Page 14 - New England Condominium October 2019

14 NEW ENGLAND CONDOMINIUM -OCTOBER 2019 NEWENGLANDCONDO.COM Located Throughout New England Servicing the Northeast, Free Estimates Fully Insured, Certified by NADCA 1-800-442-8368 customerservice@ductandvent.com www.ductandvent.com Duct & Vent Cleaning of America, Inc. CONDOMINIUM MARKETPLACE “Th e Directory to Everything You Need” MARCUS ERRICO EMMER & BROOKS, P.C. Representing Over 4,000 Condominium Associations... One Association at a Time 45 Braintree Hill Park, Suite 107 Braintree, MA 02184 (781) 843-5000/Braintree (508) 791-2120/Worcester (401) 351-2221/Rhode Island www.meeb.com | law@meeb.com MEEB_NEC_June14.qxp:Layout 1 5/19/14 12 ACCOUNTANTS Goodman, Shapiro & Lombardi, LLC Concentrating in condominium and real estate law in MA & RI www.goshlaw.com (877)-241-1600 NECondoClassifiedAd7-7-17woNH.indd 1 7/7/2017 1:09:16 PM Flynn Law Group 185 Devonshire St., Suite 401 • Boston, MA 02110 617-988-0633 “Quality Representation at Reasonable Rates - $150/Hr.” Contact Attorney Frank Flynn Frank@fl ynnlaw-ne.com www.fl ynnlaw-ne.com ATTORNEYS Merrill & McGeary 100 State Street, Suite 200 Boston, MA 02109 617-523-1760 • Fax 617-523-4893 Contact: Mike Merrill, Esq. mmerrill@merrillmcgeary.com DUCT/DRYER VENT CLEANING INDOOR AIR QUALITY • VENTILATION • DUCT CLEANING AIR DUCT & DRYER VENT CLEANING 800-893-1117 www.continentalcleanair.com Property Managers • Multi Units • Associations • Condos Continental clean:Layout 1 12/22/09 David A. Levy, CPA, P.C. Certified Public Accountants 20 Freeman Place Needham, MA 02492 Tel: (617) 566-3645 (866) 842-0108 Fax: (866) 681-2377 www.DALCPAPC.net DAL CPA See Our Display Ad on Page 13 BetterVent is a NEW kind of Indoor Dryer Vent. www.adr-products.com 1-888-609-5512 Condominium and Real Estate Law Phone: (781) 817-4900 Direct: (781) 817-4603 Fax: (781) 817-4910 We may be dressed up, but we aren’t afraid to get our hands dirty. www.lawmtm.com See Our Display Ad on Page 5 Solving your problems today & strengthening your association for tomorrow. 6 Lyberty Way, Suite 201 Westford, MA 01886 (978)496-2000 www.perkinslawpc.com Accounting • Auditing • Taxes • Consulting Worcester 67 Millbrook Street 508-797-5200 Grafton 80 Worcester Street 508-839-0020 Holden 795 Main Street 508-829-5544 M Love Associates, & LLC Certified Public Accountants Serving Condominium Associations mlove 2.25 x 2.5 condo association color 9.19.2017.indd 1 9/19/17 12:59 PM edged lower in July as the median sale price reached a six-year high for the month, ac- cording to the latest report from Th e Warren Group, publisher of Th e Commercial Record. In its press release, Th e Warren Group said that July single-family home sales totaled 3,893 transactions, a 1.4 percent decrease from July 2018 when there were 3,949 transactions. Th is marked twelve consecutive months of single-family homes sales declining on a year- over-year basis. At the same time, the median single-family home price rose 0.7 percent on a year-over-year basis to $282,000 – a six-year high for the month of July. Year-to-date, there have been 18,649 single-family home sales in Connecticut – a 4.7 percent decrease from the fi rst seven months of 2018. Year-to-date, the median sale price hit $261,000 – a 0.4 percent increase. “Historically, July tends to be the month when single-family home prices hit the high- est mark for the year,” said Cassidy Norton, Associate Publisher and Media Relations Di- rector of Th e Warren Group. “Th e median sale price of $282,000 marked a six-year high for the month of July. Th e last time the me- dian sale price surpassed this mark was in July 2013 when the price hit $286,000.” Condominium sales increased in July, rising 1.3 percent on a year-over-year basis with 947 transactions. Th is is compared to the 935 condo sales recorded in July 2018. Meanwhile, the median sale price dipped 2.9 percent on a year-over-year basis to $170,000 compared to $175,000 in July 2018. Year-to- date, there have been 5,168 condo sales, a 0.2 percent decrease from the fi rst seven months of 2018, with