Homes for sale under $250,000: Where are they?
If you're thinking of buying for the first time, you're probably interested in homes priced below $250,000. What are your chances of finding something in that range?
As always, it depends on where you look. The Greater Baltimore Board of Realtors compared homes on the market two weeks ago and found -- to no one's surprise, I'd imagine -- that your odds of finding a place for less than $250k are best in Baltimore. Nearly three-quarters of listings were priced at $250,000 or under in the city.
Baltimore County and Harford County are next on the list for their share of less-pricey homes for sale. Almost half the listings in Baltimore County were $250,000 or under; it was 43 percent in Harford.
It's hardest in Howard County, where 15 percent of sellers were asking $250,000 or less.
(One asterisk: The Realtors group didn't include homes listed for less than $30,000 in its affordability calculation, figuring there's nothing in that range that's livable as is.)
Here's a chart I put together with these stats. (Just remember that the percentages don't include the listings under $30,000.)
And here's the under-$200 picture:
Looking -- or selling -- in that range? What trends are you seeing?
Categories: First-time home buyers, Housing stats
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Comments
Check out the newly renovated houses near Park Circle and Mondawmin Mall on Reisterstown Road. Every house is under 200 thousand dollars, all houses are full gut and completely renovated.
Merle Kaplan
Posted by: Merle Kaplan | September 5, 2009 8:27 AM
Obviously, homes in Baltimore's most challenged neighborhoods are were you can find more affordable homes. However, location comes into play in a big way. Would you want your kids walking on the streets of Baltimore's inner city or in Howard County going to blue ribbon schools and playing with middle class families. In other words, it all comes down to desirability and location.
Posted by: Baltimore Homes | September 5, 2009 12:09 PM
Well, go and check out Reservoire Hill then. Tons of renovated stuff. Most under 200k. Since years so.
Posted by: RonaldMac | September 7, 2009 12:16 PM
Ron. Merle etc... perhaps it was written with too much subtlety but the subtext of the question and not actually stated is "with good schools and low crime rates and a general set of public services that make the taxes paid worthwhile".
Posted by: MrRational | September 7, 2009 1:59 PM