REAL ESTATE

Housing market remained hot in May

The region’s housing market continued its spring surge in May, with sales up by more than one-fifth in Massachusetts compared to last year, according to new figures out Tuesday. Single-family home sales climbed 21 percent in May, according to data from the Warren Group, while condominium sales climbed 9 percent. For the full year so far, sales of all kinds of properties are up 25 percent — a function of strong demand, low interest rates, and a healthy job market, along with a boost after the a lag in the brutal winter of 2015 as homebuyers stayed in. Prices climbed too, if not as fast. The median price of a single-family home in Massachusetts in May was $347,000, up 2 percent compared to the same month last year. The median condo price climbed 4.4 percent to $335,000. In a separate report also out Tuesday, The S&P/Case-Shiller Index reported that housing prices in the Boston area hit a record high in April, and were up 5.7 percent year-over-year. — TIM LOGAN

TOYS

Consumer groups lists hazardous summer toys

Toy guns, kiddie pools, hoverboards, and backyard trampolines are among the playthings that made a consumer watchdog’s annual list of hazardous summer toys. The Massachusetts-based World Against Toys Causing Harm, or W.A.T.C.H., presented its annual report Tuesday at Franciscan Children’s Hospital in Boston. Joan Siff (right), W.A.T.C.H.’s president, said the toys specifically named on the list aren’t the only risky playthings on the market. She says they’re simply meant to represent the range of hazards faced by children with summer toys. The nonprofit group notes that some toy guns shoot projectiles and warn that self-balancing scooters, as known as hoverboards, remain on the market, despite being banned by some retailers, airlines, and schools because some models can spontaneously catch fire. The group also urges parents to take caution when their children use baby pools, inflatable pool toys, and flotation aids. It says some 87 percent of fatal drownings to children under 5 years old occur at someone’s home. Inflatable bounce houses and backyard trampolines also made the list. The group says trampolines have been associated with fractures, cervical spine injuries, paralysis, and other catastrophic injuries. — ASSOCIATED PRESS

ENTERTAINMENT

One of Netflix’s founders becomes head of movie subscription service

Almost two decades after helping found Netflix, Mitch Lowe is turning his attention to another startup trying to change the way people watch movies. Lowe has taken over as chief executive officer at MoviePass, a five-year old company that offers an all-you-can-watch subscription service for movie theaters. MoviePass gives subscribers a debit card that allows them to attend as many movies as they want. The service starts at about $30 a month, with higher prices in more expensive cities. The subscription covers 90 percent of movie theaters in the United States, according to MoviePass. To get people comfortable with the idea of subscriptions, MoviePass plans to launch its first major marketing campaign. Lowe wants to expand the company’s range of services, with the cheapest subscription coming in at under $20 a month. — BLOOMBERG

CHEMICALS

Dow Chemical to cut 2,500 jobs as part of Dow Corning restructuring

Dow Chemical says it will eliminate about 2,500 jobs worldwide, or about 4 percent of its workforce, which is tied to the recent restructuring of its ownership in Dow Corning. Dow Chemical announced earlier this month that it was now the sole owner of Dow Corning’s silicones unit, which had previously been equally owned by Dow Chemical and Corning Inc. Dow Chemical Co. said Tuesday that it will shutter silicone manufacturing plants in Greensboro, N.C., and Yamakita, Japan. The Midland, Mich.-based company is also looking to close some administrative, corporate, and manufacturing facilities, but did not give further details on their locations. Dow Chemical now anticipates annual cost savings for the transaction to be $400 million, up from its prior estimate of $300 million. — ASSOCIATED PRESS

SHORT-TERM RENTALS

Airbnb’s new round of investment would bring value to about $30 billion

Airbnb, which lets users list their homes and apartments for short-term rentals, is in talks for a new round of investment that would value the company at about $30 billion, according to people briefed on the matter. Under the terms of the new fundraising, Airbnb will have tripled its valuation in two years. Airbnb plans to use the financing to further feed its growth plans and international expansion, said these people, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The company, based in San Francisco, has been expanding in new markets over the last two years, with a 700 percent increase in business from Chinese travelers, the company has said. Last year, Airbnb opened its operations in Cuba for the first time. — NEW YORK TIMES

RIDE SHARING

Lyft expects the same, or fewer, rides in June

Lyft Inc. may be hitting a wall in its war with its much richer competitor. This year, armed with a fresh $1 billion from investors, Lyft charged into battle with Uber Technologies Inc. in the United States, vastly increasing spending to subsidize driver and rider growth. Lyft promised investors it would cap spending at $50 million a month, or $600 million for 2016, people familiar with the matter said in April. Uber matched many of Lyft’s subsidizes, pumping out driver promotions and keeping fares down. Lyft told investors in a recent memo obtained by Bloomberg that it expects the number of rides it handles to be flat or down in June, compared with May. That follows a record month for rides in May. — BLOOMBERG

TRANSPORTATION

DC Metro to cut 500 jobs to save money

The struggling transit agency that serves the nation’s capital is cutting 500 jobs to save money. Metro’s general manager Paul Wiedefeld told employees in a memo that the jobs he’s eliminating ‘‘are no longer deemed critical to Metro’s business interests.’’ Many of them were vacant positions. Wiedefeld also fired 20 managers last month. He announced the latest cuts on Monday, the same day smoke from a smoldering bolt at the Gallery Place station sent one person to the hospital. — ASSOCIATED PRESS

DISCRIMINATION

Sexual orientation suit settled for more than $200,000

A landmark lawsuit alleging sex discrimination based on sexual orientation has been settled for more than $200,000, the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced Tuesday. The EEOC said in a statement that Pallet Companies, doing business as IFCO Systems, will pay just over $182,000 to Yolanda Boone, who alleged she was fired after complaining that her supervisor made comments regarding her sexual orientation and appearance. The EEOC said in its lawsuit filed earlier this year in Baltimore that Boone’s supervisor made comments including ‘‘I want to turn you back into a woman’’ and ‘‘You would look good in a dress.’’ The EEOC says IFCO Systems, which supplies and recycles wood pallets, will also donate $20,000 to a foundation set up by the Human Rights Campaign, an LGBT advocacy group. The EEOC says IFCO Systems, which has its North America headquarters in Tampa, has agreed to hire someone to develop a training program on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender workplace issues. In a court document explaining the settlement, IFCO Systems denies that it discriminated against Boone but agrees to the settlement terms. — ASSOCIATED PRESS