BALTIMORE (Map, News) - There numbers aren’t pretty — 20.7 percent of housing speculators in the Baltimore region reportedly lost money in the second quarter of 2006.

Those figures, culled from statistics compiled by HomeSmartReport.com and made public late last week, show that nearly 1 in 5 people who bought a home with the intention of making a quick buck lost on average $28,825 in the deal.

But two real-estate investors dispute the numbers from the HomeSmartReport.com survey, saying the investment market is alive and healthy in the Baltimore region.

“We’re not even scratching the surface of speculative real estate investing,” said Charles Parrish, chief executive of Investors United School of Real Estate, chairman of the investment club Maryland Real Estate Exchange Network, and CEO of Auction Brokers. “We’ve recycled 600 properties a year through our public auction company and have put $10 million worth of property back on the market and on the active tax roll.”

Guy Cook, a certified residential mortgage specialist and head of Advance America Property and Finance in Baltimore, said his group has completed 1,100 property closings with 300 active investors in the Baltimore region.

“I can count on one hand and possibly start on a second the number of people who lose money, especially if you look at the past four years,” Cook said. “I’ve seen less than a handful of people who have taken a mild to moderate loss.”

Parrish agreed.

“The people who are losing money on their investments are uneducated in the ways of investing,” he said. “The vacant house and distressed housing market is unbelievable in Baltimore. Just look at the number of deteriorated, vacant, abandoned and boarded up houses.”

Both Parrish and Cook said money still can be made in the speculative housing market as long as investors are not afraid to move into areas where growth hasn’t peaked, or buy property that may take a bit more work.

However, two real-estate experts say that law of supply and demand will continue to dictate the housing market.

“Speculators are taking a bath,” said David Martz, a Realtor with Long & Foster in Baltimore. “Rehabbed [houses] and new construction are hitting the market, and there is a glut of that inventory.”

John McClain, an economist and senior fellow at the Center for Regional Analysis at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., said speculative investors who bought property are sending chills through the market because they are being realistic about profits and are pricing their units to sell quickly.

“They’ve put it on the market now to get the best price they can get,” McClain said. “There is a bigger supply, and only a certain amount of demand.”

kcarson@baltimoreexaminer.com