* The Darker Side of Interest Rate Cuts [Fortune]
"Interest rates are headed lower. But how low can they go?"
* Fed Cuts: What it Means for Your Mortgage [Realty Check]
"On days like this, I think it’s important to go back to the ol’
mortgage primer and figure out exactly what all this news means to you,
to your mortgage, to your home equity line and to your home’s financial
future.
* Golf Without Borders [NYT]
"MANUEL MEHOS was surfing one of Mexico’s
best-known breaks when he looked up from his paddling in the Pacific.
“I said to myself,” he recalled, “‘Wouldn’t it be great if there were a
development here someday?’”
* Where Will Fannie/Freddie Changes be Felt [Developments]
"There are 19 metropolitan areas where the economic-stimulus package’s
changes to the conforming loan limits would likely have an impact,
according to this analysis from the Stanford Group Company, a
Washington, D.C.-based financial services company."
* Economists React: 'A Long Way to Go' Before Bottom [Real Time Economics]
"We look for the moderate declining trend to hold through the winter, but we continue to believe that a bottom will be found in the spring."
* New Test for Developers in Maine: Climate Change [Christian Science Monitor] h/t Planetizen
"A plan to build thousands of new homes next to a lake in Maine's north woods faces an environmental test that may one day
challenge developers nationwide: What's the carbon footprint of a new subdivision or land development?"
* Stimulus Could Benefit Home Builders, Banks [MSNBC]
"U.S. homebuilders, lenders and other struggling companies could receive
hefty one-time tax refunds this year and next under a provision of the
economic stimulus plan percolating in Washington."
* U.S. Real Estate A 'Bargain' for Foreign Buyers [Inman News]
"Two years ago, while attending a
home-builder convention in Orlando, Fla., a top-producing local real
estate agent was bubbling over the interior design features of a
vacation home."
* America's Richest Counties [Forbes]
"It's easy to assume that the nation's richest counties dot the
tri-state area around New York City, or San Francisco's Bay Area."
* Shopping for a Loan Online? Beware of Lowball Offers [Washington Post]
"I wrote an article five years ago on Internet mortgage-referral sites,
six of which I examined with some care. In the intervening years, more
have popped up."
Regional [DC-MD-VA] News Roundup
* Housing Prices at the Edges Falling Faster [The Ground Floor]
"It's always a (somewhat unexpected) pleasure when facts begin to support one's theories."
* The Next Page in Downtown Plan [Baltimore Sun]
"
It's just three storefronts now, just half a block with a jewelry/pawn shop, a carryout and a barber shop."
* In Arlington, A Slightly Down Year for Real Estate [Sun Gazette]
"A solid first half of the year, followed by a sluggish second half,
meant the Arlington real estate market outperformed the region as a
whole in 2007 but still ended up with fewer sales than were recorded in
2006."
* State Emphasizing Car Pooling in HOT Lanes [DC Examiner]
"Virginia
transportation officials are hoping 3,750 additional commuter parking
spaces along the Interstate 95 corridor will reduce concerns about the
planned high-occupancy toll lanes wiping away Northern Virginia’s carpool culture."
* Developer Ready to Face Public Opinion with Historic Property [Washington BizJournal]
" A D.C. developer has just posted its face -- well, its logo, anyway -- on the otherwise youthful Facebook.com."
* Can Big be Green? [Washington Post]
"
The house Joe Monfredo built in Anne Arundel County
has seven bedrooms, 6 1/2 baths and four fireplaces. There are a
recreation room, a study, a media room, a gym, a second laundry room
and a second kitchen."
* Rural, Family-Friendly Life Draw Buyers [WHG]
"Rural charm and miles of shoreline have persuaded more than 85,000
people to call Calvert County home, a number that is growing steadily."
