Housing Market

David D. Igla lost out on three Ellicott City homes in the past few months before he finally beat the competition and had an offer accepted. What kind of so-called buyer's market is this, he wondered? Some houses zip off the market — occasionally above asking price — while others languish because the price isn't right, the home isn't updated or other aspects of the property don't appeal. The result: plenty of frustrated buyers and sellers. Welcome to the post-bubble, post-bust housing market.

Here's a phrase you probably didn't expect to hear associated with the housing market so soon after the crash: Bidding war. They've been roaring back into suddenly-hotter-again areas in recent months. Now they're a lot more common here, too -- in a milder way than during the bubble years, but surprising nonetheless. Online real estate brokerage Redfin says nearly half of its Baltimore-area buyers' offers in the first three months of the year had competition. Some buyers are using escalation clauses again to try to avoid being outbid.

Here's a phrase you probably didn't expect to hear associated with the housing market so soon after the crash: Bidding war. They've been roaring back into suddenly-hotter-again areas in recent months. Now they're a lot more common here, too -- in a milder way than during the bubble years, but surprising nonetheless. Online real estate brokerage Redfin says nearly half of its Baltimore-area buyers' offers in the first three months of the year had competition. Some buyers are using escalation clauses again to try to avoid being outbid.

David D. Igla lost out on three Ellicott City homes in the past few months before he finally beat the competition and had an offer accepted. What kind of so-called buyer's market is this, he wondered? Some houses zip off the market — occasionally above asking price — while others languish because the price isn't right, the home isn't updated or other aspects of the property don't appeal. The result: plenty of frustrated buyers and sellers. Welcome to the post-bubble, post-bust housing market.

In what sort of housing market do sellers and buyers complain that it's rough out there? This one, apparently. The number of homes officially for sale has fallen substantially, both foreclosures and regular listings, leaving would-be buyers with fewer choices. And yet many homeowners are in the wish-I-could-sell group, unhappily off the market, because they can't afford to move at today's prices. Read all about it . But wait! There's more. This is the latest of our twice-annual analysis of the housing market down to ZIP codes in the region and neighborhoods in the city, so the story comes with a lot of extras.

Sometime in 2006, the U.S. housing market began to decline. By October 2007, the nation's housing crisis was so bad that the U.S. treasury secretary called it "the most significant risk to our economy. " Until the housing crisis ends, the Great Recession cannot end. The same kind of bold government action that saved the banking system during the Great Depression is necessary to allow the U.S. economy to fully recover now. The housing crisis not only continues, but it is worsening.

Real estate search site Zillow is predicting that the Baltimore region's housing market will hit bottom this summer. Zillow's chief economist, Stan Humphries, said the company expects an L-shaped recovery here and in most markets, with a substantial period of flat values or small increases. He said the forecast for the end of price drops in the Baltimore area is based on several factors, including the current slowdown in declines and lower-than-average foreclosure activity.

Home sales in the Baltimore metro area appeared to rise in 2009, ending a protracted slump that began after the frenzied buying of the housing bubble peaked in 2005. Buyers closed deals on almost 22,200 homes last year, up 3 percent from the year before, according to preliminary numbers provided Friday by Metropolitan Regional Information Systems and analyzed by The Baltimore Sun. Those numbers could change when the multiple-listing service revises its figures next month, but early trends suggest the final figure for home sales will go up. "I think that what we're seeing is the housing market is definitely bottoming out," said Andy Bauer, regional economist at the Baltimore office of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond.

House beautiful, this isn't: The yard is overgrown, the windows are boarded up, there's a big gash in the first-floor ceiling and the roof has holes. Mark Whitten was delighted. The real estate investor, who looks for homes he can flip to landlords and rehabbers, figured he could immediately find a buyer for the vacant North Baltimore rowhouse, probably someone who would fix it up and rent it out. "I'm going to make an offer and try to get this property under contract today," Whitten, 29, said as he walked through the derelict home last week.

