Crofton, MD - A Great Place to Live

Crofton is a planned community. On a map, Crofton is a triangle bordered by Route 3, Route 424 (Davidsonville Road) and Route 450 (Defense Hwy). It is midway between Baltimore and Washington, DC. Inside the trangle, everything is residential with the exception of the Crofton Country Club, a few churches, and Village Green...a small cluster of businesses. Crofton Parkway is a wide boulevard that is a 4 mile circle inside the triangle. Many of the homes along the parkway back to the golf course. On any given day, you will see people strolling, running, and biking the parkway.

In the past 10 years, new housing was build outside of the Crofton triangle. There are townhouses and single family homes by a variety of builders. Walden is a planned community with a golf course and country club. Housing in the newer area of Crofton is comparable to other housing built in the Washington, DC area in the past 10 years.

One of the advantages that Crofton has is location and the accessibility to transportation. Washington, DC is a 25 minute drive; Baltimore is a 30 minute drive. There is a bus that leaves Crofton every morning for the New Carrolton Metro Station (orange line). The bus returns every evening. The New Carrolton station is about a 20 minute drive from Crofton and there is parking there. The MARC train that goes to Union Station leaves from Bowie and Odenton. Both stations are within 15 minutes of Crofton.

Crofton has a beautiful park with athletic fields and an outdoor theater. In addition, there is a smaller park with a lake inside the triangle. The lake is stocked with fish, and on a summer day, many youngsters try their luck at fishingl. The other lake in Crofton put the community in the public eye a few years ago when snakehead fish were found.

A quiet residential community, Crofton has all sorts of activities. Every summer there are Sunday evening concerts on Village Green; there is an Easter Egg Hunt, a Halloween parade, and a Christmas tree lighting. There are summer ice cream socials, and every spring and fall there is a wonderful craft bazaar across from the Village Green.

Anne Arundel County Heritage

Back in the 1950's the folks in Annapolis (the capital of Maryland) made the wise decision to maintain as many of the historical buildings in the city as possible. The goal was to keep the 17th century feel, and as a result Annapolis has the largest collection of 17th century real estate architecture in the country. You can stroll through downtown Annapolis and enjoy the museums, historic sites, shopping, dining, and views of the water.

Anne Arundel County is located on the Chesapeake Bay, and there are many water activities. Every fall a week is devoted to the sail boat show, and a week is devoted to the power boat show. All of the boats are in the waterm and visitors to the shows can board the boats. Any time of the year, you can walk across the Easport Bridge over Spa Creek. Hundreds of boats can be viewed from the bridge. The U.S. Naval Academy adds to the rich maritime heritage of Annapolis.

Average List Price for Sold Properties in Anne Arundel, Howard, and Prince George's Counties for August

This is where the really positive news shows. The number of houses sold in the month of August for Anne Arundel County was 9% higher than a year ago. In Howard County there was a 7% increase. Prince George's County is the big winner with a 48% increase over August 2008. Keep in mind that the sales price is lower than a year ago. However, the good news has to start somewhere. Increase in sales price will come as the economy improves. It may be the the $8K tax credit is getting the first time home buyer out to buy. It also appears that now is the time to buy if you are a first time home buyer that has been sitting on the fence, because this is probably the bottom of the market. As short sales and foreclosures decrease, home prices will start to increase. It is hard to say when that will happen, but it is inevitable. Keep in mind that like all of our economy, the housing market is cyclical, and we have been in this down cycle for three years.

Data from MRIS

Resale Houses Sold in Anne Arundel, Howard, and Prince George's Counties for August

This is where the really positive news shows. The number of houses sold in the month of August for Anne Arundel County was 9% higher than a year ago. In Howard County there was a 7% increase. Prince George's County is the big winner with a 48% increase over August 2008. Keep in mind that the sales price is lower than a year ago. However, the good news has to start somewhere. Increase in sales price will come as the economy improves. It may be the the $8K tax credit is getting the first time home buyer out to buy. It also appears that now is the time to buy if you are a first time home buyer that has been sitting on the fence, because this is probably the bottom of the market. As short sales and foreclosures decrease, home prices will start to increase. It is hard to say when that will happen, but it is inevitable. Keep in mind that like all of our economy, the housing market is cyclical, and we have been in this down cycle for three years.

Data from MRIS

Median Sold Price for Real Estate in August - Anne Arundel, Howard, and Prince George's Counties

Median price tells us that as many houses sold above this dollar amount as sold below the amount. This statistic has been down over the same period a year ago for the past 12 months in all 3 counties. Anne Arundel and Howard Counties' numbers are less than 10% and have been for the entire year. Prince George's County has taken the biggest hit in prices. This is because there are more distressed properties in Prince George's County than in any other county in Maryland. Also, keep in mind that a lot of first time home buyers are taking advantage of the $8,000 federal tax credit. This means that lower priced homes are selling because people are being given an incentive to purchase.

