Virgin Islands News

Home prices continued their recovery, rising 8.1% in January from year-earlier levels, according to a reading released Tuesday.

The S&P Case-Shiller index, which tracks prices across the 20 largest markets in the nation, posted the biggest year-over-year gain in prices since June 2006.

This is the second installment of an ongoing series examining the V.I. Water and Power Authority’s net metering program, its challenges, and its future.

In terms of encouraging the public to embrace small-scale solar energy production, the net metering program has been an unqualified success. The rapid expansion of renewable energy in the Virgin Islands is raising eyebrows throughout the territory’s energy industry.

The Department of Planning and Natural Resources recommended approving Hugo Roller's request to rezone 15 acres on St. John to allow the development of an "eco resort" on Monday during a Senate zoning hearing.

Rough winter weather across much of the nation at the start of this year apparently did not keep home buyers away.

A home in Holyoke, Mass. (AP Photo/The Republican, John Suchocki)Contracts to buy existing homes in January rose a strong 4.5 percent from the previous month, according to the National Association of Realtors, which also revised December's numbers down. That beats expectations of a 1.8 percent gain. Volume is now 9.5 percent above January 2012 and is the highest reading since April 2010. This as closed sales of existing homes, where contracts were signed toward the end of last year, were basically flat.