December brought some positive news to the Baltimore real estate market with almost the entire region experiencing an increase in the number of homes sold, according to The Long & Foster Market Minute reports. The Baltimore real estate market includes Baltimore, Anne Arundel, Carroll, Howard and Harford counties and the city of Baltimore. The Long & Foster Market Minute reports are based on data provided by Metropolitan Regional Information System and its member associations of Realtors and include residential real estate transactions within specific geographic regions, not just Long & Foster sales.
The number of homes sold in the Baltimore region increased in most areas compared to December 2014, with Howard County seeing a 26 percent increase and Harford County seeing a 13 percent increase. Anne Arundel and Baltimore counties followed with increases of 10 percent and 9 percent, respectively. Carroll County experienced an increase of 2 percent and Baltimore City experienced a 6 percent decrease in the number of homes sold.
Median sale prices varied within the region, with Baltimore City seeing a 44 percent increase and both Baltimore and Harford counties experiencing a 1 percent increase. In both Anne Arundel and Howard counties, median sale prices fell by 4 percent, while Carroll County saw a 13 percent decline.
Active inventory fell across the region compared to the same month last year. Howard County saw active inventory drop by 15 percent, while it fell by 12 percent in Harford County. In both Anne Arundel and Baltimore counties, active inventory fell by 11 percent, and it fell by 8 percent in both Baltimore City and Carroll County.
Many homes in the region are selling in two and a half months or less on average. Howard County experienced the lowest days on market (DOM) average at 51 days. Homes in Baltimore County experienced a DOM of 62 days, followed by Baltimore City with a DOM average of 64 days. Carroll County saw a DOM average of 66 days, and Harford and Anne Arundel counties saw DOM averages of 68 and 74 days, respectively.
“In December, the recent economic trends we’ve been seeing in the United States’ economy continued as more jobs were added and wages increased. Additionally, according to the Associated Press, new home sales jumped almost 15 percent in 2015,” said Jeffrey S. Detwiler, chief operating officer of The Long & Foster Companies. “We saw additional positive trends happening within Long & Foster’s footprint, including in parts of the Baltimore region where we saw increased homes sold and rising median sale prices. We look forward to what the 2016 market brings us.”
The Long & Foster Market Minute is an overview of market statistics based on residential real estate transactions and presented at the county level. The easy-to-read and easy-to-share reports include information about each area’s units sold, active inventory, median sale prices, months of supply, new listings, new contracts, list to sold price ratio, and days on market. Featuring reports for more than 500 local areas and neighborhoods in addition to more than 100 counties in eight states, The Long & Foster Market Minute is offered to buyers and sellers as they aim to make well-informed real estate decisions.
The Long & Foster Market Minute reports are available at www.LongandFoster.com, and you can subscribe to free updates for the reports in which you’re interested. Information included in this report is based on data supplied by MRIS, which is not responsible for its accuracy. The reports do not reflect all activity in the marketplace. Information contained in this report is deemed reliable but not guaranteed, should be independently verified, and does not constitute an opinion of MRIS or Long & Foster Real Estate, Inc.