good morning, welcome to "viewpoint." i'm pat lawson muse. a washington post series explored the way they hit the middle class, diminished wealth. they have the highest foreclosure rate and many families are struggling as the rest of the region struggles. all is not so grim for the economic health. according to our guests eric brown is the department of housing and community development. david is assistant deputy chief of economic development. desiree calendar is president of the prince george's county association of realtors.

thank you all for having us. >> thank you for having me. >> you say the series used in the story don't reflect the true picture today. explain that. >> there's been progress. it painted the picture, there's no opportunity for recovery in the county. the county had not been doing anything to address the issues of foreclosure and the fact of the matter is we have. there are a number of programs we have had in place to help people who are suffering from some foreclosure issues. a typical example is emergency mortgage assistance where we provide assistance to families who need help to catch up. once they catch up they can keep the mortgage going. >> we are going to talk about those programs later. isn't it true, african-american

families are not owning has many homes as before? >> i think that and i'll defer to the realtor on this the issue is how do you define wealth? you can argue about how you define wealth. if you are talking about all your wealth placed in a house, there's a lot of debate about that. i think desiree is a better judge of that. >> desiree, for african-americans, much of the wealth is in the house, has been in the house. >> i agree, wealth needs to be defined. if your equity is perceived value, it's on paper. it's not a reality until you own that property. if you are borrowing your equity you are leveraging your home. you are not building wealth at all. there's a misconception there with wealth. >> dually noted.

>> there is still a foreclosure crisis many homes are still under water, homes that were the only wealth many people could claim. a lot of folks are struggling and really don't see light at the end of the tunnel. what kind of light do you see? >> our challenge in the county is to bring jobs to the county so the folks who live in the home have good solid employment. a lot of folks in the stories faced serious tranlggedies or economic. since we have 77,000 federal workers who live in the county but only 25,000 jobs in the county. from the governor to the senators and executives they are focused on bringing jobs not just in the government but the private sector. >> the county's unemployment

rates are falling with the region and the country. >> we are lower than the u.s. numbers. we were 8% in 2010 we are at 5.4% now. the numbers for december 2014 are 5.6%. we have had a steady improvement in our employment situation. >> the region's housing market is picking up. many don't see the same rate of pick up in prince george's as they see in the rest of the region or do you see it that way? >> i do see a pick up. people probably don't have access to all the facts. if you look at the statistics the market bottomed out in 2011. if you look at '12, '13 and' 14 our prices have went up. in washington d.c. the prices have not gone up as much as we have. dollar for dollar their prices are higher because they started out higher. our bases were different.

we are rebounding pretty quickly. we actually had almost a double digit increase in value last month. >> we are going take a break, then continue on that point, right after this break. yoplait greek 100. for when you just can't make it without a protein-packed, thick and creamy, power-me-up-with-something filling taste-bud-loving,

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welcome back. we are talking about prince george's county economic health this morning. desiree calendar was just talking about prices in prince george's county home prices. let's go back to the post article, which pointed out that so many houses in prince george's county are under water. why is that? >> well, if they purchased during the boom between 2003 and 2007 chances are you are going to be under water. if you cash out, leverage your

home during that period chances are you are under water. the reason for that is because interest rates were low and subprime mortgages were available. with that available, we had an increase in buyer demand. buyers didn't really have to qualify. they were programs put in place to encourage home ownership. as a result people took advantage. now, the credit correction in 2007, as quukickly as the prices went up they went down. during that period they went up 80%. >> is there enough blame to go around? blame the banks? blame the homeowners? >> what happened is lenders lended too much and borrowers borrowed too much. >> mr. brown?

>> icon concur. there's enough blame to go around. we can focus on what happened in the past but what we have to do now is how do we get through it and focus on various situations where we have families. that's what we are trying to do. deal with where we find families in this particular crisis. >> how does the crisis impact what you are trying to do luring businesses here and encouraging investment in the communities where foreclosures are still a crisis. >> there's a lot of factors in the county that we have to deal with in schools and crime is part of it in the housing situation. we have to create and tell a story, there's a welcoming climate that a business will be supported. we want to have their workers who live in the county have employment opportunities and through a regulatory process, development incentives this is the place to move. there are many companies we had been working with successfully

