, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- MassHousing recently recognized the efforts of 95 property management companies that make a concerted effort to do business with Minority and Women-Owned Businesses (M/WBEs).

BOSTON, MA - October 21, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- MassHousing was honored with a Leader in Diversity Award today by the Boston Business Journal for the Agency’s dedication and success in promoting the use of Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprises (M/WBEs)

BOSTON, MA - October 18, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley joined with 49 other Attorneys General and state banking and mortgage regulators from 30 states to form a bi-partisan multistate group to explore whether or not individual mortgage servicers have improperly submitted affidavits or other documents in support of foreclosures without first verifying their accuracy.

BOSTON, MA - October 18, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The National Council of State Housing Agencies (NCSHA) recently presented MassHousing with three awards for program excellence at the NCSHA’s 40th annual conference in Boston

WALTHAM, MA - October 12, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Massachusetts Association of REALTORS® (MAR) today announced that the September REALTOR® Market Index (RMI) was down for the fourth straight month compared to the same time last year. While the September REALTOR® Price Index was also down again for the third straight month, it was up compared to this past August.“Uncertainty continues to be the theme echoed by REALTOR® members who responded to the September housing survey,” said 2010 MAR President Kevin Sears, broker/co-owner of Sears Real Estate in Springfield. “While their expectations on prices are down from last year, when activity amidst the first-time homebuyer tax credit was gaining critical mass, the RPI is up from August, most likely due to dropping interest rates.”

Bostn, MA - October 11, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Tomorrow, Mayor Thomas M. Menino and the City of Boston’s Waste Reduction Division will provide Boston residents a way to rid their homes of unwanted electronics, confidential documents, and hazardous waste in an environmentally safe manner

October 8, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Community development organization Urban Edge honored MassHousing with a Service to Youth Award at the organization's annual meeting, September 28. The award was largely due to MassHousing's ongoing support of employment and leadership programs for at-risk youth at MassHousing and Urban Edge housing communities.

EUGENE, OR - October 8, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Suburban properties have long been the coveted prize for Boston, Massachusetts area home seekers. Now, IDX, Inc. and real estate agent Nikki Devaux have revolutionized the way potential buyers search for homes online with her IDX enabled website. Massachusetts MLS (MLSPIN) listings are seamlessly integrated onto the search page Devaux hosts, bringing thousands of Boston homes to the fingertips of buyers. The convenience and ease that her website brings to home seekers has forever changed the way buyers search for homes online.

October 4, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Mayor Thomas M. Menino announced today four groundbreakings at Boston Housing Authority developments that have been made possible through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). In September of last year, the BHA was awarded $40 million in competitive ARRA grants which is being used to upgrade four buildings at the Cathedral and Bromley Heath developments, redevelop a portion of the Old Colony development and create a Services Center for Frail Elders at the Amory Street housing development

BOSTON, MA - October 1, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Thursday, September 30, 2010 – As part of the Patrick-Murray Administration's continuing efforts to promote job growth and long-term economic recovery, Governor Deval Patrick today announced that $980,959 in federal weatherization assistance program recovery funds will be used to replace antiquated, inefficient heating systems at properties operated by 10 public housing authorities throughout the Commonwealth

WALTHAM, MA - September 28, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Massachusetts Association of REALTORS® (MAR) reported today that single-family home sales in August went down for the second month in a row compared to the year before. Single-family year-over-year median prices went up for the 10th straight month as condominium median prices crossed the $300,000 threshold for the first time since MAR has been tracking median prices.

EUGENE, OR - September 28, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Prestige Boston Realty and Timothy Sherman have joined forces with IDX, Inc. to update and transform the real estate website Sherman hosts. Home seekers can now scan the IDX Broker enabled page to search through Massachusetts MLS (MLSPIN) listings quickly and efficiently, thanks to the IDX solution Sherman has adopted. With the dynamic tools made available to Sherman, his clients and those just browsing the Boston real estate market, the online property search has been revolutionized. Homes around the Boston Back Bay and surrounding suburbs are now seamlessly displayed on the search page Sherman supports

September 24, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Mayor Thomas M. Menino announced that his Office of Environment and Energy Services and the Department of Neighborhood Development (DND) have partnered to make available $900,000 for energy performance improvements to affordable housing developments throughout Boston. The funds, which will be administered through the Renew Boston and Green Affordable Housing Program, are part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental and Energy Services’ $6.5 million award made in 2009 under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

BOSTON, MA - September 16, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- MassHousing announced a loan closing today of $6.3 million to preserve affordability for low-income families at the 140-apartment Joseph’s House in Fitchburg

September 13, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Mayor Thomas M. Menino and residents of Jamaica Plain’s Mount Pleasant Home (MPH) elderly rental housing development today celebrated the progress of building’s $20 million renovation and expansion project with a ceremonial cornerstone laying as part of the housing facility’s 15th Annual Backyard Party, to which the neighborhood was invited. Upon completion, the renovated MPH will serve a mixed-income senior population with 60 single room occupancy units, as well as common area living spaces, and a medical facility staffed by Brigham and Women’s Hospital that will provide services to tenants and the surrounding community.

September 10, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-CA), Governor Ed Rendell (D-PA), and Mayor Michael Bloomberg (I-NYC), co-chairs of Building America’s Future, announced today that Mayor Thomas M. Menino has joined its bipartisan and national infrastructure coalition comprised of state and locally elected officials to help secure a renewed federal commitment to infrastructure.

EUGENE, OR - September 8, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Christine Pierce of Success Real Estate has adopted a customizable IDX solution for her real estate website. Thanks to the IDX, Inc. revolutionary technology, home seekers around the Massachusetts Cape can begin searching for a home from the comfort of their own residence. Massachusetts MLS (MLSPIN) listings are synced directly with her own properties to give potential buyers a dynamic database of homes to search through. The online property search experience just got simpler and more effective on the professional website of Pierce.

August 31, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Governor Deval Patrick today joined Congressman John Olver, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan and other officials to celebrate the start of construction on the long-vacant Heywood Wakefield furniture manufacturing mill.(Photo credit: Matt Bennett/Governor's Office)

WOBURN, MA - August 31, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- A North Chelmsford real estate company and its agent have been sued for violating state anti-discrimination law, Attorney General Martha Coakley’s Office announced. The Attorney General’s Office filed a housing discrimination complaint yesterday against Prime Properties, Inc., and its agent, Joan Eident, in Middlesex Superior Court alleging that the defendants refused to rent to a single mother because she has a young child.“The Commonwealth’s anti-discrimination law prohibits landlords and real estate professionals from refusing to rent to prospective tenants because they have children,” AG Coakley said. “Massachusetts is facing critical housing needs and compliance with these laws is of the upmost importance in ensuring that residents are afforded the fair treatment and equal opportunity that they deserve.”