A bill to expand Maryland’s existing Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) program — which allows property tax abatements in exchange for housing reserved for low-income tenants — has been signed into law by Gov. Wes Moore (D), a move lauded by affordable housing advocates.

The state’s Affordable Housing Payment In Lieu of Taxes Expansion Act will authorize the owner of rental property “to enter into a payment in lieu of taxes agreement for maintaining at least 25% of the rental housing units located at the real property as affordable dwelling units for at least 15 years,” according to the language of the bill reviewed by HousingWire.

The legislation also authorizes county governments to “require the owner of real property to maintain a higher percentage of rental housing units as affordable dwelling units than the minimum percentage specified in the act.”

Initially introduced into the Maryland General Assembly this past January by Delegate Marc Korman (D), committee testimony over the next few months was largely positive and came from a variety of affordable housing groups from across the state and country.

Of the 25 submitted testimonies on the record for the House version of the bill, only one is listed as “unfavorable” and appears to have originated from a private citizen. Among the 36 testimonies for the Senate version, there were only four unfavorable submissions, none of which included formal submissions.

HousingWire reached out to Moore’s office but did not receive an immediate response. But Delegate Marc Korman, who was the chief sponsor of the bill in the State House, described his satisfaction with seeing the bill signed and anticipated the impact it will make in his district.

“I was pleased to work with partners like Montgomery County to expand the potential uses of the Payment in Lieu of Taxes tool to maintain naturally occurring affordable housing,” Korman told HousingWire.

“This can be applied in places like Bradley Boulevard and Battery Lane in my district in Bethesda, as well as many other places around the state. And it is a flexible tool that does not mandate that counties do anything. It’s just another option as they tackle the housing affordability challenge,” he said.

Sen. Shelly Hettleman, who served as the chief sponsor of the Senate version, is happy with the development.

“I’m very pleased the governor signed the bill into law yesterday and am optimistic that it can be a useful tool for our local governments in their efforts to expand our desperately-needed stock of attainable housing,” Hettleman told HousingWire in a statement.

Janine Lind, president of nonprofit multifamily developer Enterprise Community Development, lauded the signing in a statement provided to HousingWire.

“Today’s bill signing unlocks a powerful tool for preserving and expanding affordable housing across Maryland,” Lind said. “By streamlining eligibility for the PILOT program, which has already been instrumental in supporting affordable housing development, this legislation will make it easier for housing providers to take action, including saving at risk properties, in an expensive and competitive environment.”

Enterprise owns and operates complexes with a total of 13,000 units across the Mid-Atlantic region. The firm is pleased that the state government is taking action on the state’s need for more affordable housing 

“We’re grateful to Delegate Korman and Gov. Moore for advancing this game-changing legislation, and we look forward to leveraging this opportunity to create more homes Maryland residents can afford.”

Editor’s note: This story has been updated with a statement from the bill’s chief sponsor, Delegate Marc Korman.

A bill that would establish a long-term care (LTC) insurance plan at the federal level has been reintroduced in the House of Representatives. Its chief sponsor has received bipartisan support and is hitting the road to communicate its potential benefits to constituents.

Last month, Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.) reintroduced the Well-Being Insurance for Seniors to be at Home (WISH) Act, which would amend Social Security to provide long-term care benefits for program participants. The bill’s co-sponsor is Rep. John Moolenaar (R-Mich.).

In an effort to get the word out, Suozzi held an event in Washington, D.C., earlier this month to describe the plan to constituents.

The event included “over 100 healthcare experts, insurers, elder advocates, caregiver organizations and policymakers from across the aisle to address America’s looming long-term care crisis,” Suozzi’s office said.

“There’s a storm coming,” Suozzi explained in a prepared statement. “Every day, 10,000 Americans turn 65, and in five years, 6,500 Americans will reach 80 every single day.

“Our nursing homes and Medicaid system cannot deal with this. We don’t have enough nursing home beds, we can’t afford it, and seniors would prefer to age at home.”

