After dinner last night, I took my family to the grand opening of DQ in Oakland. Greg Mortimer did a great job in building it, and the ice cream was great!!
Sent from my U.S. Cellular BlackBerry® smartphone
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Deep Creek Lake Maryland Real Estate Sales, Homes For Sale, Water Front, Ski-in / Ski-Out – Jay Ferguson – Railey Realty – Garrett County
EASIEST real estate search engine to use, and the best listings in Garrett County & Deep Creek Lake, courtesy of Railey Realty:
If you are thinking of buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! 877-563-5350
New home sales in March rocket past expectations – Washington Post
New homes sales in March shot up 27 percent from their record lows in the previous month, as home buyers rushed to take advantage of the government’s purchase credit before it expires at the end of this month.
Sales rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 411,000, the biggest monthly jump in 47 years and the strongest month since July, the Commerce Department said this morning.
The sales figure blew past forecasters’ estimates, which expected an annual sales rate of 330,000.
The other good news is that the median sales price of a new home rose slightly compared with last year, up 4 percent to $214,000.
The downside to this good news is that the housing market remains in distortion, thanks to the continued government incentives. We won’t get a clean number on home sales until June, because May will be the first month when homes are sold without any sort of government incentives (assuming that Congress does not extend the credit again).
Read the rest here:
Economy Watch – New home sales in March rocket past expectations
Technorati Tags: homes sales
Dennis Hannibal – Western Maryland Appraisals – Deep Creek Lake
I wanted to profile my good friend Dennis Hannibal, who is a local appraiser here in Garrett County & Deep Creek Lake. We had a great conversation about the real estate market the other day at my Railey Realty office. He is a wealth of information and I highly recommend him for all of your appraisal needs!
Dennis Hannibal
Western Maryland Appraisal Services
Mc Henry, Maryland (md)
301-387-7446
If you are thinking of buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! 877-563-5350
Deep Creek Lake now at normal level
Cumberland Times-News
— Deep Creek Lake at normal level
MCHENRY — Deep Creek Hydropower is now operating within the rule band established by the Maryland Department of the Environment to retain Deep Creek Lake at its appropriate level.
Last month, MDE approved a request from Brookfield Renewable Power, the owner of Deep Creek Hydropower, to lower the water level to accommodate the winter’s record snow pack and subsequent melting.
Brookfield also brought in seven “ice eaters” to break up and remove ice and reduce ice pressure on the spillway. MDE and the Maryland Department of Natural Resources worked closely with Brookfield to monitor the situation.
The analysis of water content in the snow pack and the lower than expected rainfall has made spring flooding this year unlikely.
Lake levels are posted at www.deepcreekhydro.com.
Spring time at the Wisp Ski Resort
- Wisp Ski Resort Deep Creek Lake
It’s that time of year…I’m starting to see some bare spots on the Wisp Ski Resort. Overall, it was a great ski season and a record winter for snowfall. Spring is here at Deep Creek Lake and the warmer weather (and rain) has led to some bare spots on the mountain. Virtually all of the snow that was here on the ground has melted now. It snowed yesterday, but there was no accumulation. Keep checking back for more info from the I Love Deep Creek blog!
If you are thinking of buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! 877-563-5350
Investors Are Buying Houses Again
March 23, 2010 by cloeffler
Good news for the second-home market.
More home buyers are snapping up properties with cash, a trend driven in large part by investors returning to the market after four years of falling prices around the country.
The share of home sales involving all-cash transactions was 26% in January, up from 18% a year earlier, according to the National Association of Realtors. The figures come from a survey of members about their most recent transactions. Many home buyers also are paying cash, but investors are largely using cash so they can avoid paying interest charges on loans and get a larger return on their investment.
Other NAR data also show a pickup in investment activity.
Home purchases made by buyers identified as investors climbed to 17% in January, up from 15% in December and 12% in November.
“We bottomed out in 2008, and in late 2009, prices stabilized and investors have returned,” says Mark Fleming, chief economist at First American CoreLogic. “It’s a different type of investor going after foreclosed properties and expecting to hold on for longer time frames.”
Many investors say they’re financing their purchases with cash on hand, rather than borrowing.
Evan Spinrod of San Francisco bought three rental properties in November and February and now owns 21 in four states. The rent he collects gives him an 8.5% annual return on his investment. Some of his homes are worth about $165,000. “I’m still looking,” Spinrod says. “You can’t build these houses for the prices they’re selling them. I’ve always seen that the real wealth was in real estate. People have been sitting on cash, and there’s no interest from the bank (to pay).”
