Search Results for: workforce housing forum

With insights gained from REALTOR® Party polling, Oregon REALTORS® launched an Issues Mobilization campaign to persuade legislators to approve critical legislation addressing the state’s ongoing housing and homelessness crises. The resulting passage of SB 1537 brings important land use and permitting reforms to the housing production process.

In Hawaii, the combined effect of vast acreage of protected natural lands, the high cost of living and a severe shortage of affordable housing brings land use issues into still sharper focus; so do the tents for the homeless that line many city streets. Using the Land Use Initiative, the Hawaii Association of REALTORS® is taking steps toward review and reform of the state’s complex Land Use System to clear road blocks to affordable housing.

National Association of Realtors® President John Smaby issued the following statement on Friday following Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson's announcement that HUD will seek to encourage reforms to local zoning and land use regulations as a way to address affordable housing shortages. 

On September 4, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) declared a “temporary halt to residential evictions to prevent the further spread of COVID-19,” which applies to all residential housing. This moratorium ends on December 31, 2020. This may seem helpful to renters in the short-term. But, this notice does not relieve residents from their rent obligations, and landlords may charge late fees, penalties and interest on missed rental payments. Right now, housing markets are strong. But a lack of rental assistance jeopardizes the entire real estate market. The eviction crisis that will occur at the end of this...

When the Spokane City Council presented a Sustainability Action Plan calling for extreme limitations on natural gas implementation, the REALTORS® reacted in force with multiple REALTOR® Party resources. It was a powerful Call for Action that discouraged the plan, and they are now focused on helping the city find reasonable solutions for increased energy efficiency.

When a racist rally occurred in Charlottesville, Virginia in August 2017, it prompted the City Council to focus on municipal policies through a lens of racial inequity. City leaders revisited the comprehensive land use plan with an eye toward improving affordable housing, an area that had always been intimately linked with race. The Charlottesville Area Association of REALTORS® endorsed the major zoning reform and used grants from the REALTOR® Party to support its passage.

It’s the kind of “problem” that most cities wouldn’t mind having: companies like Amazon, IKEA and Mars Candy opening or expanding facilities within city limits. Joliet, Illinois is experiencing impressive job growth, and is seeking to convert commuters and renters into local homeowners with a new down payment assistance program, the help of Three Rivers Association of REALTORS® and a Housing Opportunity Grant.

Joining forces with colleagues from the local NAREB chapter and the National Association of Gay & Lesbian Real Estate Professionals, Columbus REALTORS® hosted a Cost of Poverty Experience and dramatized a mock trial to highlight issues addressed by the Fair Housing Act that are still at play in their communities.

NAR’s most recent Existing Home Sales report showed nationwide housing inventory lower than its been since we began tracking this data nearly four decades ago – way back in 1982. In Denver, as in cities and towns across the country, we’ve heard reports of listings with more than 100 showings in one weekend and dozens of competitive offers rolling in soon after. Bidding wars and waived inspections and even sight-unseen offers have become more common than any of us would have ever imagined – especially if you asked this time last year.

With help from a Fair Housing Grant, the Greater Baltimore Board of REALTORS® produced a compelling trio of thirty-second videos to promote fair housing on social media and over airwaves throughout the region.