Michael Bates

Housing starts decreased 1.8% in November compared with October to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.289 million, according to estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau

Existing-home sales increased 4.8% in November compared with October and were up 6.1% compared with November 2023, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

SunVest Solar, a developer of distributed renewable energy projects in the United States, has completed construction on a 19.5 MW solar project at Charter Steel’s manufacturing facility in Saukville, Wis. The landmark project is the largest behind-the-meter solar installation in the state and helps ensure that Charter Steel – Wisconsin’s largest single energy user – […]

Leeward Renewable Energy (LRE) has completed its 200 MW Morrow Lake Solar project, located in Frio County, Texas, and providing Microsoft Corp. with renewable energy under a previously announced long-term power purchase agreement. Morrow Lake Solar is the first of two solar facilities developed under the agreement with Microsoft and is LRE’s second project in […]

The California State Lands Commission and the ports of Long Beach and Humboldt have formed an agreement to advance floating offshore wind energy development off the California coast through a comprehensive framework founded on coordination and collaboration to facilitate critical port infrastructure upgrades needed to support offshore wind.

The Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management have approved the SouthCoast Wind Project, a 2.4 GW offshore wind development covering more than 125,000 acres about 26 nautical miles south of Martha’s Vineyard and 20 nm south of Nantucket, Mass. The project, as approved, includes the construction of up to 141 […]

New home sales jumped 5.9% in November compared with December to reach an annual rate of 664,000, according to the

The share of mortgages in forbearance increased three basis points in November compared with October, rising from from 0.47% to 0.50% of all loans, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) monthly Loan Monitoring Survey.

You might hope to have all your Christmas dinners in someone's home around a big table surrounded by throngs of family, but that's not always possible for one reason or another. The Christmas after my father-in-law passed away was also our second Christmas as a married couple. My mother-in-law, normally the "hostess with the mostest," was not in the mood for a big production, so Christmas dinner was at the restaurant at the Rogers Holiday Inn, just me, my wife, and her mother and sister.

Edited from the version originally published on December 25, 2012 Merry Christmas to anyone who happens by BatesLine today.