The act would seek to create a new public-private partnership between the federal government and the insurance industry, according to the text of the bill. It would establish “a monthly federal benefit for Americans who become disabled in old age, after a 1- to 5-year elimination period based on income,” Suozzi’s office said.

Within that period, potential beneficiaries would be required to rely on private insurance programs or “personal resources” with a two-pronged goal: to provide coverage for those with the greatest determined need, and to “create new incentives for private insurers to offer affordable long-term care products.”

The legislation would “establish a federal catastrophic long-term care insurance program, designed to help disabled seniors age with dignity in their own homes — while reinvigorating the private long-term care insurance market,” Suozzi’s office said.

So far, Suozzi and Moolenaar are the only sponsors in the House. But Moolenaar described what led to his support for the measure.

“What I like about the WISH Act is that it really tries to engage a lot of stakeholders,” he said. “To me, that’s a win-win because we want to make sure our seniors are getting the best care possible. We want to make sure people don’t have to choose between poverty and losing all their life savings and they can’t qualify for different care.

“We want to make sure that individuals who don’t have families who can take care of them have a place and can be provided for,” he added. “This really is common sense, it’s bipartisan, it’s something that encourages people to do the right thing.”

According to Suozzi’s office, the organizations that have voiced support for the bill thus far include the National Council on Aging, the American College of Physicians, American Geriatrics Society, the National Alliance for Caregiving and Genworth Financial.

Suozzi previously introduced a version of the WISH Act in mid-2021, but the bill never garnered a co-sponsor and did not progress beyond committee referrals during that session.

By Callie Kelley’s estimate, home sales in Boise, Idaho, dropped by 20% annually in October 2022 when mortgage rates had doubled from their post-pandemic low points. 

“In May 2022, we had a 60% annual gain and that was the peak. And then we lost 20% of that five months later, and the market has kind of just piffled along from January 2023 to January 2025,” said Kelley, the broker-owner of Marathon Realty of Idaho.

Despite these challenging conditions, Kelley recorded her best year ever in 2023 and surpassed it in 2024. She said that despite continued slow market conditions, 2025 is also shaping up to be great.

“A lot of agents have had some really rough years, but every year my business is growing,” Kelley said. 

Digging for new business

During the height of the COVID-19 housing market in May 2022, the 90-day average median list price in the Boise metro area rose to nearly $650,000 — up more than $250,000 from May 2019, according to HousingWire Data.

Additionally, its market action index score was above 60 for nearly 18 months from early August 2020 through late May 2022. HousingWire Data considers any market action index score above 30 to be indicative of a seller’s market. 

“To be successful during the pandemic you just had to have a pulse,” Kelley said. “You got a license, and if you were a member of the PTA or involved in your church or anything in your community, you were suddenly getting all of these referrals.

“But when that referral valve shut off, they realized that they didn’t know how to get business other than having it handed to them. You need to be consistent with your marketing and advertising if you want to maintain and grow your business.” 

For Kelley, this involves a deep commitment to marketing through Zillow’s Premier Agent program, which has been her main source of business for the past eight years. After generating more than $500,000 in income during the first few years of her career, Kelley wanted to push herself even further and aimed for a seven-figure salary. 

“I was working really hard, and I thought that I would have to work twice as hard or have this massive team in order to earn $1 million. But then I understood that I had to spend money to make money and I decided to go all in on Zillow,” she said. 

In 2023, this strategy led her to close 71 transaction sides for $39.8 million in sales volume, according to the 2024 RealTrends Verified Rankings. As the housing market in Boise slowed (its market action index score is now hovering at 40), Kelley said she has not changed her business strategy. But she acknowledges that getting cold leads from Zillow is not for everyone. 

“You have to be very tenacious and you have to want to convert that business. … I have not lost steam or energy for it,” she said said. 

Sphere of influence

Holly Maloney has a different strategy centered on going back to the basics and building strong relationships with clients.

