Newsday's Maura McDermott wins award for real estate stories

Newsday journalist Maura McDermott won an award from the National Association of Real Estate Editors for her coverage of real estate on Long Island.

McDermott, a business reporter at Newsday, was awarded an honorable mention under the category "Best Collection of Work by an Individual Covering Residential Real Estate."

McDermott’s winning entries, which were published in 2020, include "Scammed: LI woman lost $500G and her dream of a new home," a story about a woman who lost her life savings intended for buying a house to internet thieves.

The other two articles were "Back on the brink: Foreclosure cases to resume for some" and "Mortgage protections expire soon, and distressed homeowners need to be ready."

The gold award of the category went to C.J. Hughes, a freelance writer at The New York Times. Silver and bronze winners were Katherine Clarke at The Wall Street Journal and Jeff Collins at Orange County Register.

The annual competition "recognizes excellence in reporting, writing, and editing stories about residential and commercial real estate," according to a news release from the association.

This year’s winners were announced at the association’s annual conference held in Miami Thursday. A panel of judges from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University selected the winners, the association said.