In a word, the residential mortgage picture is: BAD.
As reported by MarketWatch, more than 11.3 million homeowners — nearly one-fourth of all Americans with a mortgage — owe more on their loan (or are “under water”), than their home is now worth, according to a report released February 23, 2010, by FirstAmerican CoreLogic.

More than 10% of […]

We normally would NOT reproduce language from a prospectus filed with the SEC. HOWEVER the following language is culled directly from a very interesting and timely filing made by First Mariner Bank on Tuesday (2.9.10).
It is so related to our recent posts – regarding the collapse of the commercial real estate market and the heavy-weight […]

Here’s what MarylandCommercialTitle.com has been saying for more than two (2) years now. Could this truly be our reality?
Over the next several years, a watchdog group concludes that failed commercial real estate loans could litter American cities with empty stores and office complexes, cause hundreds of bank failures and weaken the economy.
Banks face up to […]

A few green-shoots to focus on with regard to the Maryland real estate marketplace, finally. Is 2010 starting to turn, possitive?
In today’s Sun, despite an economy still in the earliest stages of recovery, some apartment construction projects are securing hard-to-get loans and moving forward as developers count on apartment living coming back into favor.
A Few […]

It is September 2009 and here are the headlines: Lack of Opportunity to Purchase Quality Assets Surprises Investors ….. Commercial Real Estate Sectors Expected to Deteriorate Through 2010. Who would have guessed that a full year post the Lehman collapse, we’d be here.

Despite a still-struggling U.S. economy, ill credit markets, deteriorating property fundamentals, and precipitous […]

Here at MarylandCommercialTitle.com we have blogged on several unique methods to peek into the current and future economic forecasts. Here’s a new one for us: NEMA Lighting Systems Index.
Seems that as a result of tracking lighting purchases, economists and us onlookers, too can immediately shed light on what is truly happening in the marketplace, as well as what may be occuring […]

YEP … It is official: Commercial real estate (CRE) markets are now down into a severe and historic recessionary decline. Earlier this week the MIT Center for Real Estate released their Q2 2009 read on the nation’s commercial property market showing a stunning:

All commercial structures (as an aggregate PRICE): Down 32.07% year-over-year decline !!!
Decline of 36.33% in DEMAND.
Worse […]

Today’s release of the S&P/Case-Shiller home price indices for May 2009 showed the first month-to-month gain in 34 months (almost 3 years!).
Clearly this is a notable development but it’s important to put today’s results in perspective before getting to confident that even the initial leg of the declining trend has ceased.

First, it’s important to recognize […]

Governor Martin O’Malley and Lieutenant Governor Anthony Brown released data in the form of a StateStat Update on foreclosure prevention outreach efforts in Maryland:

Through the first six months of 2009, approximately 18,112 foreclosure filings occurred in
Maryland.
Compared with 17,625 filings for the same period last year, this represents a growth of about 2.8 percent.
In […]

Mortgages on commercial property held by U.S. banks have been failing at the fastest rate in nearly 20 years, the Wall Street Journal said. 
Losses on loans used to finance commercial spaces would possibly reach about $30 billion by the end of 2009 at the current rate.  The $30 billion estimate is based on financial reports […]