Leonard Baron, a real estate professor at San Diego State University, has bought three homes with cash in the
San Diego area in the past eight months, ranging in price from $100,000 to $130,000. He rents the properties.
Baron says now is an ideal time to make such purchases. “It’s because prices have dropped so much and rents really haven’t,” he says. “The deals were unbelievable.”
Some Realtors also say they’re seeing increased investor activity.
“Flippers, rehabbers, investors … are, in fact, buying,” says Lisa Johnson, with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Haverhill, Mass. “I’m getting builders who have stopped building and are instead buying up condos and single-family homes to fix them up and sell them. It’s a neat change I haven’t seen in four years.”
All-cash purchases also reflect a growing number of investors buying higher-end properties without credit, says NAR spokesman Walter Molony. That’s a sign that some investors see real estate prices as having nowhere to
go but up. All-cash offers give buyers a competitive edge on rival offers – even higher ones – that are dependent on financing. Cash deals can close faster and are less likely to fall through.
“You have to have cash to be able to close quickly and have negotiating power. Cash is king,” says Tanya Marchiol, president of Phoenix-based Team Investments, which buys about 70 properties a month with cash it raises from investors. “We do want to flip it or generate cash flow (through renting it out). Now is the time to buy for cash flow. We know the market is going to rebound.”
Some investors say the current real estate market is an ideal time to buy because homes are so low priced, they are bound to hold their value.
That’s the philosophy of Jim McClelland of Tinley Park, 111.
He is buying about 120 to 150 entrylevel homes in the Chicago area this year and owns a total of about 300 properties.
He says now is a good time to buy because properties going into foreclosure are no longer just one-bedroom, fixer-uppers but nicer, split-level brick homes with more bedrooms that will probably appreciate to a higher value.
That’s because so many prime-rate borrowers who bought more expensive homes have gone into foreclosure.
He puts about $60,000 into upgrading a property, then rents it out.
“Do I think this year will be a better time to invest than in 2009? Yes,” McClelland says. “There have always been foreclosures. The difference now is you get a better home for the same kind of money. You’re sitting on better inventory. People get into real estate for financial independence. It’s not a quick fix. It appreciates. It doesn’t happen overnight.”
By Stephanie Armour USA TODAY
More Garrett County seniors eligible for property tax break
Commissioners extend 50 percent credit
Megan Miller Cumberland Times-News
Cumberland — OAKLAND — A recent act by the Garrett County Commission could give more residents a tax credit on their county tax bills, starting this tax year.
Currently, county residents who qualify for the state Homeowners’ Property Tax Credit program, are 65 or older, and have lived in Garrett for at least 10 years, can also receive an additional credit of 25 percent of the state credit amount to apply to their county tax bill.
But the income threshold and tax bill guidelines to qualify for the state program left out a portion of Garrett’s low-income seniors who “probably suffer more than anyone else in trying to pay their taxes,” according to County Administrator Monty Pagenhardt.
Now residents who don’t meet the requirements for the state program can qualify for a county credit if they are 65 or older, have lived in Garrett for at least 10 years and have a combined gross household income of $25,000 or less. That extends a county credit to people whose incomes are low, but whose tax bills aren’t high enough to meet the state program guidelines.
“This goes over and above the state’s guidelines,” Pagenhardt said. “It’s not that much money for the county, about $8,300 in lost revenue, but the commissioners felt they wanted to do something to benefit that segment of county residents.”
Those seniors who qualify for the expanded county program will receive a 50 percent credit on their county real estate and landfill taxes, but their state taxes will not be affected.
Pagenhardt said the three commissioners agreed unanimously on the action, which makes about 32 more households eligible for county tax relief.
Wendy Yoder, director of financial services, said residents must still fill out the state application to be eligible for either the county and state credits or the new county credit program.
Applications are due by Sept. 1 for the tax bills that will come out in the summer, she said. The application forms are available online at www.dat.state.md.us, at the State Department of Assessments and Taxation office in the Garrett County Courthouse, or by calling that office at (301) 334-1950 and requesting a form by mail.
For more information contact the county staff at (301) 334-8970.
Contact Megan Miller at mmiller@times-news.com.
High Lumber Prices Threaten Housing Market – WSJ.com
Bad news for new construction, but this may be a blessing in disguise for existing home inventories that are priced more affordably than ever.
The long-ailing U.S. housing market is facing a new headwind—a jump in the cost of lumber.
[COMMOD]
Lumber prices have climbed 32% on the futures market this year, a sudden and unexpected surge that could raise construction costs or force builders to swallow an added expense.
“That’s the last thing we need right now,” Stephen Melman, director of economic services at the National Association of Home Builders, said of the recent price hike.
