July 31, 2023
HUGHESVILLE, Md. –– As the Summer real estate market is in full swing, several trends have continued to show signs of a slowing housing market.
Looking at the most recently available year-over-year data from the Southern Maryland Association of Realtors®(SMAR), many factors have dropped over the past month.
Inventory remains a challenge as active listings dropped minimally from this time last year, by approximately 2.16%. However, a drastic decrease in new listings created a greater challenge, as a typical influx of inventory hasn’t arrived. New listings were down 38.83% year-over-year, creating a market with few options for buyers.
While roughly 3-6 months of inventory is considered a healthy market, Southern Maryland currently has an estimated 1.53 months of inventory.
“Inventory has been a challenge in our market for years, however, we are now finding that people feel handcuffed to lower interest rates,” SMAR 2022-23 President Michael Funk said. “Those people are holding on to their properties, and that is keeping many sellers out of the market. That creates many hurdles for people looking for a place to live, especially potential first-time homebuyers.”
Sellers who decided to sell over the past month may have reaped some benefits. As options were slim for buyers, sellers saw marginal increases of roughly 1.52% to the median sold price.
Total sold units and dollar volume were down rather substantially, 20.26% and 19.02% respectively.
Homes stayed on the market longer than this time last year at roughly 21 days, however, most homes that were sold had only been on the market for less than 10 days.
The average sold price to original list price ratio dropped below 100%, indicating that buyers have some leverage in this market, despite the massive inventory shortfall.
“A house will still sell quickly if it is priced appropriately,” Funk said. “Higher interest rates and higher prices are keeping a lot of people out of the market. Right now, the lack of inventory is creating numerous headaches for buyers, and affordability goes hand-in-hand with that problem.”
Housing market statistics from each county in the Southern Maryland region can be found below:
Calvert County
Units Sold: 112 (-34.88%)
Total Sales Volume: $ 57,680,244 (-34.89%)
Average Days On The Market: 18 (+7 Days from June 2022)
Median Sold Price: $472,500 (+1.078%)
Charles County
Units Sold: 226 (-20.14%)
Total Sales Volume: $ 102,958,062 (-19.97 %)
Average Days On The Market: 24 (+13 Days from June 2022)
Median Sold Price: $450,000 (+5.88%)
St. Mary’s County
Units Sold: 158 (-5.39%)
Total Sales Volume: $ 70,716,759 (+3.30%)
Average Days On The Market: 20 (+8 Days from June 2022)
Median Sold Price: $392,500 (-1.88%)
Visit https://www.southernmarylandrealtors.org/pages/housing-statistics/ every month for additional details about the housing market in Southern Maryland. A video breakdown of the local statistics for the month can be found on the SMAR YouTube page at:
Statistics for this article were compiled with cooperation from Bright MLS, a leading housing market data source and a real estate listing service for Realtors® throughout the region.
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More about the Southern Maryland Association of Realtors®:
The Southern Maryland Association of Realtors® represents the largest trade organization in the southern Maryland region, advocating on behalf of over 1,800 members and affiliates. SMAR advocates for property rights and provides insights regarding the local real estate market.
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