As Americans resolve to tackle their personal student loan debt and improve their financial wellness in 2019, let’s ask the new Congress to resolve to give them tools to do so.

The jolt to interest rates that followed Trump's win signaled the incoming president's market-moving power. But analysts said that for residential real estate — a sector that fuels more than 15 percent of the country's economy — it's not clear in what direction the market might be moving.

Stagnant prices in the Baltimore area housing market are out of step with the rest of the country. But affordability has helped keep sales strong.

Berkshire Hathaway's expansion of its residential brokerage is an example of broader consolidation in residential real estate, as the industry works to right itself after the recession and capitalize on changes wrought by the Internet. Despite changes for brokerage firms, analysts said it's also a vote of confidence that the real estate agent – and the standard agent commission extracted from each sale – is here to stay.

Sticker shock over price hikes is causing review of a law passed two years ago to shore up the finances of the National Flood Insurance Program.

Analysts expect a solid housing market in 2014, in the Baltimore area and nationally, after a year in which the battered housing market got on firmer footing.

A study in the Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization says that overpricing a home nets sellers a small amount of additional money than if they'd asked what the property was worth.

While homes continue to be built around Harford County, the local market has a long way to go before it gets to the heights its sustained before the nationwide housing market crash which began in 2007.