The Real Estate Wonk: Hancock: Baltimore City 'holding its own' - Baltimore homes, apartments, real estate: Buying, selling, renting and housing news from reporter Jamie Smith Hopkins

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January 17, 2009

Hancock: Baltimore City 'holding its own'

Jay Hancock says in his column today that Baltimore, city of tears during the early '90s recession, is doing a whole lot better this time around. Housing is one of his examples:

The average city home sold for 4 percent less in December than it did a year previously. Howard County house prices, meanwhile, plopped down 10 percent during the same period.
Credit Baltimore's mature neighborhoods, which weren't subject to the nutty speculation and pell-mell construction that occurred in some areas. But also give props to the city's comeback as a desirable place for those with options to live elsewhere. ...
While Baltimore lost nearly 90,000 residents in the 1990s, its population has been stable at 640,000 for five years, according to Census Bureau estimates. One reason: You can work in the city without worrying so much that your job is about to vanish. Today's Baltimore specializes in health care, education and government, sectors least hurt by the recession.

Posted by Jamie Smith Hopkins at 6:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Comments

And in other neighborhoods that aren't as "mature", rabid speculative investing pushes communities further into decline. I can't fathom why the city allowed it and why the city doesn't seem to be doing much about it now.

Posted by: Baltimore Slumlord Watch | January 17, 2009 3:43 PM

There's also the in-between issue -- the ton of rehabbing in neighborhoods like Canton, which put a lot of new product on the market all at once.

Thanks for the comment, Baltimore Slumlord Watch. (That's an interesting idea for a site.)

Posted by: Jamie Smith Hopkins | January 17, 2009 9:55 PM

Baltimore is doing well? Our mayor is facing indictment for cozying up with developers. Why are big developers getting these tax breaks when homeowners do not? Why are there even preferential treatment at all? It creates all sorts of opportunities for corruption.

Posted by: semiconscious | January 18, 2009 7:51 PM

And another thing, prices are definitely down in the city if you compare the same house with its sold price 2 years ago.

Posted by: semiconscious | January 18, 2009 7:54 PM

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About Jamie Smith Hopkins

Jamie Smith Hopkins, a Baltimore Sun reporter since 1999, writes about the regional economy. Her reporting on the housing market has won national and local awards. Hopkins is a Columbia native and has lived in Maryland all her life, save for 10 months spent covering schools in Ames, Iowa.
She trained to become a wonk by spending large chunks of time as a geek and an insufferable know-it-all.
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