Maloney’s home market of Cincinnati is currently plagued by low housing inventory. As of April 18, 2025, there was a 90-day average of 2,239 active single-family listings. That was up from a post-pandemic low of about 1,400 in May 2022 but well below the figure of 4,100 in April 2019, according to HousingWire Data. 

According to Maloney, these low inventory conditions — combined with the mortgage rate environment and the fallout from the commission lawsuits — has created “pandemonium” among buyers and sellers. 

“We have leaned into this challenge and see it as an opportunity to be more visible to our prospective buyers and sellers, and we have made sure that we are being proactive and not reactive by preparing them for what the current market looks like,” said Maloney, an agent with eXp Realty. 

Given how confusing things have been for consumers, Maloney said she has “doubled down” on client communication and education, especially within her sphere of influence. By staying top of mind with people who “love and trust us,” as Maloney put it, she has been able to generate a steady stream of referral business.

Like Kelley, Maloney also deals with her fair share of cold leads. These mainly come from open houses and first-time homebuyer education events she co-hosts with local lenders, she said.

“A lot of buyers and sellers are confused by the commission lawsuit settlement and the mandatory buyer representation agreements,” Maloney said. “So we are seeing both buyers and sellers walk into our open houses just looking for information on the business practice changes.

“If you are proactive and are able to educate them and answer their questions, we’ve been able to generate an abundance of business that way.” 

Her strategies have paid off as she earned a top 10 ranking in Ohio after closing 94 sides in 2023, according to RealTrends.

‘Lean into your experience’

Up in Boston, Coldwell Banker Realty agent Rich Hornblower has taken a similar approach to generating business.

Similar to Cincinnati, Boston is also dealing with constrained inventory, with just over 2,000 active single-family listings in the Greater Boston area as of mid-April. In comparison, there were nearly 6,000 active listings in April 2019. 

“To get listings, you have to be consistent, and make sure that you show your value proposition and lean into your experience,” Hornblower said. “With buyers, you have to educate them on what to expect from the market, which may differ depending on the time of year, and just make sure they are putting in strong offers, so you need to know the market.” 

Hornblower said he does his best to make sure his clients have a positive experience working with him, which has helped him create a strong referral pipeline. He has also leaned into social media as a way to keep in touch with past clients, ensuring that he stays top of mind. 

These strategies are paying off for Hornblower, who was the No. 2 ranked agent in Massachusetts in 2024 by transaction side count. He closed 105 sides for $33.7 million in sales volume in 2023, according to RealTrends data. 

Further down the East Coast, Kamil Andrukiewicz — a New Britain, Connecticut-based agent for New Haus Group — is also dealing with tight inventory.

Like Hornblower, he has focused on making sure prospective clients are well informed about what to expect in the current housing market. But with inventory being so tight, it has required him to be more creative in helping sellers find places to move, if they haven’t found a new home before their current one sells.

“We are finding them rentals, doing home sale contingencies on offers and even doing leasebacks as part of the contract,” Andrukiewicz said. 

As much as Andrukiewicz remains focused on current clients, he said he does his best to stay in touch with past clients and keep his lead pipeline flowing.

“I feel like the No. 1 mistake that every agent makes is they’re very oriented on the transaction that they have currently and they forget about their past clients,” Andrukiewicz said. “Studies have shown that five or six years down the road, buyers forget who sold them their house unless their agent has stayed in touch.” 

In addition, as inventory has become tighter, Andrukiewicz said he hasn’t been afraid to branch out of his core market if a client is looking to buy something further away. His willingness to log extra miles helped him close 81 sides in 2023, good for sixth place in Connecticut, according to RealTrends.

“I’ll go to other parts of the state if I have a client that’s looking for an investment property. I had a lot of clients look for lake houses last year, so I was driving all over the state,” he said. 

Keep it simple

In contrast to having a willingness to travel, Blair White has concentrated his business solely to downtown Naples, Florida.

