Median home, condo prices soar above $360,000

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By Colin A. Young, State House News Service

The median home price in Massachusetts hit its highest mark ever for the month of May and analysts say the steady rise in price stems from low inventory, a seemingly chronic issue in the state's housing market.

The Warren Group reported Tuesday that the median sale price of a single-family home in May increased 6.9 percent to $370,000, the 14th consecutive month with a year-over-year increase.

There were 5,396 single-family Massachusetts homes sold in May, a 1.5 percent increase over May 2016 and the highest total for May since 2004, according to the Warren Group.

"Though single-family sales are on the rise, they're not rising as swiftly as the median price, which smashed the previous record of $352,500 from May 2005," Timothy Warren, CEO of the Warren Group, said in a statement. "Low inventory of homes for sale has many industry experts on edge. Buyers are finding very little choice and are forced to bid aggressively to make a purchase."

Through May of this year, single-family home sales are up 0.6 percent compared to the first five months of 2016, while the median price is up 6.8 percent, the Warren Group said.

The median condo sale price also hit its high mark for the month of May last month, climbing 8 percent to hit $361,750, according to the Warren Group. Condo sales increased 9 percent last month, with 2,430 units sold.

"As prices continue to climb at a dizzy pace, condos are an increasingly viable – and desirable –option for many first-time buyers," Warren Group Editorial and Media Relations Director Cassidy Murphy said in a statement. "But with a median price within $10,000 of the single-family median, condos may not be an affordable option for much longer."

 

Poor air quality expected Tuesday

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BOSTON – Forecasters are predicting air quality that is unhealthy for sensitive groups in coastal Connecticut, coastal Rhode Island, and southeastern Massachusetts (including Cape Cod and the Islands) for Tuesday, June 13, 2017. 

With hot, summery weather, EPA and state forecasters predict areas of unhealthy air quality in several areas within New England tomorrow. EPA and the medical community suggest that people limit their strenuous outdoor activity when poor air quality is expected. On these days, people can also help reduce emissions by choosing to carpool, use public transportation, and limit the use of electricity during peak electrical use hours.

Ground-level ozone forms when volatile organic compounds and oxides of nitrogen (ozone precursors) interact in the presence of strong sunshine. Cars, trucks and buses give off the majority of the pollution create ozone. Gasoline stations, print shops, household products like paints and some cleaners, as well as lawn and garden equipment also add to the ozone problem.

Exposure to elevated ozone levels can cause breathing problems, aggravate asthma and other pre-existing lung diseases, and make people more susceptible to respiratory infection. When ozone levels are elevated, people should refrain from strenuous outdoor activity, especially sensitive populations such as children and adults with respiratory problems.

When ozone is forecast to be unhealthy for sensitive groups, members of the public are encouraged to help limit emissions and reduce ozone by:

-  using public transportation if possible;
-  combining errands and car-pooling to reduce driving time and mileage;
-  using less electricity by turning air conditioning to a higher temperature setting; turning off lights, TVs and computers when they are not being used; and
-  avoiding using small gasoline-powered engines, such as lawn mowers, string trimmers, chain saws, power-washers, air compressors and leaf blowers on unhealthy air days.

 

Jewish Heritage Night at Fenway tomorrow

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There are still a few tickets available to tomorrow night's Jewish Heritage Night at Fenway Park. 

Some locals will be carpooling from Temple Beth Sholom's parking lot at 4:45 p.m., or you can arrange your own transportation. $35 ticket fee gets you admission to the game against the Phillies and a Hebrew Red Sox hat.

Those who are interested should call the temple office, 781 925-0091, as soon as possible.

High school graduation, KidCare, Pride events headline Hull Saturday

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The peninsula will be popping today as Hull Firefighters present their annual Kidcare event, Hull Pride holds a family field day and then the adults party at the Hull Yacht Club, and – of course – Hull High's Class of 2017 will be graduated at 1 p.m. at Finlayson Field.

Details for KidCare and Hull Pride are as follows:

• Kids’ Photo IDs. Could you lay your hands on vital data, including a recent photo, of your child if he or she becomes lost or goes missing? Hull Firefighters present their annual KidCare Photo ID event from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Central Fire Station. Kids will have lots of fun while their data is being collected for a free photo ID that you can take home and place in an accessible place. Project KidCare was developed by Polaroid Corp. and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The event is presented in Hull by local firefighters, with support from The Hull Times.

• Hull Pride. Come celebrate Hull’s vibrant LGBTQ community. The celebration begins with a family field day from 1-3 p.m. at Mariners Park, 5 Fitzpatrick Way, featuring live music by “Sea Witch,” food, and games for the kids. Hull Pride items will also be on sale. The Pride Party follows, from 3-8 p.m., at Hull Yacht Club, 5 Fitzpatrick Way, with food, cocktails, dancing, and a 50/50 raffle. The events will be held rain or shine.

