If you’re considering renting an Annapolis Condo or Townhome, we’ve set up a new site specifically for rentals at ForRentAnnapolis.com

You can choose Condos/Townhomes or detached homes, in price categories ranging from $1,000/month to over $3,000/month.

We’ll let the pros handle the description — from Park Place Annapolis:

For those who appreciate the finer things in life. Elegant yet with all the modern conveniences imaginable, Park Place offers the best of both worlds. Within the stately building, each residence features spacious layouts and a distinctive character of its own.

The Residence at Park Place is at the heart of an extraordinary new development including the distinguished Westin Annapolis Hotel, premium office space, outstanding restaurants such as Morton’s Steak House, Carpaccio Tuscan Kitchen and Wine Bar, and, of course, a convenient Starbucks.

Available properties range from a 1 bedroom, 1 bath at $360,000 to a custom-designed 2 bedroom, 2 bath for $1,450,000.

Directions, photos and available listings on our site at AnnapolisCondos - Park Place.

Contact Bill Hyland at 410-570-9111 for a private tour and additional details.

While the developer does not rent any residences at Park Place, private owners are permitted to rent their units. You can find those owner listings at ForRentAnnapolis.com - Park Place Rentals.

Annapolis Realty, Inc. and McWilliams|Ballard are the listing agents for The Residences at Park Place.

From the Annapolis Capital, by Katie Arcieri:

The number of homes sold in Anne Arundel County fell 27 percent last year from 2007, but sale prices held relatively steady as a recession swept the country.

The year-end figures illustrate how Anne Arundel’s sluggish market continued to fall after the area’s skyrocketing real estate years of 2004 and 2005 even as local homeowners held on to their prices in a tough economy. The 2008 year-end figures worsened a trend that already was in a steep decline from the previous year. The number of homes sold in the county in 2007 was a nearly 17 percent drop from the 7,433 homes sold in 2006.

But even as the subprime mortgage crisis infected the area with foreclosures and banks tightened up credit requirements last year, local Realtors said area residents still took advantage of great deals and lower interest rates in 2008.

From the Washington Post:

A three-year study of the Bridge to Excellence Act came as Editorial Projects in Education, which publishes the trade newspaper Education Week, announced the results of its annual survey of state school systems.

In the latter report, Maryland was ranked first among the 50 states and the District. Last year, the state ranked third. “I’m elated,” Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) said at an Annapolis High School event to promote the two reports. “We now have the No. 1, the best public school system in the United States of America, and we need to do our best to defend that.”

The Education Week study evaluated school systems on several criteria, including accountability standards, college readiness of high school graduates, spending and equity.

Although property values have fallen in the recent past, Anne Arundel County real estate property taxes are limited to a 2% increase each year. The result: little or no relief from property taxes. From the Annapolis Capitol:

The state’s Homestead Tax Credit limits property tax growth for owner-occupied homes to 10 percent each year and has kept some people from paying on the full value of their houses.

Anne Arundel goes even further than most of the state, capping the annual increase to just 2 percent a year.

At first it appears counterintuitive that a falling assessment can produce a rising tax bill. But even though home prices were skyrocketing in the recent property boom, Anne Arundel was increasing assessments by just 2 percent, meaning the recent assessments of homes were dramatically lower than their true market value.

The Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 eliminated the deferral of gain on the sale or exchange of a principal residence - allowing the exclusion of up to $250,000 for individuals and $500,000 for married couples filing jointly. And when you could sell for a quick profit, you could do it all over again once every 24 months. From the New York Times:

… many economists say that the law had a noticeable impact, allowing home sales to become tax-free windfalls. A recent study of the provision by an economist at the Federal Reserve suggests that the number of homes sold was almost 17 percent higher over the last decade than it would have been without the law.

Vernon L. Smith, a Nobel laureate and economics professor at George Mason University, has said the tax law change was responsible for “fueling the mother of all housing bubbles.” By favoring real estate, the tax code pushed many Americans to begin thinking of their houses more as an investment than as a place to live. It helped change the national conversation about housing.

Not only did real estate look like a can’t-miss investment for much of the last decade, it was also a tax-free one.

From NPR (and here in Audio - Listen Now): It’s been a long time coming, but if the Treasury Department comes through there may be good news for home-buyers in the near future:

The Treasury Department is considering a plan to dramatically lower mortgage rates for homebuyers to as low as 4.5 percent — more than a full point below currently offered rates, sources say.”This is a great plan,” says Christopher Mayer, a Columbia Business School economist and dean, who has been calling for such action. “This would have a very significant effect on the housing market.”

Mayer has been arguing that the credit crisis is making mortgage rates artificially high compared with other interest rates. He also says there are things the government could do at little or no cost to the taxpayer. He says if Treasury is in fact considering that, this is a very big deal.

“The government announcing a mortgage below 5 percent would, for many people, be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to borrow money at that rate and buy a house — an opportunity that their parents never saw in their lives,” Mayer says.

Among the many businesses affected by the economic downturn, Annapolis restaurants look for ways to prosper - from the Annapolis Capital:

The weakening economy has taken a bite out of the dining industry, with local restaurateurs saying they get a pit in their stomachs every time they take a look at the books. The cost of ingredients and freight has forced many to revise their menus and think up new ways to promote their eateries.

All across the country, the outlook became much grimmer in September, according to the National Restaurant Association, which marked a record low in its comprehensive index of restaurant activity.

Restaurant owners have continued to report sagging sales over the past 11 months, according to the association, with September representing the worst result in more than five years. When polled, about 60 percent of restaurant owners said their sales had declined.

Google Maps Street View is now active for much of the Annapolis area - but unfortunately missing most of the historic district northeast of Church Circle. Google tends to incrementally add to their street view database and I’ve noticed a few additions since last week, so we might get to see the rest of the city shortly. It looks like most of the photos were taken sometime in December, 2008 - take a look at the Christmas Tree at City Dock.

If you haven’t used the Street View, here’s a link to info from Google: How to Use

And a few links to local landmarks, new and old:

Westin Hotel at Park Place

West St at Church Circle

Main St at City Dock

Copyright ©2008 New York Times

If you’re among the first buyers in a new condo development in this unstable real estate market, one of your main concerns will be the potential for reduced value by the time you actually get to move in.

From the New York Times, real estate developers in New York City are beginning to offer a “price protection guarantee”:

“Why should I buy now, when condo prices may tumble over the next year?” one buyer asked at the Steelworks Lofts, a new 88-unit condominium in a former steel warehouse on North Fourth Street, a few blocks from the waterfront in Williamsburg, a few days after the apartments went on sale last month.

Sign now, … and if the economy forces future price cuts, at the closing you will be guaranteed the lowest price available to other buyers. The promise is being written into individual sales contracts, and some developers, like Steelwork Lofts, are filing amendments to their offering plans so that they can extend it to all buyers and include it in their advertising.

Although the Annapolis Real Estate market has seen just a few new developments in the past few years - Acton’s Landing in Historic Annapolis, Park Place just west of downtown, and under-construction Grandview in Parole / Annapolis Plaza - look for local developers offering a similar incentive to prospective buyers to get them off the fence, and to current renters to convert them to new buyers.