Housing Slump Forces Project Switch
An investment venture is changing a proposed $83 million luxury condominium development in Baltimore into an apartment project. Struever Bros. Eccles & Rouse blames the weakened housing market for switching gears on the Olmstead in the city’s Charles Village area. The project was originally planned for 107 condominiums to be sold for as much as $700,000/unit. The revised plan calls for a higher number of smaller units that will be rented at market rates.

I save a ton of money, time and energy at my office job by creating a work uniform for myself. I purchased five black slacks (the heavy-duty kind for construction workers as they stay pressed-looking after days of wear in an office) and ten polo shirts of different colors. I simply wash and wear. Before this, I used to get up early and try to coordinate slacks, blouses, belts and shoes. Lately, I realized that I just need to be clean, pressed and presentable. Every piece in my new work outfit is always perfectly interchangeable, and with the differently colored polo shirts, I never get bored with what I’m wearing. Now if I spend time or money on clothes, it’s to wear for a night on the town where it really counts to look my best!
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The rate of residential construction spending fell behind its year-ago level in April despite inching up from March, the U.S. Census Bureau reported today.

Last month’s $1.19 billion seasonally adjusted rate of construction spending was 2 percent lower than the April 2006 estimate of $1.21 billion but was up slightly from March’s estimate of $1.18 billion, according to the report. This rate is a projection of a monthly total over a 12-month period, adjusted for seasonal fluctuations in construction activity.

During the first four months of 2007, construction spending amounted to $345.1 billion, approximately 2.5 percent below the $353.8 billion for the same period in 2006.

Builder confidence in the condominium market eroded significantly in the first quarter of 2007, fueled by an overwhelming supply and stricter mortgage lending rules, the National Association of Home Builders reported.

According to the latest results of the Multifamily Condo Market Index (MCMI), the component that tracks current conditions in the condo market stood at 23.1 in the first quarter, down nearly 14 points from this time a year ago. A rating of 50 generally indicates that the number of positive responses is about the same as the number of negative responses.

Home prices nationwide continued to rise in the first quarter of 2007, although at the lowest rate in 10 years, according to a federal agency’s analysis of data from mortgage repurchasers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

For the year, homes appreciated faster than other goods and services that make up the Consumer Price Index, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) reported today in issuing its quarterly house-price index (HPI).

OFHEO reported the HPI rose .5 percent from the previous quarter, down from the 1.3 percent gain in home prices registered between the third and fourth quarters of 2006.