BALTIMORE, MD (Thursday, October 6, 2022) – Baltimore Metropolitan Council (BMC) released a report on the region’s housing growth in 2021, identifying ten housing “hot spots” in Anne Arundel, Carroll, Harford and Howard Counties, as well as Baltimore City.

A total of 7,864 new residential units were permitted in the Baltimore region, according to BMC’s 2021 Residential Building Permit Activity Hot Spot Report, a 2.3 percent increase from the previous year. The top ten hot spots accounted for 39 percent of all new units. An interactive map displays permitting data across the region.

The hot spots are:

• Baltimore Peninsula (formerly Port Covington) (South Baltimore) with 531 permitted units

• Downtown Columbia (Columbia) with 472 permitted units

• Two Rivers (Crofton) with 403 permitted units

• Bristol Court Apts (Elkridge) with 311 permitted units

• 7900 Sandy Farm Rd (Jessup/Severn) with 300 permitted units

• Somerset (East Baltimore) with 268 permitted units

• The Edge (Aberdeen/Havre de Grace) with 237 permitted units

• 5501 Eastern Ave (Canton) with 227 permitted units

• Meades Crossing, Meadowbrook (Taneytown) with 168 permitted units

• Watershed (Maryland City) with 153 permitted units

BMC compiles and maintains the region’s building permit information into a standardized database, displayed here in an interactive map. This database provides a continual record of plans for new and renovated residential and non-residential projects from all permits with an estimated construction value of $10,000 or more. This information is a leading indicator of new regional development patterns.

The latest hot spot report was released just after BMC's latest round of demographic forecasts, which project a population growth of 12.6 percent across the region by 2050. Howard County leads the jurisdictions with a projected 24.8 percent growth, followed by Harford and Anne Arundel Counties with 18.4 percent and 17.1 percent growth each. The forecasts also project growth in the number of households with similar results: Howard County leads with 34.5 percent growth, followed by Harford (23 percent) and Anne Arundel (18.4 percent).

In addition to these two projects, BMC worked with member jurisdictions to increase access to affordable housing in the region. In 2021, BMC celebrated the opening of Robinson Overlook, an affordable housing development in Columbia. Since 2015, BMC's Regional Project-Based Voucher Program has settled more than 30 families, with an additional 20 vouchers awarded in spring 2022, helping more families settle in affordable housing developments in and around Baltimore.

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The Baltimore Metropolitan Council (BMC) works collaboratively with the chief elected officials in the region to create initiatives to improve our quality of life and economic vitality. BMC, as the Baltimore region’s council of governments, hosts the Baltimore Regional Transportation Board (BRTB), the federal metropolitan planning organization (MPO), and supports local government by coordinating efforts in a range of policy areas including emergency preparedness, housing, cooperative purchasing, environmental planning and workforce development.

BMC’s Board of Directors includes the executives of Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Harford and Howard counties, the mayor of the City of Baltimore, a member of the Carroll County and Queen Anne’s County boards of commissioners, a member of the Maryland State Senate, a member of the Maryland House of Delegates, and a gubernatorial appointee from the private sector.