Baltimore new home construction was up 40% over 2010, which economists often see as a sign of a housing market recovery.
According to an article in the Baltimore Business Journal, the Greater Baltimore region jumped 40%, while the more local Baltimore-Towson region rose 6%.
The December 2011 data for contracts for future residential construction rising a very large amount — $116 million versus $39.2 million in December 2010.
Towson new homes under construction, I am sure, helped a lot with these local numbers. T
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Tags: Baltimore New, New
The housing minister, Grant Shapps, turned to Gordon Brown for inspiration yesterday. Talking to the Building Societies Association Mr Shapps called for lenders to offer 30-year fixed rate mortgages, an idea first floated by Mr Brown in 2003.
As happened then, lenders were dimissive of the idea. Mr Shapps claimed longer-term loans would ensure “people know where they stand”. They would also bring new funding into the market by offering fixed returns for investors.
But Paul Broadhead, head of mortgage policy for the BSA, pointed out: “Longer-term fixed rate mortgages have been offered in the past but with limited consumer demand.”
Meanwhile, the Council of Mortgage Lenders said that about 1.8 million people who have come off fixed rates are about £2,600 a year better off.
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Tags: Mortgages
Providence, R.I.-based Vertical Performance Partners plans to open a Boston office this quarter, as it grows its business for turning corporate training and marketing content into apps for the iPad. Last month, the startup closed on $1.5 million in venture capital from SoftBank Capital of Newton, said company CEO Carl Wooten. The company plans to add another $2.5 million to the round within six months, which is expected to include SoftBank and one other backer, Wooten said. Founded in 2010, Vertical Performance Partners has about 25 different clients in the pharmaceutical industry for its technology, including many of the largest global firms (Merck, Bristol-Myers Squibb, AstraZeneca) and major local players (Biogen Idec, Vertex).
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Tags: Boston, Performance Partners, Vertical Performance, Vertical Performance Partners
Looking to break into true crime writing? Maybe you could get some needed juju from this Seattle-area house, which author Ann Rule has put on the market.
Author Ann Rule is selling 2 houses for the price of one, her blog proclaims. Her writers hideaway has 123 feet of no-bank Puget Sound waterfront, window-lined home PLUS rustic writing/guest cottage. So close to the Sound that youll think youre on a ship.
Shes going to miss her dream house and beach after 20 great years a lot, but she has to move on.
Rule, a former Seattle Police officer, has published 20 books and 1,400 articles, mostly on criminal cases, including the Green River Killer and Ted Bundy.
The house and cottage each have two bedrooms and two bathrooms.
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Tags: House, True Crime
Why yes, this is a shameless self-promotional piece. You are, of course, free not to read it! Read on though, for some thoughts and ideas on website analytics mining
The World Wide Web is truly world wide.
In 2011, this little corner of the Internet had just over one million visitors. While that number boggles my mind, what I found the most interesting was the map (shown above) of visitors. Darker shades of green = more visitors.
Folks from 194 different countries / territories across the planet stopped by in 2011.
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Tags: Wide, World Wide