August home sales
Those who guessed that August prices in the Baltimore metro area would drop below two-year-ago levels were more or less on the mark: The average price last month was $317,500, down 1.7 percent from a year ago and 1.8 percent from two years ago. The median price last month was $275,000 -- exactly the same as two years ago.
That's according to housing numbers out today from Metropolitan Regional Information Systems.
Sales fell 29 percent from a year ago. It's the first time since August 2007 that the year-over-year drop wasn't at least 30 percent, so you might count that as a smidge of change.
Average prices rose about 3 percent in Baltimore from a year ago but sales there dropped a larger-than-average 35 percent. In case you're wondering: The 430 homes that changed hands last month is about a third of the sales the city had in August 2005, at the height of the boom.
The drop isn't quite as steep in the 'burbs, though it's still a sizable decline. Baltimore County, for instance, saw half as many sales last month as it did three years earlier.
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Comments
I've always been a fan of Aesop's fables and I believe the moral here is that the race will go to the tortoise (buyer) and not the hare (seller).
Posted by: Anon | September 10, 2008 6:06 PM
I am still confused by the minimal change, compared to other markets. California prices have tanked 35%. Baltimore only 1.8%??!! Prices here almost doubled since the late 1990's. Where are the drops? Where the realtwores right?? Is is really different here?
Posted by: Darwin Rules | September 11, 2008 1:19 PM
The average price does not reflect the decline in the equivalent house over time. Also, foreclosures have not really hit yet in MD. The bubble started earlier in CA. The ARM resets are just beginning in MD. If I was selling, I'd cut and run right now. In 1 year, this place will look identical to CA now.
Posted by: semiconscious | September 11, 2008 2:59 PM
You'll see prices start to decline more as sales get a little bump. CA sales are not off as much as they were before because of those huge price drops. Sellers in this area STILL think their house is different, and sales levels will continue to stay static or even decline more as prices drop ever so slowly. The faster the capitulation, the quicker the turnaround. At this rate, Baltimore is in for a long, painful recovery. And that's a relative term.
Posted by: Nikki | September 13, 2008 2:14 PM