Nick Madigan reports today on a proposal for a 36-unit condo building in Bowleys Quarters, which has sparked strong feelings -- positive and negative -- from people in the Baltimore County community:

Based on the support of a residents' group called the Bowleys Quarters Improvement Association, Joseph Bartenfelder, the county councilman in whose district the peninsula lies, introduced the condo project as a PUD.

The looser designation infuriated other residents, who formed a second group, the Bowleys Quarters Community Association, specifically to wage war against the project and stop "potential unrestricted overdevelopment of the area," its Web site says.

Posted by Jamie Smith Hopkins at 9:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Three in 10 moved for family-related reasons and two in 10 for work. (The rest listed other reasons.)

All told, nearly 39 million people moved within or into the U.S. between 2006 and 2007. Two-thirds didn't move far -- they stayed in the same county.

The most likely to move? Renters. Almost 30 percent changed domiciles last year, vs. 7 percent of homeowners.

Posted by Jamie Smith Hopkins at 9:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Of the $200 billion of option ARMs outstanding, Fitch Ratings expects roughly $29 billion to recast by the end of 2009 and an additional $67 billion to recast in 2010. The potential average payment increase on this recasting population is 63%, representing on average an additional $1,053 due each month on top of the current average payment of $1,672. Data suggest that these large payment increases could cause delinquencies to more than double after recast. 

Fitch, quoting LoanPerformance data, says option ARMs accounted for at least 40 percent of all "nonsubprime," non-Fannie and Freddie securitizations of adjustable-rate loans in both 2006 and 2007.

Posted by Jamie Smith Hopkins at 7:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
                    

The city's property tax rate is more than twice that of Maryland's counties. Basu argues that a guarantee of big cuts over time would get the city out of its "classic Catch-22": With its population losses, the city needs a high rate to balance its budget -- which in turn drives more residents out. He writes:

The mayor and City Council should simply make a promise to the people of Baltimore that an irreversible path of tax slashing shall be pursued. Each year, City leaders should guarantee a 2 to 4.5 percent reduction in property taxes per year. Severe penalties for failing to deliver on this promise should be established, including total forfeiture of annual compensation. The only exception would be in the wake of an act of God, for instance a Katrina-like event.

What’s remarkable about this promise is that it can be kept without too much difficulty. A credible promise of tax reduction would bring new residents and investors to Baltimore City even before the current tax rate was reduced substantially. The accompanying new tax base would under most scenarios more than offset the loss in revenues from tax rate reduction.

Do you agree?

Posted by Jamie Smith Hopkins at 5:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
                    

For those of you who can't get enough predictions about where home prices are going: CNNMoney.com's look-up tool suggests a 10.3 percent drop this year and a 7.2 percent drop next year in the Baltimore metro area.

Interested in other areas? Go here to see home-price forecasts for other metros.

I've seen a variety of forecasts calling for price drops. I don't recall any -- except for one early this year from the National Association of Realtors -- suggesting that the worst is over for sellers and prices will soon stabilize or rise. Have I missed them?

Posted by Jamie Smith Hopkins at 9:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

Image courtesy of svilen001 via Stock.XCHNG

Mortgage rates aren't what they used to be — and not just because they're higher.

You can normally predict the going rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage by looking at the yield on 10-year Treasury notes. If the yield's 3.8 percent, as it was in the middle of this month, you'd expect mortgage rates would be a bit less than 5 ½ percent. Instead, they were hovering around 6 ½ percent.

As Treasury yields dropped earlier in the summer, in fact, mortgage rates stayed steady or even rose. Joseph Bell, a Wonk reader who’s thinking of buying a house, wonders: "Is there any reason for this?"

Yes.

Continue reading "How-to Monday: Mortgage rates" »

Posted by Jamie Smith Hopkins at 4:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
                    

Towson will have 2,500 new residences in the next few years if building plans come to fruition -- and some are already underway. Condos across from the mall. An 18-story apartment building.

Kevin Rector reports today that the housing is "a key component in a billion-dollar development boom designed to transform the Baltimore County seat into a regional hub for entertainment, shopping, dining and night life." Ed Kilcullen, president of the Greater Towson Council of Community Associations, looks forward to it but does express an anxiety:

Kilcullen worries about the housing market, "which is a big concern because there's going to be a lot of residential projects and not a lot of people buying," he said. "We don't want to have a lot of projects that are not successful sitting empty or rented out to college students ... and not attracting the type of people who we want in Towson."

Posted by Jamie Smith Hopkins at 8:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

The company says foreclosures account for 0.7 percent of all mortgages in June, significantly better than the national rate of 1.6 percent but still more than double the share of foreclosures a year earlier.

It's a good reminder, though, that this is hardly -- say -- Miami:

Posted by Jamie Smith Hopkins at 9:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
                    

As Laura Smitherman reports today, the economic and housing-market slowdowns are both eating into tax revenue, "with collections falling $73.5 million short of expectations." Court revenue -- including recordation fees collected when homes change hands -- was $12 million (or 8.3 percent) below the forecasted amount for the last fiscal year, which ended in June.

Posted by Jamie Smith Hopkins at 9:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
                    

Tied for third on the most-fraud list? Maryland.

Florida is first, California second and the other tied-for-third states are Illinois and Michigan.

MARI says that a quarter of the fraud reported in Maryland was in the Baltimore metro area. In Illinois, on the other hand, almost all the reported fraud originated in the Chicago area.

By "fraud," the company means anything from false income information to doctored closing documents -- whether submitted by the borrower or another party. Much of the Maryland fraud was related to tax documents and other financial information, MARI says.

Posted by Jamie Smith Hopkins at 12:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)