Feds bust major fentanyl trafficking network

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By Katie Lannan, State House News Service

Thirty people were arrested Tuesday on gun, drug, and immigration charges in a sweep that brought down a Lawrence-based network that acting U.S Attorney William Weinreb described as “one of the largest fentanyl trafficking organizations ever seen in Massachusetts.”

Approximately 250 law enforcement officers were involved in the sweep, seizing several guns and two kilograms of suspected fentanyl in the culmination of year-long trafficking investigation dubbed “Operation Bad Company,” Weinreb said in a press conference at his office at the Moakley Federal Courthouse in Boston.

“Those arrested this morning need to be held accountable for their actions because they have chosen to distribute this poison and profit from the misery that they spread,” Michael Ferguson, special agent in charge of the New England division of the Drug Enforcement Administration, said.

He cited state Department of Public Health statistics showing 2,069 opioid-related deaths in 2016, 69 percent of which had a positive toxicology result for fentanyl.

Wiretaps captured defendants discussing the drug operations, in some cases “chuckling about the overdose deaths as they continued to distribute the deadly drug,” Weinreb said.

“One defendant even bragged about having been deported several times and discussed the wealth he amassed in the Dominican Republic, including businesses and homes,” he said. “While these defendants found their conduct amusing, federal authorities did not.”

A total of 34 arrests were made, including four people arrested administratively by Immigrations and Customs enforcement, authorities said.

The arrests included five people unlawfully present in the country and another five who had illegally reentered after deportation, said Homeland Security Investigations special agent in charge Matthew Etre. Authorities said they are in the process of confirming the identities and immigration status of other defendants who used false identities.

The indictment lists two people as charged with “being an alien unlawfully present in the United States in possession of a firearm and ammunition.”

At least 16 of the defendants were Lawrence residents, including the alleged leader of the operation, Juan Anibal Patrone, a 26-year-old dual citizen of the Dominican Republic and Italy. Four people from New Hampshire were arrested, along with two from Lowell, two from Methuen, and one from Burlington. Three people charged were already in custody in county jails.

Weinreb said Patrone was in charge of a “sophisticated and lucrative drug trafficking operation that he ran like a business,” with workers assigned to different shifts and couriers delivering drugs on specific walking routes or in cars equipped with hidden compartments.

The defendants sold drugs to hundreds of customers in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine. Ferguson said 10 grams of fentanyl would have a street value of $200 to $400 in the Lawrence area, while the same amount would go for $600 to $800 in southern New Hampshire and upwards of $1,000 in Maine.

Weinreb and others who spoke at Tuesday's press conference said overdose deaths and addiction are a national problem that extends beyond the Merrimack Valley.

“Unless we do something about cutting off the supply, we're never going to be able to make a dent in this problem,” Weinreb said.

The investigation was conducted jointly by the DEA Cross Border Initiative, comprised by the DEA and the Andover, Haverhill, Lawrence, Lowell, and Wilmington police departments, with the Massachusetts State Police.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Susan Winkler of Weinreb's Narcotics and Money Laundering Unit is prosecuting the case.

Senate boosts deeds fees to fund CPA

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By Colin A. Young, State House News Service
The Senate on Tuesday night adopted an amendment more than doubling the Registry of Deeds fee that funds the Community Preservation Act Trust Fund, a step aimed at rejuvenating the collapsing partnership.

When Gov. Paul Cellucci signed the Community Preservation Act into law in 2000, it was with the promise of state matching funds from the CPA Trust Fund to preserve open space, renovate historic buildings and parks, and build new playgrounds, affordable housing and athletic fields. During the first six years, the state matched 100 percent of what each municipality raised by its property tax surcharge, but state matching funds have fallen or remained flat in eight of the last nine years.

The state match for next year is projected to be 15 percent, a record low, Sen. Cynthia Creem said. "What was billed as a state-local partnership is no longer that," she said.

The Senate Tuesday adopted a Creem amendment (# 286) to raise the deeds fee from the $20 it has been since 2000 to $45, which she said would allow municipalities that have adopted the CPA to receive a state match of roughly 30 percent in 2018 and "hopefully for years after that."

Since the CPA took effect, 172 cities and towns have adopted it (49 percent of municipalities and 60 percent of the state's population), raising $1.75 billion to create and support more than 10,600 affordable housing units, 4,440 historic preservation projects, almost 1,750 local parks and recreation projects, and conservation of 26,200 acres of open space, according to the Community Preservation Coalition.

Hull voters approved the CPA last year.