WASHINGTON—American financial and lending systems look vastly different nearly a decade after the defining moments of the Great Recession, thanks in part to safe and sound lending and regulatory policy reforms, strongly supported by the National Association of Realtors. Today, home prices are at or approaching record highs in many markets, and mortgage default and…
Read MoreWASHINGTON—The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced on Friday it had filed a formal civil complaint against Facebook for violating the Fair Housing Act by allowing landlords and home sellers to use its advertising platform to engage in housing discrimination. HUD officials also reported on Friday that the U.S. Attorney for the Southern…
Read MoreWHITE PLAINS—Numbers don’t lie and the latest statistics prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that tourism is a major revenue producer for Westchester County. Tourists have flocked to Westchester to enjoy the Long Island Sound and the Hudson River. They also come to the county to hike its mountains, tour its museums and ride…
Read MoreWHITE PLAINS—Officials with the Latimer Administration say they plan to be engaged with the business community and other stakeholders to pivot the county’s economic development efforts to the needs of both small and large businesses in Westchester. Since taking office in January, the county’s Office of Economic Development and its Industrial Development Agency and Local…
Read MoreWHITE PLAINS—In an exclusive interview with Real Estate In-Depth, Westchester County Executive George Latimer said he is hopeful that issues can be addressed in the next few months to allow a bi-partisan co-op disclosure bill to come before him for signature. County Executive Latimer, while not taking sides in the debate, noted that Realtors and…
Read MoreCE Discusses Economic Development, Co-Op Bill, Budget Deficit WHITE PLAINS— Real Estate In-Depth recently sat down with Westchester County Executive George Latimer at his offices in White Plains to discuss his views on some of the critical issues he faces in his first term of office. Latimer, a third generation Westchester native, was born on…
Read MoreVALHALLA—As part of it efforts to enhance county government support of small business, Westchester County staged its first “Incubator Summit” on Aug. 2 at Westchester Community College. The well-attended event featured presentations by county government officials, as well as approximately 40 representatives of the business, education and investment communities who discussed the merits of incubators…
Read MoreWHITE PLAINS—As a follow-up to recent public hearings on a variety of issues at the Westchester County Airport, County Executive George Latimer said at a press conference on Aug. 13 that any potential new privatization plan would be up to the County Board of Legislators to review. Latimer, while not shelving a more than $1-billion…
Read MoreWHITE PLAINS—Westchester residential brokerage executives and industry analysts responding to multiple trade press reports of a troubled Westchester housing market caused by the impacts of the cap on state and local taxes, hit back saying demand is still high and prices are rising. Relying on the second quarter home sales market statistics released by the…
Read MoreNEWBURGH—The City of Newburgh filed suit on Aug. 6 in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York seeking to halt on-going contamination of the city’s water supply by cancer causing per- and polyfluoralkyl substances (PFAS) originating at Stewart Air National Guard Base and Stewart International Airport, now operating as New…
Read MoreWAWAYNADA, NY—The decision by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation last week to deny a critical air quality permit had all but shut down operations at the fledgling and controversial CPV Valley Energy Center here until a state judge a day later allowed the plant to continue operations, at least for now. Knowledgeable…
Read MoreWHITE PLAINS—In a move that could eventually free up federal housing funding to county municipalities after being frozen for eight years due to the county’s fair housing battle with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Westchester County Executive George Latimer has re-established the Westchester Urban County Consortium. The new consortium is comprised of…
Read MoreWASHINGTON—On July 31, President Donald Trump signed into law the “National Flood Insurance Program Extension Act of 2018” (S. 1182), which reauthorizes the Federal Emergency Management Agency to enter into new contracts for flood insurance through Nov. 30, 2018. The President’s action came after the U.S. Senate passed the short-term flood extension measure by an…
Read MoreWHITE PLAINS—While some city and business officials were surprised by Walmart’s decision to shutter its 180,000-square-foot Downtown White Plains location on Aug. 10, a veteran retail broker has seen it coming for some time. Martin Deitch, executive vice president with retail brokerage firm Aries, Deitch & Endelson of Hartsdale, NY, tells Real Estate In-Depth that…
Read MoreWASHINGTON— Existing-home sales decreased for the third straight month in June, as declines in the South and West exceeded sales gains in the Northeast and Midwest, according to a report released by the National Association of Realtors on July 23. The ongoing supply and demand imbalance helped push June’s median sales price to a new…
Read MoreNEW YORK CITY—New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo followed through on his threat and announced on Tuesday that New York State had filed a lawsuit against the federal government over what it termed as the unconstitutional federal tax reform law enacted earlier this year. The lawsuit contends the new SALT (state and local tax) cap was…
Read MoreWHITE PLAINS—Continued low for-sale inventory caused home sales to fall and home prices to continue to trend higher in most of the Lower Hudson Valley in the second quarter.Overall home sales fell 5.7% in Westchester, 4.6% in Putnam and 11.3% in Rockland counties in the second quarter, according to the recently released “2018 Second Quarter…
Read MoreTARRYTOWN—Approximately 150 Realtors and affiliated real estate professionals gathered at the DoubleTree Hotel in Tarrytown on July 12 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Fair Housing Act and to hear housing advocates press the point that while significant progress has been made, much work needs to be done to ensure fair housing for all.…
Read MoreNEW YORK—Representatives of the title insurance and closing industries hailed a recent ruling by New York State Supreme Court Judge Eileen A. Rakower that turned aside recently enacted state regulations aimed at curtailing what the state termed as excessive marketing costs and other unscrupulous activity in the title industry. The ruling handed down on July…
Read MoreWHITE PLAINS—A plan to redevelop an underutilized stretch of Westchester Avenue in White Plains that will feature more multifamily development and some retail space in the downtown district is progressing. A proposal by Sabre Chauncy, WP, LLC to build 276 units of rental housing and nearly 25,000 square feet of retail space at 80-100 Westchester…
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