a median sale price of $170,000, which is unchanged from this time last year. “When looking at year-to-date numbers, the Connecticut condo market is more or less on par with where it was at this point last year,” Norton continued. “However, the mar- ket should cool down in the coming months, so don’t be surprised if we see a dip in sales activity and the median sale price.” R.I. Housing Market Remains Strong in July According to a press release by the Rhode Island Association of Realtors, single-family home sales rose ten percent from July 2018 to July 2019 while the median price of those sales increased 6.5 percent to $297,500, ac- cording to sales data released by the Rhode Island Association of Realtors and its subsid- iary, State-Wide Multiple Listing Service. While sales and prices continue to climb, the market remains constricted by low inven- tory. Th e number of homes for sale last month fell 10.6 percent from the prior year leaving a 4.1-month supply of homes for sale, nearly two months less than what most industry ex- perts consider a balanced market. In the condominium market, sales de- creased marginally while prices continued to rise. Th e median price of a condo last month reached $240,000, the highest monthly me- dian sales price in that sector in the past eight years. New Federal Housing Administration loan policies for condos have been fi nalized by the Department of Housing and Urban Development and will go into eff ect in mid- October. Th e new guidance extends certifi ca- tions from two to three years, allows for sin- gle-unit mortgage approvals, provides more fl exibility with owner/occupancy ratios, and increases the allowable number of FHA loans in a single project. “Condos are a great alternative for fi rst- time homeowners but until now, those buyers were hampered by cumbersome lending re- quirements. Th e new rules should help spark increased sales activity in that market,” said Dean deTonnancourt, President of the Rhode Island Association of Realtors. Multifamily home sales rose 18.7 percent in July from the prior year while the me- dian sales price increased eight percent to $270,000. Multifamily home sales began to slow at the end of last year, but prices have risen steadily since December of 2014. FInAnCe Realtors Applaud White House Eff orts to Advance Fannie, Freddie Reform Discussions In a news release, National Association of Realtors President John Smaby issued the following statement commending the Trump administration for its eff orts to reform Amer- ica’s housing fi nance system. On September 5, the White House released a proposal to reform operations of the Government Spon- sored Enterprises and the Department of Housing and Urban Development that it had been working towards since the President made the issue a top priority earlier this year. “Th e National Association of Realtors® thanks President Trump and his administra- tion for initiating thoughtful, genuine eff ort toward housing fi nance reform. We look forward to reviewing the proposal in more detail and are optimistic that, at a minimum, the White House’s eff orts will shed light on the remaining mile markers on the path to reform, along with the critical role the GSEs and Federal Housing Administration play in America’s housing market,” said Smaby, a sec- ond-generation Realtor and broker at Edina Realty in Edina, Minnesota. “NAR continues working with the White House and Congress as we move closer to securing palatable, pragmatic improvements to our housing fi nance system, and we main- tain our belief that NAR’s blueprint for GSE reform represents the best path forward for this system and our economy. Our proposed utility model, as any successful reforms must, highlights competition, protects taxpayers and remedies the failures of the pre-crisis sys- tem while ensuring equal access for respon- sible, mortgage-ready Americans in every market, safeguarding the role the GSEs were intended to play in our housing market.” n PULSE continued from page 13 BANKING See Our Display Ad on Page 2 See Our Display Ad on Back Cover