So this statistic indicates that many more lower priced homes are being sold than higher priced homes.

Data from MRIS

Top Things to Do in Maryland

Planning a trip to Maryland or thinking about relocating? Here is a list taken from www.worldtravelguide.net of things you should definitely check out!

• Tour the National Aquarium in Baltimore (image below) (website: www.aqua.org), home to more than 560 species of sub aquatic life. Start your day by having breakfast with the dolphins, or sign up for a sleepover with the sharks.

• Listen to the music at the beautiful Pier Six Concert Pavilion (website: www.piersixpavilion.com) where concerts are hosted during the summer months (June to late September).

• Climb the Washington Monument (website: www.nps.gov/wamo) in the heart of Washington, DC for a panoramic view.

• Take a water taxi ride to the neighbourhoods of Fell's Point (website: www.fellspoint.us) and Little Italy (website: www.littleitalymd.com).

• Sign on for sailing lessons at the world-renowned Annapolis Sailing School (website: www.annapolissailing.com).

• Soak up the sun at Ocean City (website: www.oceancity.org), a lovely beach resort boasting an expansive white sand beach, a 5km- (3-mile-) long boardwalk, amusements, tram rides, boating and deep-sea fishing.
  

• Hike or bike the old towpath once used by mule-drawn barges in Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historic Park (website: www.nps.gov/choh), stretching 295km (184 miles) from Washington, DC to Cumberland in Western Maryland, and visit the headquarters where George Washington began his military career.

• Enjoy a variety of water-based activities at Deep Creek Lake (website: www.deepcreeklake.com), the state's four-season resort, or play 18 holes of golf on two scenic championship courses.

• Admire some of the world's best racehorses during the week-long activities celebrating the annual running of the Preakness Stakes (website: www.preakness.com) in May. It is the second event in thoroughbred racing's prestigious triple crown.

What are your favorite things to do in Maryland? I would love to hear them!

Average Sold Price for Real Estate in Anne Arundel, Howard, and Prince George's Counties

Unfortunately, the positivity that we saw in dollar sales has not reached average sold price. For Anne Arundel County, it's the best average sold price since March. Howard County suffered an 8%+ lost compared to average sold price a year ago. Prince George's County has experienced the most significant losses in average sold price because of the large number of short sales and foreclosures. As a county, Prince George's has suffered the most significant number of distressed homes in Maryland.

Based on the past couple of months statistics, it appears that the price of homes will be the last statistic to improve.

Data from MRIS

Real Estate Dollar Volume Improving in Maryland Counties

For the month of August real estate dollar volume was up in Anne Arundel County in positive numbers for the second month in a row. Howard County was off less than 2%. With a whopping 15%+, Prince George's County was also up 2 months in a row. This chart relates to total dollar volume of resales sold. In future blogs, I will show you other real estate market indicators for Anne Arundel, Howard, and Prince George's Counties. The good news is that although the numbers fell off a bit from July, 2 positive months in a row is the best performance in the past 12 months.

In future blogs, I will chart average dollar sale, median dollar sale, and units sold. Those of us in the real estate industry are hoping that this is the beginning of a trend.

All numbers are compared to the same period last year.

Data from MRIS

Maryland Fun Facts

Main Street (formerly Church Street) in Annapolis, Maryland, USA Photo © Hisham Ibrahim / Getty Images

Thinking about moving to Maryland? Here are some fun and interesting facts about the "Old Line State." (Taken from history.com)

• Maryland was the hometown of the Babe and the Raven: Baseball great Babe Ruth and Edgar Allen Poe lived there. Poe is also buried in Baltimore's Westminster Cemetery.

• The state sport of Maryland is jousting, a competition between two armored contestants mounted on horses in which each tries to strike the other with a lance. The sport has been enjoyed in Maryland for 300 years.

• Maryland is famous for great seafood, especially crabs. During lunch hour on Maryland's Chesapeake Bay, vendors sell almost as many crabcakes as hot dogs and hambugers combined.

• Maryland's Mount Clare Station, built in Baltimore in 1830, was the first railroad station in the United States.

• Notorious gunslinger Doc Holliday was called "Doc" because he was a dentist. Holliday learned his trade at the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery.

• Kunta Kinte, the slave ancestor of Roots author Alex Haley, arrived in Annapolis in 1767. This is now commemorated at the City Dock by a plaque and statue of Haley.

• The Mother Seton House in Baltimore and the National Shrine of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton in Emmitsburg both celebrate the life of the first American to be sainted, a Baltimore resident.

• America's first umbrellas were produced in Baltimore, beginning in 1828.

• Each year on September 17, 23,100 luminaries are lit at Maryland's Antietam National Battlefield to honor the dead of America's bloodiest one-day battle, fought during the Civil War.

• The Mason-Dixon line was drawn between Pennsylvania and Maryland in the 1760s to end a border dispute. The line is traditionally thought of as the division between America's North and South.