After a pandemic-era boom, the housing market in Naples has cooled drastically, with inventory back up to 2019 levels and the median list price down to 2022 levels. Despite these challenges, White said his business has remained strong. 

“I have business partners that cover other parts of the metro area who I trust to serve those clients well, but I’ve found that not spreading myself too thin and just being a true expert in my market has done wonders for my business,” said White, an agent with John R. Wood Properties Christies International Real Estate.

“Knowledge is power and having that knowledge of my area not only builds my confidence, but it also builds my clients’ trust in me,” he said.

Like top agents in other markets, White said he focuses on treating his clients well and making sure they’re properly educated. 

“It sounds cliche, but it is really as simple as treating people the way you would want to be treated and being as transparent as possible,” White said. 

White’s straightforward strategy led him to the No. 6 rank by transaction side count in Naples, after he recorded 36 sides and $35.5 million in sales volume in 2023. And while his strategy may differ from others, he too believes there is no single key to an agent’s success. 

“It really is about keeping it simple and doing what you do best,” White said.

A proprietary reverse mortgage product first made available prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and before its discontinuation is now making a return, according to an announcement this week by Onity Group.

EquityIQ, the proprietary reverse mortgage product from Onity subsidiary PHH Mortgage Corp.’s reverse mortgage brand Liberty Reverse Mortgage, is now available through the company’s wholesale lending channel with some alterations compared to prior versions.

For instance, EquityIQ now has a lower minimum age requirement of 55 in certain states. It also stands as a fixed-rate loan with maximum proceeds of $4 million, well in excess of Federal Housing Administration (FHA) limits on the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) program.

Onity explained that EquityIQ contains no upfront or ongoing mortgage insurance or servicing fees, and that a full draw of loan proceeds is required at closing. Property types eligible for Equity IQ include single-family homes, condominiums, townhomes, multifamily properties with two to four units, and planned unit developments.

There is a counseling requirement from an agency that is approved by PHH. And the loan is only available for a borrower’s primary residence as opposed to a second or vacation home.

“With an estimated $14 trillion in senior home equity, we’re excited to launch EquityIQ, which complements our existing [HECM] product offering, to help senior homeowners unlock their home equity to meet personal and financial needs,” said Andy Peach, executive vice president and chief lending officer at Onity Group.

Liberty is no stranger to the proprietary reverse mortgage space. In 2007, the company introduced Liberty Preferred, its first proprietary product, which eventually left the market. Twelve years later, under Onity’s prior branding as Ocwen Financial Corp., the company announced the original version of EquityIQ, which launched in the summer of 2019.

It was briefly suspended due to COVID-19 market volatility in March 2020, but it was brought back a few months later. In 2022, the company suspended availability of the product again due to volatility in the bond markets, and it was subsequently removed from the market.

But company leaders have been telegraphing the brand’s reentry into the proprietary reverse mortgage space for months, including in an investor presentation last month.

“Obviously, launching a competitive jumbo reverse mortgage product thus gives the opportunity to grow,” Onity CEO Glen Messina said in March. “And again, with an 18% [HECM] market share, we’ve got nice market coverage to push that product through.”

Onity and Liberty are reentering the proprietary space in a much more crowded field of competitors. These include Finance of America and its HomeSafe product suite, Longbridge Financial and its Platinum line, and offerings from companies like University Bank, Smartfi Home Loans and Nationwide Equities.

HECM market leader Mutual of Omaha Mortgage also announced earlier this month that it has launched its own proprietary reverse mortgage product, SecureEquity, with initial availability in California and Florida.

In today’s market, small-lot housing is more than a trend – it’s a critical part of the housing solution.

Smaller lots mean more affordable land prices, more efficient use of space, and when paired with the right home design, just as much living potential as traditional blocks.

Homebuilder JG King Homes are hearing what buyers are looking for and responding with designs that have more home on less land to give buyers the opportunity to enter the market at an affordable price without compromising on lifestyle.

