House number 3631 on Elkader Road in the Ednor Gardens area of Baltimore went on the market this week, joining several other homes for sale in the neighborhood.
The three-bedroom, one-bathroom home has a listed price of $210,000, said Mark Simone, a Realtor with Baltimore?s Simone Real Estate.
“They can sell as high as $240,000, $245,000,” Simone said.
With more homes available and prices dropping, U.S. Sen. Benjamin Cardin, D-Md., wants the Elkader Road home and homes throughout Maryland and the country off the market ? and soon.
Standing in front of the brick Elkader Road residence on Friday, Cardin said he plans to introduce the First-time Homebuyers? Tax Credit Act when the Senate reconvenes after Easter.
“We need to do something to stimulate the home market,” Cardin said. “People in middle-income America are hurting.”
The credit would provide a refundable income tax credit for the purchase of a principal residence by first-time middle-income homebuyers. D.C., offers a $5,000 credit, and Cardin said he could see the new credit offering a stimulus as high as $15,000.
“We?re trying to figure out what [amount] will be the tipping point that will encourage people to buy a home,” Cardin said.
In Baltimore City, 60 percent of potential homebuyers are first-time purchasers, said Cathy Werner, president of the Greater Baltimore Board of Realtors.
Cardin reiterated his support for the Foreclosure Prevention Act, which he has co-sponsored. The bill would help families on the brink of foreclosure by allowing bankruptcy judges to restructure mortgages on primary residences, expanding revenue bond authority to restructure subprime and adjustable rate mortgages and increasing the availability of counseling for homebuyers.
“People are literally walking away from their homes, and they don?t know what to do,” Cardin said. “It?s not only tragic for individuals ? it?s tragic for the neighborhood.”
Mark Sissman, president of Healthy Neighborhoods in Baltimore, said federal action is necessary to keep families in homes and buying homes.
“We need stable, good communities throughout the city,” Sissman said.
