The recent survey shows that bathroom and kitchen remodelings and additions remain highly valued by buyers. But the survey also shows returns on recent home improvements at the time of resale have dropped dramatically in the Baltimore area.

Overall, the return in 2005 - when home values skyrocketed without home improvements - averaged 99 percent in Baltimore. That's down to 68.8 percent in the 2007 survey, said Sal Alfano, editorial director of Remodeling magazine. 

It's part of a national trend in which the average cost recouped nationally was 70 percent, down 12.5 percent since 2003. 

"With the downturn in late 2005 and 2006, it affected the resale value," Alfano said. Remodeling costs went up. House prices went down. "You put those two things together and the resale value drops," he said.