Housing Market

A flurry of reports yesterday signaled worsening conditions for the nation's already distressed housing market. The supply of unsold U.S. homes ballooned to an 18-year high in August as demand for existing homes fell to a five-year low, according to a report by the National Association of Realtors. The Washington-based trade group blamed the onset of the global credit crisis last month for the drop in sales. "The unusual disruptions in the mortgage market resulted in a fairly high number of postponed or canceled sales," said Lawrence Yun, the group's chief economist.

The U.S. economy hit the skids in the first quarter, posting its worst growth rate in four years. But the continued spending of consumers and business people has many experts predicting better times ahead. The slumping housing market was named as a primary culprit in a Commerce Department report yesterday showing that the nation's gross domestic product grew at a surprisingly sluggish 1.3 percent annual rate in the January-March quarter, the lowest pace since the first quarter of 2003.

A large portion of a new-home project in Harford County is scheduled for foreclosure auction next month, an apparent victim of the sharp slowdown in the housing market that has hurt builders across the country. Lenders filed to foreclose on the undeveloped part of the upscale Greenway Farm, next to Bulle Rock golf course in Havre de Grace, after its owner fell into default. It's part of a wave of foreclosures that has hit developers as well as homeowners, particularly in the suburbs and exurbs.

We are in our early 60s. We have owned and managed rental properties in an area north of Seattle for the past 20 years. We are now ready to sell off our rentals and retire. Since the real estate market is slow in our area, I suppose this is bad timing on our part. If we hold on to these for a few more years, do you think the housing market will come back? What about that book that said the housing market was going to crash forever in 2007? Thanks. We'd love your thoughts on this. Here's the short answer to your question: Yes, I think the market will come back.

Home sales across the Baltimore metropolitan region showed their first gain in 16 months in January, a sign that buyers are returning to the market in advance of the crucial spring selling season. The 2,156 units sold in Baltimore and the five surrounding counties last month marked a 3.75 percent increase from January 2006 and reversed months of double-digit declines, according to sales data released yesterday by Metropolitan Information Systems Inc., a Rockville firm that tracks homes sold through the multiple listing service.

Lennar Corp. Shares rose $1.10, or 4.5 percent, to $25.82, after a Citigroup analyst raised his stock ratings on several large homebuilders, including Lennar. He said the housing market may have reached bottom.

The players in the subprime mortgage mess keep increasing: an overinflated housing market, zealous mortgage brokers, homebuyers eager to cash in on the craze (and clueless about the fine print) and now the credit-rating agencies that valued bonds backed by subprime mortgages. With foreclosures mounting and the housing market in a downward slide, no one should escape scrutiny. The Securities and Exchange Commission has begun an investigation of credit-rating agencies centered on a potential conflict of interest.

Housing sales in the Baltimore metropolitan area might not rise to the feverish pitch of 1998, but there is little doubt that the surge that started a year ago will continue into this year."

If there is any weakness in the Baltimore area housing market, it has yet to reveal itself as sales of existing homes in August increased 21.52 percent compared with the same month last year.The increase was the largest for the year as reported by the Metropolitan Regional Information System -- the multiple-listing system used by the industry. The rise continued to substantiate the resilience of the market despite rising mortgage rates."Nothing seems to be able to cool this market off. An uptick in [mortgage]

After monitoring Carroll County's housing market for racial discrimination for nearly a year, a watchdog group says it has recorded a "fair number" of instances where minorities have been discouraged from seeking housing in various areas.Officials of Baltimore Neighborhoods Inc., a nonprofit fair-housing group based in Baltimore, said research by black and white testers since last summer has shown discriminatory practices by real estate and rental agents.Specific data on the research was incomplete, said Martin Dyer, associate director of BNI, who added that testing, which is anonymous, continues.

Seniors having trouble selling their homes are seniors who can't move, so Erickson Retirement Communities rolled out a plan of attack last year: personal moving consultants to help prospective clients find buyers in the toughest housing market in decades. It's starting to pay off now, the company says. Seniors are moving into 200 to 300 of its apartment homes a month, up more than 10 percent from a year ago, said Tom Neubauer, executive vice president of sales. But that improvement - after several years of worsening economic conditions - wasn't quick enough to prevent the Catonsville-based senior-living provider from filing for bankruptcy protection this week in order to reorganize.

