Mortgage applications lower last week… Broker-agent relationship upheld by Mass. Supreme Court… Green building sector set to surge… Ben Affleck checks out new pad in NYC…
Mortgage applications lower last week
The weekly barometer of mortgage applications was lower for the week ending May 29. The Mortgage Bankers Association figures show a 7.6 per cent decrease in home loan applications, even after an adjustment for the Memorial Day holiday. On an unadjusted basis the index dropped by 17 per cent from a week earlier; the refinance index dropped 12 per cent. The seasonally-adjusted purchase index fell 3 per cent with unadjusted figures showing a 14 per cent decrease but 14 per cent higher than the same week in 2014.
Refinancing made up 49 per cent of all mortgage applications, the lowest it’s been since May 2014; ARM’s made up just 6.1 per cent of all applications. FHA share of the total was 14.9 per cent while VA’s accounted for 12 per cent and USDA share was 1 per cent.
Broker-agent relationship upheld by Mass. Supreme Court
A challenge to the century-old tradition of real estate agents affiliating with brokers as independent contractors has been dismissed by the Supreme Court in Massachusetts. In the case Monell vs. Boston Pads LLC the relationship was first challenged in the Suffolk County Superior Court in 2013 and that court’s decision has now upheld by the Supreme Court. Massachusetts Association of Realtors president Corinne Fitzgerald commented: “We are pleased that the State Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the pro-consumer choice by real estate professionals to affiliate as either independent contractors or employees. This relationship has worked for generations and it is what consumers have come to expect regarding agent entrepreneurship and availability. We’re glad this choice will continue.”
Green building sector set to surge
More building owners and developers are choosing to go green with their projects according to a new report from BCC Research. The study found that companies manufacturing green building materials in the US numbered 500 in 2014 with the market worth $43.8 billion. By 2018 that figure is expected to grow to $69 billion. The market for green building materials has seen rapid growth in recent years. As of Oct. 17, 2014, more than 3.3 billion sq. ft. of building space had been certified by the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Program.
Ben Affleck checks out new pad in NYC
As divorce rumors circulate Ben Affleck has reportedly been checking out a new home; a condo at New York’s Time Warner Center. The New York Daily News reports that the actor, seen out a lot recently without wife Jennifer Garner, could be buying a condo at 25 Columbus Circle. The four bedroom home is on the market at $24.995 million, a little more than half its original listing price.
The weekly barometer of mortgage applications was lower for the week ending May 29. The Mortgage Bankers Association figures show a 7.6 per cent decrease in home loan applications, even after an adjustment for the Memorial Day holiday. On an unadjusted basis the index dropped by 17 per cent from a week earlier; the refinance index dropped 12 per cent. The seasonally-adjusted purchase index fell 3 per cent with unadjusted figures showing a 14 per cent decrease but 14 per cent higher than the same week in 2014.
Refinancing made up 49 per cent of all mortgage applications, the lowest it’s been since May 2014; ARM’s made up just 6.1 per cent of all applications. FHA share of the total was 14.9 per cent while VA’s accounted for 12 per cent and USDA share was 1 per cent.
Broker-agent relationship upheld by Mass. Supreme Court
A challenge to the century-old tradition of real estate agents affiliating with brokers as independent contractors has been dismissed by the Supreme Court in Massachusetts. In the case Monell vs. Boston Pads LLC the relationship was first challenged in the Suffolk County Superior Court in 2013 and that court’s decision has now upheld by the Supreme Court. Massachusetts Association of Realtors president Corinne Fitzgerald commented: “We are pleased that the State Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the pro-consumer choice by real estate professionals to affiliate as either independent contractors or employees. This relationship has worked for generations and it is what consumers have come to expect regarding agent entrepreneurship and availability. We’re glad this choice will continue.”
Green building sector set to surge
More building owners and developers are choosing to go green with their projects according to a new report from BCC Research. The study found that companies manufacturing green building materials in the US numbered 500 in 2014 with the market worth $43.8 billion. By 2018 that figure is expected to grow to $69 billion. The market for green building materials has seen rapid growth in recent years. As of Oct. 17, 2014, more than 3.3 billion sq. ft. of building space had been certified by the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Program.
Ben Affleck checks out new pad in NYC
As divorce rumors circulate Ben Affleck has reportedly been checking out a new home; a condo at New York’s Time Warner Center. The New York Daily News reports that the actor, seen out a lot recently without wife Jennifer Garner, could be buying a condo at 25 Columbus Circle. The four bedroom home is on the market at $24.995 million, a little more than half its original listing price.
