October 10, 2012 (Chris Moore)
Monthly sales of existing single-family homes and condominiums edged slightly higher in Maryland during August while monthly home prices fell for the second consecutive month according to the latest housing data from the Maryland Association of Realtors® (MAR).
An estimated total of 5,230 existing single-family homes and condos were sold in the Old Line State in August. That was 108 sales higher than the 5,122 homes sold in July and was 9.6 percent higher than the 4,772 homes sold in August 2011.
The median sales price for an existing home in Maryland fell by 2.4 percent in August to $255,498, up from $261,722 in July but was still 5.9 percent higher than the median price of $241,305 in August of last year.
Of the 24 counties and cities that provide data for the monthly report, sixteen reported gains in home sales or were unchanged over the previous year with Queen Anne’s County (+23.7 percent) reporting the largest increase of counties with over 20 sales while Allegany County (-33.3 percent) posted the largest monthly decline in sales.
Montgomery County recorded the most sales for the month with an estimated 934 home sales, down from 972 the previous month, while Prince George’s County followed with an estimated 702 home sales for the month, down slightly from 712 in July.
Year-over-year, seventeen counties or cities posted an increase in their median prices or were unchanged from the previous month with the largest increase posted by Baltimore City (+43.2 percent) with Cecil County (-10.2 percent) posting the largest decline in prices of counties or cities that had a minimum of 20 sales.
Housing inventory continued to be tight in the state as the total number of homes for sale fell again in August with 26,857 homes actively available. That’s down from 27,309 in July and down from 36,501 in August of 2011.
The increase in sales and the dwindling inventory left the state with an average 5.1 months supply of homes available for purchase, down from a 5.3 months supply in July and also down from a 7.6 months supply a year earlier.
Tags: Maryland real estate, existing homes, condos, sales, median home prices
Source:
MAR