Stacey Katz could buy a house. In fact, she does own one and co-owns another out of state as investment properties. But the Baltimore resident has opted to rent the home where she lives. Katz, a 44-year-old education consultant who is single, chose to rent a high-rise apartment near the Inner Harbor three years ago instead of buying because it afforded her amenities, lifestyle and location that would otherwise have been out of reach. She doesn't regret her decision not to buy. "Thank God I didn't during all the craziness of the past few years," said Katz, who lives on the 11th floor at Spinnaker Bay at Harbor East.

The housing market is heating up, and who knows? Maybe that fabled Baltimore renaissance is right behind. As such, I'd like to take a moment to point out how I single-handedly started this housing trend, having purchased a house in the city with my boyfriend - a full month before the turnaround. You're welcome, Baltimore. Before you rain on my parade, yes, I've heard the theories behind the uptick in sales. Increased home foreclosures are fueling the low prices, driving the market; greedy developers are outbidding buyers looking for a new home; flippers are just biding their time till prices stablize, along with interest in the market.

: Recent data show that Baltimore-area home sales increased 10 percent in July compared to 2008, though sale prices dropped about 7 percent. Does that indicate the housing market is turning around? Yes 28% No 59% Not sure 13% (665 votes, results not scientific) Next poll: : Gov. O'Malley and legislative leaders say they'll balance the budget with cuts, but some lawmakers want tax law changes that would make corporations pay more. Should the state consider such a measure? Vote at baltimoresun.

Buyers snapped up 10 percent more homes in the Baltimore metro area last month than they did a year earlier, the biggest increase since 2005 and a sign that the long-depressed housing market could finally be turning a corner. July was the second month in a row that home sales rose year-over-year, according to numbers released Monday by Metropolitan Regional Information Systems. In June, the increase was 2 percent. The Baltimore-area housing market hasn't seen two back-to-back months of improving sales since the peak of the buying frenzy four years ago. But home sellers eager for values to follow suit could be in for a long wait.

If you wanted to buy a home for less than $250,000 three years ago, three-quarters of the market in the Baltimore metro area was out of your price range. Then sellers got walloped. Housing slump. Mortgage meltdown. Recession. Now you under-$250,000 buyers - classic first-time home purchasers - have a lot more to choose from. Properties with asking prices in that range made up 43 percent of the metro area's housing market in May, up from 24 percent in May 2006. More under-$250,000 homes were for sale at the end of May - 8,149 - than in any previous May since 2001, according to a Baltimore Sun analysis of Metropolitan Regional Information Systems data.

April Longest had a lot of reasons to move from an apartment in Hampden to a house of her own: low interest rates, a first-time-buyer credit and a monthly payment not much higher than her rent. But one of the biggest motivators of all for buying a semi-detached rancher in Medfield last month came from her competition - other buyers. "As I was looking at houses in the area, I was seeing a very good selection, but it started to dwindle," said Longest, a 24-year-old insurance coordinator.

Nervous consumers have been offered free suits, plane ticket refunds and the chance to return new cars if they lose a job after making a purchase. Now builders and real estate companies are rolling out incentives to pay a laid-off homebuyer's monthly mortgage in hopes of jump-starting the weak housing market. Long & Foster Real Estate Inc. started a program Wednesday offering insurance that helps pay a buyer's mortgage for up to six months. Earlier this week, Drees Homes, which is building communities in Frederick and Laurel, said it will cover up to $2,500 of a monthly mortgage payment for six months.

After house-hunting for several months, attending pre-purchase counseling seminars and researching mortgage options, Antoinette Guy-Wharton is ready to buy. The single mother and insurance consultant has found a bank-owned home in Randallstown. As a first-time buyer who is income eligible, Guy-Wharton qualifies for a recently enacted $8,000 federal tax credit. Because she is purchasing a foreclosed home, she can also apply for funds through the Neighborhood Conservation Initiative, which helps communities attract buyers to areas with high foreclosure rates.

WASHINGTON - After several months of relentlessly grim economic news, analysts have been looking for any indication that the pace of the economy's deterioration is slowing. Recently, they have had at least some reason to hope. The latest encouraging signs came Wednesday, with the government reporting that orders for machinery and equipment posted surprising gains last month and that more buyers, lured by low prices, returned to the housing market. Orders for durable goods were still relatively weak, and home sales were down 41 percent from a year earlier.