Listen to this articleThe Baltimore metro area real estate market saw a 9.4% jump in median sold price in February, the biggest year-over-year gain since May 2022, according to the Bright MLS February 2024 Housing Report released Monday by the North Bethesda-based multiple listing service.
The median sold price was $360,000 in the Baltimore metro area for February. The report indicated price pressure and a brisk market pace are likely to stay around, especially when rates drop and more buyers join the market. Half the homes sold in 16 days or less in February.
Overall inventory increased 9.9% across the Baltimore region. However, Anne Arundel, Carroll, and Howard counties all had fewer active listings compared to last year.
Home sales are still tracking behind last year’s levels, the report showed. New pending sales are lagging as well, down 2.4% year over year. Rising mortgage rates in February is one reason why sales activity was lower than a year ago.
Across the mid-Atlantic region, active real estate listings saw their first gain since May 2023, finally surpassing their year-ago amount. Inventory was 6.3% above where it was in February 2023, making it the first gain since May 2023.
New listings have also started coming online, and February had 10.2% more new listings than last year. However, supply is only 44% of where it was in February 2019.
Closed sales increased 0.5% in February compared to a year ago, the second consecutive month of modest increases in sales activity. And even with rates approaching 7% again last month, buyer activity did not decline significantly as new pending sales dropped just 0.2%.
More activity is likely on the horizon, the report indicated. Buyers will have more opportunities as additional new listings are added. The direction of mortgage rates will influence how busy the spring market will be.
In the Washington market, inventory in the metro area increased for the first time since March 2023, a jump of 5.5%. However, detached single-family home inventory is still on the decline.
The market is still tight, with only 1.29 months of supply. The region’s suburbs are more supply-constrained than the District of Columbia proper, which has 20.4% more active listings than a year ago.
Low supply, combined with elevated mortgage rates, has limited transactions. Closed sales were down 2.7% compared to last year. Sales activity is still tracking well below pre-pandemic levels.
The median sold price rose 4.7% in February. Price growth was widespread, in all markets except the District of Columbia. Single-family homes, which have the most depleted supply, saw the strongest price growth, up 10.7%.