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Time out

As some of you already know, I've spent most of this year pregnant. Now comes the time for maternity leave, and parents assure me I'll be far, far too busy and exhausted to blog. My plan is eight months on leave. Perhaps I will have some energy to ...

From JAMIE SMITH HOPKINS, Baltimore Sun Blogs,  20 Oct 2008

How-to Monday: Investing in affordable housing

In these days of financial instability, housing development seems like the last place you’d want to invest your money. The Bethesda nonprofit has investment vehicles for affordable housing, a niche of the market it says is holding up well despite all ...

From JAMIE SMITH HOPKINS, Baltimore Sun Blogs,  20 Oct 2008

Rents: More expensive or less, depending

Apartment rents are higher than a year ago in some parts of the Baltimore metro area but lower in others, a sign that difficulties in the for-sale market are having an uneven effect on the rental market. A new report from Delta Associates shows ...

From JAMIE SMITH HOPKINS, Baltimore Sun Blogs,  19 Oct 2008

Have an opinion about growth?

Inquiring minds want to know what you think about growth and development in Maryland. A state task force on land use is offering a survey at the Maryland Department of Planning site -- when you're there, click on the icon for Smart Growth Listening ...

From JAMIE SMITH HOPKINS, Baltimore Sun Blogs,  18 Oct 2008

Mortgage rates: Are you dizzy yet?

Cameron Findlay, chief economist for LendingTree.com, says the roots (sorry) of the increase in mortgage rates lie in technical matters. The money in a mortgage-backed security goes in three directions: the investor, Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, and ...

From JAMIE SMITH HOPKINS, Baltimore Sun Blogs,  17 Oct 2008

Q: What sort of homes sold here last month?

Sales of homes priced below $250,000 increased by 9 percent last month vs. a year earlier in the Baltimore metro area, according to my analysis of Metropolitan Regional Information Systems data. Homes sales in the $250,000 to $499,000 range fell by 9 ...

From JAMIE SMITH HOPKINS, Baltimore Sun Blogs,  16 Oct 2008

More commentary on home prices

As home prices are a topic of considerable interest here (at least among those of you who comment), I thought you'd like to see economist Dean Baker's price-related thoughts in his newest Housing Market Monitor: Proposals by politicians and ...

From JAMIE SMITH HOPKINS, Baltimore Sun Blogs,  15 Oct 2008

You knew it was only a matter of time

The Homeownership Preservation Foundation sent out a warning today that people are trying to profit off borrowers in danger of foreclosure by mimicking the "HOPE hotline" with similar names and telephone numbers. (I've received one of those emails, as ...

From JAMIE SMITH HOPKINS, Baltimore Sun Blogs,  15 Oct 2008

The borrower or the loan?

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is offering its opinion on the housing market's quasi chicken-or-egg question -- what's to blame for the stunning number of mortgages gone bad, the borrowers or the loan products? The broker origination ...

From JAMIE SMITH HOPKINS, Baltimore Sun Blogs,  14 Oct 2008

How-to Monday: Escrow

Many of the people streaming into St. Ambrose Housing Aid Center in Baltimore for help avoiding foreclosure don’t have escrow accounts and didn’t realize it when they got the loan. The truth comes as an especial shock to homeowners who refinanced, ...

From JAMIE SMITH HOPKINS, Baltimore Sun Blogs,  13 Oct 2008

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