Sales of new single-family homes in the Northeast during July rose 23.1 percent to 32,000, according to the U.S. Commerce Department. June’s revised annual rate was 26,000. Nationally, new home sales were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 507,000, up 5.4 percent from June and up 25.8 percent from July 2014. To read the entire U.S. Commerce Department press release, click here.

Pending home sales were mostly unchanged in July, but rose modestly for the sixth time in seven months, according to the National Association of REALTORS (NAR). The Pending Home Sales Index increased 0.5 percent to 110.9 and is now 7.4-percent above July 2014. The index has increased year-over-year for 11 consecutive months and has the third highest reading of 2015, behind April and May.

The index in the Northeast increased 4 percent to 98.8 in July, and is now 12.1-percent above a year ago. To read the entire NAR press release, 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.

Finley Maxson, senior counsel with the National Association of REALTORS, will be presenting "TRID: Changes to the Mortgage Closing Process" at the upcoming NYSAR Fall Business Meetings. Maxson will be a special guest speaker during the Legislative Policy Forum on Tuesday, October 6, at 8:30 a.m. in the Mohawk room at Turning Stone. Come learn about changes to the RESPA/Truth in Lending disclosures, their timing and impact on real estate professionals. The forum is open to all NYSAR members in attendance.

Property-Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing allows homeowners to borrow money from a local government to make energy improvements to their home and pay back the cost over time through their property taxes. To accelerate the use of PACE financing for single-family housing, HUD’s Federal Housing Administration (FHA) announced that properties with PACE loans that are subordinate to the primary mortgage loan can be purchased and refinanced with an FHA-insured mortgage. HUD has issued a preliminary statement indicating the conditions under which borrowers purchasing or refinancing properties with existing PACE assessments will be eligible to use FHA-insured financing. More information on this topic can be found here.

Stay up-to-date on NYSAR Government Affairs news and events by following us on Facebook and Twitter.

The Tuesday, September 8, NYSAR Radio show will cover common commission issues. Tune in at 10 a.m. on September 8 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 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. Also, be sure to reserve your hotel rooms by this Friday, September 4, to get the discounted room rates.

For more information or to register for the meetings, click here.

The Short Sales and Foreclosures (SFR) course will be offered September 9 at the LIBOR REALTOR Service Center in Riverhead, NY. Maneuver the complexities of short sales and help buyers pursue short sale and foreclosure opportunities. This course is the SFR requirement and also provides elective credit for the ABR designation.

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

GRI-6 Sellers will be offered on September 10 at the Greater Rochester Association of REALTORS in Rochester. This course will help you gain a competitive advantage with strategies to: gain more listings; get clients to price to sell; enhance your marketing; avoid Fair Housing violations and safety concerns. 

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

Join NYSAR and RPR Mobile for a webinar on September 10 at 2:30 p.m. and learn how to use your phone’s location to instantly view any property nearby, or search for properties to find listings, sales, valuations, assessments, deeds and more. Download RPR mobile today at the App Store or Google Play, and register for this comprehensive review of all the powerful features this great REALTOR-only tool has to offer.

The enrollment period for NYSAR’s dental plan has been extended through October 1, 2015! 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.

With this money- and potentially life-saving benefit, you have the opportunity to evaluate your risk for several of today's most critical - and often undiagnosed - health conditions. Held in convenient neighborhood or corporate settings across New York State, Life Line Screening offers painless, non-invasive screenings for strokes, aneurysms and other vascular diseases. 

The four-screening stroke, vascular disease and heart rhythm package ($240 value) is available at special NYSAR pricing of $135. Keep in mind, these same tests would likely cost more than $1,000 at a hospital.Call 800-636-0248 or visit www.lifelinescreening.com/nysar for more information or to find a screening near you.

Congratulations to the Northern Adirondack, Clinton County, Hudson Gateway and Greater Rochester boards/associations for holding successful RPAC events recently. More than $6,200 was raised in total. Learn more here.

Test your trivia knowledge while raising funds to support RPAC during the RPAC Trivia Night on Monday, October 5, from 7:30-11 p.m. at the Turning Stone Resort & Casino in Verona, NY. In addition to the trivia tournament, there will be live and silent auctions, a selection of your favorite hot pub foods, and a cash bar. Tickets are $50 and available on a first-come, first-served basis. 

Register online today to attend NYSAR’s Fall Business Meetings and the RPAC Trivia Night. Or, simply download, complete and return the registration form to NYSAR via fax at 518.462.5474. Questions? Contact Derick King at dking@nysar.com or 518.463.0300 x238.

Once again we will be featuring live and silent auction items as part of the RPAC Trivia Night fundraiser. If local boards or individual members would like to donate auction items, please contact Derick King at dking@nysar.com or 518.463.0300 x238 with a description of the item and the value by Monday, September 21. Local boards and individual members will receive RPAC credit for auction item donations!