Sales of new single-family homes in the Northeast during June rose 28 percent to 32,000, according to the U.S. Commerce Department. May’s revised annual rate was 25,000. Nationally, new home sales were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 482,000, down 6.8 percent from May, but 18.1 percent above the June 2014 total of 408,000. Read the entire U.S. Commerce Department press release here.

After five consecutive months of increases, pending home sales slipped in June but remained near May’s level, which was the highest in more than nine years, according to the National Association of REALTORS (NAR). The index in the Northeast inched up 0.4 percent to 94.3 in June, and is now 12-percent above a year ago. Read the entire NAR press release here.

The New York State Association of REALTORS will hold its annual Fall Business Meetings October 4-7 at the Turning Stone Resort & Casino in Verona, NY. NYSAR encourages all members to participate as many of the sessions do not require official committee service. For more information or to register for the meetings, click here.

Please join the REALTOR Party and tell your U.S. Representative to support H.R. 9, the Innovation Act, to stop patent trolls and protect the real estate industry from frivolous lawsuits. REALTORS across the country receive threatening demand letters and lawsuits alleging patent infringement based on the use of common business tools such as drop-down menus or search alert functions on websites, and the scanner function on a copier. H.R. 9 will help combat this problem and is necessary to protect REALTORS. For more information and to sign the petition, click here and tell Congress to pass this common-sense comprehensive patent litigation reform.

The New York State Fire Prevention and Building Code Council has a scheduled meeting in Albany on August 19, at 10 a.m., where a possible decision could be made regarding the proposal to mandate the installation of residential fire sprinkler systems in all new one- and two-family homes and townhomes. NYSAR continues to oppose the pending proposal. NYSAR supports consumer choice and incentives such as a tax credit proposal to offset installation costs (A.4227/S.2587) versus a statewide mandate. Take action now to let Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Department of State know that you oppose this mandate on homeowners.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio unveiled new affordable housing guidelines that would require developers to set aside 25 percent of their units for affordable housing to residents earning 60-percent of the area median income when they seek formal city approval to rezone land for their projects. The mayor plans to formally begin both the process for rezoning, beginning with the East New York section of Brooklyn, and the proposed city-wide affordable housing policy in September. Learn more here. 

 

Today’s NYSAR Radio show is a rebroadcast of last year’s "Antitrust" show. Tune in at 10 a.m. this morning on your PC or Mac by using the player on the NYSAR Radio page. You will need to be logged in to listen. If you have not yet created your account with the website, you will need to click on "New User" on the Member Login page and follow the prompts.

Find more information as well as a list of links to play NYSAR Radio from any of your mobile devices here.

The sign-up period for 2016 NYSAR committee service will only be open until this Friday, August 7! Don’t wait to get involved and help guide the future of your state association! You may select up to three open committees and three closed committees from the more than 25 NYSAR committees available in 2016. We only ask you to be sure that you’ll be able to attend the 2016 business meetings February 7-11 at the Desmond in Albany and September 25-28 at the Turning Stone Resort & Casino in Verona before committing to serve. Committee sign up is available online only here.

The GRI-4 Legal course will be offered August 11 at the LIBOR REALTOR Service Center in West Babylon NY. Reduce your risk of claims, fines and lawsuits. Gain a complete understanding of: advertising that is legal and ethical; contracts, forms, deposits, disclosures and record retention; risk management strategies; title insurance and settlement procedures. 

Register online today or call NYSAR at 800-239-4432 x219. Find more information here.

Earn New York State real estate CE credit from the comfort of your home or office! NYSAR is partnering with The CE Shop to bring members engaging, interactive and entertaining online learning opportunities at affordable prices. You can save 20 percent on your real estate education today with promo code "AUG20" throughout the month of August. Learn more here.

The enrollment period for NYSAR’s dental plan is still open, and there’s never been a better time to re-evaluate your dental and vision coverage. Administered by USI Affinity and now underwritten by MetLife, the NYSAR dental plan offers: options for a range in coverage and cost; third straight year of no rate increases; coverage for individuals and families; freedom to visit any dentist, in or out-of-network; and coverage for orthodontia.

Through this new partnership with MetLife, vision coverage is now being offered as a standalone option in addition to being an optional rider on the dental policy. Visit www.MyREALTORInsurance.com/nysar or call USI Affinity’s dedicated sales representative Ned Cox at 888.834.3713 for more information.

One of NYSAR’s newest Member Perks partners, Taradel, is an approved affiliate of the U.S. Postal Service’s Every Door Direct Mail® (EDDM®) program. Through this partnership, NYSAR members receive a five-percent discount to design, target, print and mail marketing pieces to every address in a specific zip code or carrier route. Forget buying mailing lists and printing labels, get started with Every Door Direct Mail® today. Access the exclusive NYSAR EDDM® member portal here.

The Dutchess County Association of REALTORS and the Women’s Council of REALTORS teamed up to host a Hudson River Sunset Cruise that raised more than $9,000 for RPAC, enough to launch the board over their 2015 RPAC fundraising goal! Thank you to all who attended to make this evening successful. Thank you also to our sponsors, Executive Officer John Greenan, RPAC Chair Christine Jones, as well as Kelly Campbell and her team for doing such a wonderful job catering! Watch a video from the event.

Congratulations to our July RPAC auction winner Charlotte Van der Waag from the Long Island Board for submitting the high bid of $460 to secure a three-month membership to the Wine of the Month Club. Thank you Charlotte for your leadership with RPAC as a Major Investor ($1,000) for many years. Stay tuned for the August RPAC item to be unveiled later this week.

Local boards across the state remain busy hosting RPAC events this summer. Already, boards have raised $95,000 for RPAC through local events alone. From Greater Rochester’s March Madness to Greater Syracuse’s Cooking for RPAC, Columbia Greene’s wine tasting and BBQ, LIBOR’s Day at the Races, Greater Capital’s Bowling and Cruising for RPAC, and Hudson Gateway’s Mr. Legs Pageant, New York Yankees game and casual mixers, REALTORS have come out to support RPAC in their communities. View the calendar of local board events to be held over the next few weeks.