in the last three years that frankly, thought about leaving the county and we have been able to change their mind and stay. companies that three, four five years ago might have left but they are staying because of what's going on. the heavy focus of keeping jobs is welcoming to private investment. >> there's a strategy here to sell the county. talk about that? >> we have a new branding story to tell about why people should explore prince george's county why they should enjoy it. everything from a recreation standpoint to economic development, tourism and so forth. we are trying to get the message out. the challenge is having citizens feel good about it and feel good about the county. it was a $500,000 on the first part of the campaign. this is a good place to live to work and enjoy yourself. >> miss calendar is it still a

good place to get a good deal? are we seeing a settling in the buyers versus seller's market? >> it's balancing itself out. in prince george's county as you have noted, we have foreclosures on the market. so those are moving. those are good buys for many buyers. you have investors buying. the reason why, the homes have been destroyed. they are not financeable in their current condition. investors are buying the homes, rehabbing them and putting them on the market which is helping the neighborhoods. >> how is it changeing neighborhoods in terms of diversity? in terms of economics? >> well he spoke about the economics, as far as neighborhoods. i can only tell you about the quality of the community and the maintenance of the community. people are happy when they go

home and the house next door to them that's been boarded up now has an occupant and maintained. the neighbor feels good about his home. it's a sad situation. you have two victims. you have the guy losing his house and the guy next door losing value. he's paying for his house. he can afford his home but he's losing value because neighbors are losing their homes. you have to emphasize with both. >> mr. brown? >> i want to add, there are a couple things. one of the things we have concentrated on that made a difference in terms of the prices of homes appreciating is targeting those neighborhoods that have been most impacted by foreclosure. couple that with the down payment assistance we have been given. in november of this past year we partnered with the maryland

department of housing and community development. launches a $100 million fund. the county put in $6 million. at the end of february we had gone through the $100 million, just about $100 million and kept over 400 new home buyers. there's a real interest in prince george's county. there's an interest in buying in prince george's county. it's not only made a statement about the health of the county but also made a statement about the good real estate deals in prince george's county. >> all right. we have to take another break. we'll continue our talk after this.

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welcome back. mr. brown, you were talking about the assistance programs made available to prince george's home buyers. the one you were talking about, maryland program called triple play helped a lot people but there's still money back. tell us what people can get and who can get the funds available. >> sure. we had triple play for first time home buyers targets to specific areas in prince george's county where they could get up to $20,000 in payment assistance and closing costs. it was so successful that in a matter of four months we went through $100 million in terms of assistance for homeowners. the program now is what is called double play. same thing, except that instead of being able to get $10,000 to $20,000 in down payment assistance you can get $5,000 plus a reduced interest rate plus an opportunity to get up to

$2,000 off your federal income tax for the life of the loan. >> what other kind of programs are available for people going through foreclosure or people who are trying to buy for the first time even veterans? >> there are some programs -- veterans administration has some. the maryland mortgage program can help people in those areas. if you are a veteran or first time home buyer or want to get a mortgage at a lower rate. in terms of helping people it depends on where they are. if there's someone who is discovering for the first time that they are in foreclosure or threatened with foreclosure, then the first approach is work with the housing counseling agencies. they can work directly with the bank to try to see if there's a modification or some kind of mediation that can take place to keep them in their homes. there's a second category of

people who said they are in this situation merely because they have lost a job or there was a devastating illness in the family. for those particular groups of people we are saying okay if all you need to do is catch up we have $10,000 there to help you catch up then you can take it from there. >> miss calendar do you see the banks being very helpful? when it comes to foreclosures you believe the delay in foreclosing has been a double edged sword. >> i do believe that. the banks are not always helpful. it's a long negotiating process. it depends on how far behind they are. the bank is less likely to help someone that has good credit. they would rather work with someone with bad credit because that person cannot afford to make the payment. people with good credit and

income banks could care a less if they are under water. as long as they are making payments they don't care. some people have been in their homes three years and have not made a payment. it might be in the banks best interest to say i want to work with you. they offer them money so they can move. it's called cash for keys. turn the property over our we'll give you $10,000, $5,000 $2,000. some people got $40,000 to move. the bank used to do that. i don't know if they are still generous enough to give $40,000. it depends on how far behind someone is. my concern is it is kicking the can down the road. you are leaving the buyer, that occupant in the property they cannot afford to maintain the property inside and out. i see it all the time. they are in there with the shades down hiding saying when

are they coming to get me. we need to look at a transition to help them out to restructure and group to come back into the market in two or three years. >> how do businesses and investors see this problem? if they want to go into a community and build around a metro station, for example, and they are in a community where there are high foreclosure rates and a high vacancy rate does that turn them off or do they see opportunity? >> it's not really a factor. when a business will look at a location if it's a retailer they look at the demographics education level, income level. one thing people don't know is prince george's county is in the top 3.7%. we have some of the wealthiest jurisdictions in the county. the foreclosure factor is not really -- it never comes up in the conversation when working with retailers.

