Is Howard Immune To Real Estate Slowdown?

The region's real estate industry, already pinched by a slowdown in residential construction, is bracing for further retrenchment after last week's meltdown in the mortgage market, according to this story in WaPo.

Projects are being shelved and people laid off. Some local governments are projecting that their tax revenues will fall some, too. So far, though, Howard is not one of them.

The Sun reports that "transfer tax collections from July 1 through the first half of August totaled $3.1 million, compared with a forecast of $1.8 million, but the budget year is so young that those figures could be deceptive.

" 'I think it's a little early to be making predictions, but it seems like homes are still selling. They're on the market longer, but they're still selling,' said Gale Benson, assistant Howard County budget administrator, told the newspaper.

Stay tuned.