The Real Estate Books of Southeastern Massachusetts

11/01/2021

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10/10/2021

05/01/2021

03/30/2021

NAR: Don't Panic Over PRO Act

The National Association of REALTORS® is cautioning members not to panic over passage of the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act in the U.S. House of Representatives, a bill that could have broad implications for the independent contractor status of millions of Americans. Several recent opinion pieces in industry publications have incorrectly depicted the bill as nearing imminent passage in the Senate and becoming law with unfavorable terms for REALTORS®.

“NAR’s advocacy team worked with lawmakers in the House to ensure REALTORS® would not be negatively impacted and to support an amendment that would protect existing state definitions of ‘employer’ and ‘employee.’ We are currently working to ensure this language is included in the Senate version,” says NAR Chief Advocacy Officer Shannon McGahn.

McGahn adds that NAR will continue pushing for independent contractor protections, even if the Senate declines to act on the bill: “Our advocacy team has launched a vigorous effort to educate lawmakers on how indispensable the independent contractor classification is to our industry and ensure the bill doesn’t apply to REALTORS®.”

03/22/2021

First-time buyers are increasingly turning to real estate agents to help navigate a competitive housing market.

03/01/2021

Congratulations Anne

02/01/2021

From RASEM

Massachusetts Begins Online Real Estate Licensing Exams

Beginning on January 29th, applicants can choose to schedule an in-person or virtual exam for Massachusetts’ real estate licenses. If they choose a virtual exam, PSI will be offering remote proctoring. Applicants will need to visually show that there are no other books, phones, tablets in their testing space. Students cannot leave the computer during their exam. When the exam is over the student will receive an email with the test results within 24 hours. There is a YouTube video available that explains the virtual testing option:

01/11/2021

From RASEM

Contract Signings Surge to Record High for November

Real estate pros are quickly submitting offers for clients as the buyer frenzy, unusual for the winter season, continues.

Sales have slowed slightly from the high levels recorded this fall. Pending home sales slid in November by 2.6% compared to those in October, according to the National Association of REALTORS®’ Pending Home Sales Index, released on Wednesday. November’s decline marked the third consecutive month for monthly decreases in pending home sales.

“The latest monthly decline is largely due to the shortage of inventory and fast-rising home prices,” says Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. “It is important to keep in mind that the current sales and prices are far stronger than a year ago.”

Pending home sales are still up 16.4% compared to a year ago. All major regions are posting double-digit year-over-year increases.

“The market is incredibly swift this winter with listed homes going under contract on average at less than a month due to a backlog of buyers wanting to take advantage of record-low mortgage rates,” Yun says.

NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index reached a reading of 125.7 in November—an all-time high. An index reading of 100 is equal to the level of contract activity in 2001.

Yun predicts home sales to continue to perform strongly in 2021. He expects existing-home sales to increase about 10% and new home sales to surge by 20% in the new year.

“Economic growth is guaranteed from the stimulus package and from vaccine distribution, but high government borrowing will put modest upward pressure on interest rates,” Yun says.