harris teeter announced they want to expand. they are high end. we have wegmans, whole foods is coming. there was no discussion at any point. we are talking with businesses. they want to see is the work force nearby? can i get the rent i want? the foreclosure issue simply is not a factor. >> we have to take a break. we'll be right back. stay with us.

don't wait for awesome... totino's pizza rolls... ...gets you there in just 60 seconds. go bold with flavors that kick. (humming) oh yeah. (humming) they're magically delicious. ha! very funny, kyle. thank you, cable for the slower internet upload speeds. for making me wait longer to share my photo albums. thank you cable, because if we never had you we wouldn't know the incredible difference verizon fios makes. in customer satisfaction studies, fios is rated #1 in internet speed and reliability - 8 years running.

plus, fios has the fastest wi-fi available from any provider. period. see the difference for yourself. get a fios triple play online at an amazing price, guaranteed for two full years! plus, get a $300 bonus with a two-year agreement. call the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 800.974.6006 tty/v welcome back. we have the mgm casino the new tanger outlet mall a health center coming to prince george's. you believe all of these will turn prince george's into an economic powerhouse? true?

>> i agree. it will bring more higher end buyers attracted to the area. >> mr. brown? >> absolutely. absolutely believe, in terms of housing, you know it's going to improve the housing market. it's going to improve jobs in every aspect of economic development and economic health in the county. >> do you have any idea about the chances of prince george's county landing the fbi hit? >> i feel confident. i think with two of the three final sites, our sites are superior meet every requirement the government put up for security access to metro, access to highways the ability for a high-end development. the 11,000 employees the fbi would bring to the campus will utterly reinvent and transform the economy of prince george's county. we are on the verge of some of

the most dynamic changes. you mentioned the billion dollar mgm casino or the regional medical center at largo or the $2 billion plus investment the fbi brings. we are going to bring more high-end jobs and more high-end development, taking advantage of metro stations than any jurisdiction can put on the table. prince george's county is going to be a different jurisdiction than you see now. it's a true great period for the county. >> will the county continue to approve presidential projects? construction? >> i believe so. yes. you cannot just stop residential construction or development. if there is a market for it, then someone is willing to invest in it. it's a central part of the growth model. with the jobs coming in the

projects economic development pipeline there's going to be a continued need for residential growth and development. >> miss calendar local economists don't expect the economy to turn around anytime soon. you clearly have higher expectations than that. >> i do. listen to these men, it supports my thinking. i think prince george's county as i mentioned, is one of the few places left to develop in this area. the last to grow is the place to be. prince george's county is going to be unrecognizable in ten years because of the growth. >> president of the prince george's county of the association of realtors. david, assistant deputy chief in the county executive's office. thank you all for an interesting discussion. >> thank you so much. >> thank you for being with us this mornt. that's "viewpoint." i'm pat lawson muse. stay with us for news 4 today.

thank you, cable for the slower internet upload speeds. for making me wait longer to share my photo albums. thank you cable, because if we never had you we wouldn't know the incredible difference verizon fios makes. in customer satisfaction studies, fios is rated #1 in internet speed and reliability - 8 years running. plus, fios has the fastest wi-fi available from any provider. period. see the difference for yourself. get a fios triple play online at an amazing price, guaranteed for two full years! plus, get a $300 bonus with a two-year agreement. call the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 800.974.6006 tty/v

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announcer: news 4 today starts now. right now on news 4, winds will be picking up on this sunday. you are looking at wind gusts right now on your screen. if you are headed out to the st. patrick's day parade in the district yeah you might want to grab the jacket. good morning and welcome to news 4 today. i'm adam tuss. >> i'm kristin wright in for ang gi. >> the magnitude 2.8 earthquake hit after 2:30 this morning. no reports of injuries. let's get straight to storm team 4 meteorologist. she had more on that and the forecast today. what's going on? >> where the earthquake happened