Lumber’s price rise contrasts with a decline in most other commodities, such as fossil fuels and industrial metals. Those are dragging due to fears of weaker demand amid a fragile recovery from the financial crisis.
But lumber prices shot up because of a shortage of supply. When the housing market cratered, mills in the U.S. and Canada slashed production; output plummeted about 45% between 2005 and 2009, according to Random Lengths, an industry data provider.
Wholesalers shrank their own inventories and had little incentive to build them back up last year. Housing is the largest single source of demand for lumber, and new-home sales fell 7.6% in December from the prior month, to 342,000 units.
So when builders began their annual re-stocking for the spring construction season, there was little slack in the supply chain, causing a squeeze on prices. Some firms also stepped up speculative construction in the hope that an expiring federal tax credit would boost the market.
“Any increase in demand is going to allow the mills to raise their prices,” said Gary Vitale, president of the North American Wholesale Lumber Association.
On Jan. 5, lumber buyers got an added incentive to lock in shipments. Canfor Corp., a major Vancouver-based lumber producer, announced a temporary but indefinite closure of one mill that took 255 million board feet out of production, on an annualized basis—equivalent to roughly half-a-percent of total output from the U.S. and Canada in 2009.
The day after Canfor’s announcement, lumber futures at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange closed up 5%. Prices kept rising that month and hit a peak for the year of $279 per thousand board feet on Feb. 4, according to Thomson Reuters. Prices settled Friday at $270.90.
Industry insiders described a buying frenzy somewhat detached from actual economic activity.
“It’s a bit of a herd mentality” in which people conclude, “If someone’s gonna buy, I better buy, too,” said Jamie Greenough, a broker and analyst at Global Futures Corp. in Vancouver.
Home builders are wrestling with the consequences. Steve Petruska, chief operating officer of Pulte Homes Inc., told investors on Feb. 9 that the nation’s largest home builder is responding to the price hike by trying to hold down labor costs. He predicted the situation “isn’t going to be so bad.”
But the January price increase was welcome news for Weyerhaeuser, the forest-products giant, which reported a $175 million fourth-quarter net loss on Feb. 5. Tom Gideon, a high-ranking executive, told investors the firm was “pleasantly surprised.”
[COMMOD_jmp]
It is difficult to gauge how much the recent price increase would affect the price of a home, because various factors affect the bottom line. At the peak price for the year in early February, the rise would have added about $1,000 to the price of a typical new home, said Henry Spelter, U.S. Forest Service economist.
Mr. Melman, of the home builders’ group, said the impact on a more expensive house could be greater. “Builders don’t have a lot of inventory sitting around,” he said. “So when the price goes up, it really does go up, and that could have an immediate impact.”
The supply crunch is striking because, just a few years ago, the North American lumber industry was able to supply enough wood to start more than two million homes a year. That was nearly four times the pace of home starts in December.
The ongoing recession will keep production light, said Matt Layman, publisher of Layman’s Lumber Guide in Belmont, N.C., who called this the only sustained supply-driven rally he has seen in 30 years of trading lumber.
Mills lost too much money in the lean years before finally cutting shifts and idling plants, and they don’t have the necessary capital to restart shuttered operations now, Mr. Layman said.
The industry is also waiting to see whether lumber demand is actually rebounding, beyond the annual re-stocking. Dan Fulton, chief executive officer of Weyerhaeuser, told investors on Feb. 5 that it was “too early to tell.”
The expiring tax credit may have boosted home builders’ annual effort to fill their lumber stocks before the onset of spring makes building more practical. The measure was initially set to expire on Nov. 30, but it was extended and now offers first-time buyers an $8,000 tax credit if they sign by April 30 and close by June 30.
If the home builders’ wager on the tax credit doesn’t pay off, and home sales remain tepid, lumber prices could suffer. “The sustainability of this rally is in question, because the amount of true demand is not clear,” said Joshua Zaret, an analyst at Longbow Research.
And Mr. Petruska, of Pulte Homes, said the company wasn’t locking in prices for future delivery, a move which could backfire if prices fall again.
“Obviously, in this demand environment, that’s very risky,” he said.
If you are thinking of buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Long & Foster Real Estate for all of your real estate needs! 877-563-5350
New Long & Foster Personal Website
Just finished working on our new ‘web friendly’ portal websites with Long & Foster. Awesome accessibility and I really like the larger photos – they make a huge difference with searching.
http://jayferguson.lnf.com/
If you are thinking of buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Long & Foster Real Estate for all of your real estate needs! 877-563-5350