‘Carrington 30’ by JG King Homes is a double-storey design that is compliant with the Small Lot Housing Code (SLHC), fits on a 294sqm block and still has all the features buyers need.

With up to six bedrooms and three living areas, appealing to a wide range of buyers seeking affordability without compromising on lifestyle or floor space.

“Offering value for money by maximising living space in a compact footprint, these homes are specifically designed to be Small Lot Housing Code-compliant whilst still offering a flexible floorplan for modern families to adapt to their requirements,” explains Andrew Flanagan, executive general manager at JG King Homes.

“With ample room to grow, families can thrive and create lasting memories.”

Forward thinking design

With more than four decades of experience and over 25,000 homes built, JG King Homes has earned its reputation as one of Australia’s most trusted homebuilders.

Australian family-owned and proudly Victorian, the company ranks among the top 10 builders in Victoria and the top 20 nationally.

This expertise shines in designs like the ‘Carrington 30’, which caters to diverse household needs—from growing families and downsizers to multi-generational living—while keeping homes affordable through strategic use of smaller block sizes.

By minimising land costs through size, the ‘Carrington 30’ helps buyers enter the market sooner.

Households save significantly on upfront land expenses and future upkeep, freeing up budgets for other priorities.

The standard floorplan includes four bedrooms, three bathrooms, a study and three separate living areas.

However, buyers have a choice of floorplans that best suit their needs:

“There’s a strong trend towards homes that can adapt over time,” explained Mr Flanagan.

“Families want options – whether that’s more bedrooms, work-from-home space or separate living zones for privacy, this design makes it all possible.

“For example, the option to add a downstairs bedroom with convenient access to a bathroom is perfect if you have family members who may find navigating stairs a challenge.

“The flexibility of this floorplan also allows buyers to achieve up to six bedrooms and still have two living areas—one downstairs, the other upstairs.”

There is also an option to increase the size of the kitchen, by increasing the amount of bench and cupboard space delivering on storage needs, without significantly impacting the dining or living areas.

There are also up to four facade options available for buyers to truly personalise their home’s kerbside appeal.

Adding choice and opportunity for buyers

The homes are compliant with Victoria’s Small Lot Housing Code, helping to lessen the red tape often associated with building on compact lots.

For buyers, that can mean faster build approvals and saving up to tens of thousands of dollars.

For example, some blocks that fit four-bedroom homes on 500sqm would cost approximately $630,000 (including 5% stamp duty), while a 294sqmm2 block would only cost $370,440.

This translates to a mortgage reduction of an incredible $259,500, which would save an average of $1,239 per month under a 4% interest rate over 30 years.

“Savvy buyers understand that small-lot homes are a smart way to get into the market or upgrade without blowing the budget,” explained Mr Flanagan.

“You get the location, the quality, and the space—all without the massive price tag.”

High performance, inside and out

More than just flexible, the ‘Carrington 30’ is built for performance.

Like all of JG King Homes’ designs, it features a TRUECORE® steel frame for enhanced strength and durability, a COLORBOND® steel roof, and high-performance windows and sliding doors.

These aren’t just standard inclusions; they’re part of a long-term approach to quality and sustainability.

JG King Homes’ designs, including the ‘Carrington 30’, achieve a 7-star energy efficiency rating thanks to thoughtful insulation, glazing and passive solar design.

What this means for buyers is that living in these homes can be cheaper than living in an existing home, with the average Aussie home only having an energy rating of 2.2 stars.

These costs translate to around $250-$330 less per month in a 7-star rated home.

“The performance of the home is just as important as the layout,” Mr Flanagan said.

“We want our customers to feel confident they’re investing in a home that will last, protect their family, and keep running costs down.”

The ‘Carrington 30′ and all it has to offer is on display at JG King Homes’ display home at 3 Teton Way, Truganina, open Saturday to Wednesday from 12pm to 5pm.

Disclaimer: The information and estimated savings provided in this article are for general information purposes only. Before making any purchasing decisions, REA Group encourages readers to seek personalised professional advice.

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