Stamford’s Aligned Asset Managers LLC has acquired a majority interest in global specialty real estate advisory and investment firm The Townsend Group.

An estimated 61,000 residential and commercial properties in the Bridgeport area could potentially be impacted by Hurricane Irene storm surge flooding, depending on where the storm makes landfall.

Home energy efficiency and sustainability have been major policy priorities for the Obama administration, but lurking in the background are two consistent, pesky questions: Beyond the documentable savings on utilities bills, do such steps add to the resale value of a home? And do they make it easier or faster to sell your property?

What are the trends that will influence your real estate business now and throughout the next few years? What does it take to succeed in today’s fast-paced real estate environment?

Many housing experts say low appraisals are yet another headwind for a housing market already suffering from a plunge in prices, high unemployment and tight credit.

In a potentially troublesome decision for the Mortgage Electronic Registration System (MERS), a Massachusetts bankruptcy judge has voided a 2006 foreclosure – opening the door for future cases in which mortgages assigned to MERS are similarly questioned.

Prudential Connecticut Realty (PCR) is holding a tag sale to benefit The Sunshine Kids foundation, a nonprofit foundation for children living with cancer.

Prudential Connecticut Realty – one of the largest real estate firms in Connecticut – and Victory Energy Solutions are expanding their recently announced home energy audit program into Massachusetts.

Federal Housing Administration mortgages may be tougher to get come October in some metro areas – but limits on reverse mortgage will remain the same.

The Connecticut Housing Finance Authority (CHFA) wants to pre-qualify property management firms to take on bank-owned, multifamily properties and so-called “forced placement management situations.”

The graying of the Connecticut population is a worrisome trend for demographers – but it may provide one of the few bright spots for the state\’s beleaguered developers.

The state\’s foreclosure mediation program – started with great fanfare in response to the sub-prime mortgage crisis three years ago, appears set to be extended through 2014. But even as it starts to look more like a permanent part of the landscape, a closer look at the numbers suggests it is being bogged down.

At a time when federal regulators are considering imposing a 20 percent minimum down payment requirement for most conventional mortgages, the VA program, which is restricted to veterans, offers important insights on how to get families into homes with little cash upfront, and to keep them out of foreclosure, even in tough economic times.

Closed and pending single-family home sales in and around Hartford both rose by double digit percentages last month compared to July 2010, though median prices and new listings both fell year-over-year, according to the Greater Hartford Association of Realtors (GHAR).

Owning a home is better than renting in most of the nation’s major cities, according to Trulia’s Summer 2011 Rent vs. Buy Index.

Weichert Real Estate Affiliates Inc. (WREA), the franchise division of Weichert Realtors, recently added new affiliated and branch offices in Connecticut.