If location is the key in real estate, walking is the bonus in neighborhoods.
In planned communities like the Village of Cross Keys in Baltimore City, convenience of retails, office space and restaurants is drawing homebuyers in what industry experts call an otherwise tough housing market.
Homes in the Village of Cross Keys and surrounding area in 2006 were selling on average 24 percent higher than in 2005, according to data from Metropolitan Regional Systems Inc.
“The market in general is not as active as it certainly was a year ago,” said Arthur Davis, a real estate broker and the president of Chase and Fitzgerald. “But at the same time, there are certain pockets that are doing really well and one of those is right around here.”
According to the MRIS data, houses sold for an average of $458,338 last year, an increase of more than $90,000 from 2005?s average of $366,969.
Davis, whose real estate firm is located in the Village of Cross Keys, said condominiums in the planned community start around $100,000. Houses nearby and in the Roland Park area are selling for an average of $600,000.
The Cross Keys community has more than 700 homes, 190,000 square feet of office space, 75,000 square feet of retail space, a tennis club and a 156-room Radisson Hotel.
“People like to be in a neighborhood where you [can] walk to things,” Davis said.
The small businesses and the Radisson Hotel bring more than 800 jobs to the local economy. Of the 24 business in the Village of Cross Keys, 17 are privately owned and seven are franchises.
Pied Piper Children?s Clothing, which had operated in the area for 41 years, moved to the Village of Cross Keys in 1996 in an effort to grab a piece of the growing economic pie.
“It?s so convenient,” said Rosemary Schneider, business partner of Pied Piper. “Retail is tough anywhere today, but because of what shops like us offer, we are able to maintain a healthy business.”