The Baltimore region's housing market posted the fourth straight year of average price declines in 2011 as the number of home sales hit a low not seen in at least a decade and a half. The average home sold last year in the metro area changed hands for about $262,000, down 4 percent compared with 2010, according to a Baltimore Sun analysis of preliminary figures released Tuesday by Metropolitan Regional Information Systems. Home sales also dropped 4 percent. The roughly 22,000 homes sold in the region — Baltimore and its five surrounding counties — represent the smallest number on record at MRIS, which began tracking the region in 1997.

Jason Berkowitz thought he and his family would be couch surfing for an indefinite period thanks to a problem that might seem bizarre this far removed from the housing bubble: They found a buyer for their Lutherville-Timonium townhouse within days , but not a suitable home to buy themselves. He's relieved to report that it all worked out. His family closed on a home in Phoenix (also in Baltimore County) last week. If you've been following his saga, it's the home he made a "Hail Mary" offer on that was initially rejected . Asking price: $515,000.

Real estate search site Zillow is predicting that the Baltimore region's housing market will hit bottom this summer. Zillow's chief economist, Stan Humphries, said the company expects an L-shaped recovery here and in most markets, with a substantial period of flat values or small increases. He said the forecast for the end of price drops in the Baltimore area is based on several factors, including the current slowdown in declines and lower-than-average foreclosure activity.

Why did Anne Arundel County's average home prices take a dive in March? What happened to foreclosure-hungry investors in Baltimore, with a lot fewer foreclosures to go around? Where's the balance of power between buyers and sellers in Howard County these days? Ross Mackesey, sales manager of Long & Foster Real Estate's Greenspring office, covered all that ground plus some in his monthly commentary on the housing numbers. Here's a taste: Anne Arundel County : The average sale price slumped 10 percent in March vs. a year earlier, but there was more to the story than just falling values.

Mark your calendars for area housing expos and events intended to provide information on the housing market, anti-discrimination practices and increasing homeownership. Below you'll find a round up of some upcoming events.   -          Friday,  11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Oak Crest retirement community's annual Home Expo in Crestview Hall at 8800 Walther Boulevard in Parkville. Attendees can tour apartments and attend seminars to learn about the community's realty and moving services.

ADVERTORIAL CONTENT Investing in the housing market was once practically a no brainer. Through the downturn, however, many of the fixed  assumptions about housing - that property values would  always rise and equity would naturally grow - became variable, leaving many consumers questioning the extent to which the real estate market was a good investment option for them, or if now was the time to purchase that new home they have always wanted....

In what sort of housing market do sellers and buyers complain that it's rough out there? This one, apparently. The number of homes officially for sale has fallen substantially, both foreclosures and regular listings, leaving would-be buyers with fewer choices. And yet many homeowners are in the wish-I-could-sell group, unhappily off the market, because they can't afford to move at today's prices. Read all about it . But wait! There's more. This is the latest of our twice-annual analysis of the housing market down to ZIP codes in the region and neighborhoods in the city, so the story comes with a lot of extras.

From the Real Estate Wink blog: In today's topsy-turvy housing market, the number of homes that soon could be for sale is just as important to know as the number that actually are. Here's why: The so-called "shadow inventory" of seriously delinquent borrowers whose properties are in danger of landing on the housing market in Maryland are so numerous that these homes would take a full two years to find buyers at August's pace of sales, according...

Gov.Martin O'Malley's effort to cut back on tax loopholes is a necessary step to reduce the state's income tax, and eliminating the mortgage interest income tax deduction is a good place to start ("Realtors to rally against proposed change affecting Md. mortgage interest deduction," Feb 28). While supporters of the deduction say it is an incentive to homeownership and crucial to maintain the housing market, the deduction has done very little to increase homeownership rates and is an unnecessary government subsidy of the housing market.

In this week's State of the Union address, President Obama announced to cheers the formation of a new Justice Department unit tasked with going after the big banks and mortgage companies whose reckless lending led to the collapse of the housing market and caused millions of Americans to lose their homes through foreclosure. The bursting of the housing bubble deepened the recession that began in 2007, and it continues to drag down the economy's recovery. It's about time the people responsible for this mess were held to account.