Trends continued in May 2023 with a lack of inventory with a decrease in housing demand, as well as steadily growing home sale prices, according to the recent report from the Howard County Association of REALTORS.
As reported by the Bright MLS T3 Home Demand Index, the index for Howard County in May 2023 dropped to 117, indicating a fall from high to moderate conditions. In addition, according to HCAR, in May 2023 the median sold price for residential homes in Howard County was $565,000, representing an increase of 0.9 percent compared to the previous month, and an increase of 1.6 percent from May 2022.
Typically, a market with between four and five months of supply indicates a balanced housing market. Currently, there are 0.78 months of supply in Howard County, which is higher than the same time last year by 73%. The months-of-supply metric is based on average sales activity during the past 12 months. This measure can overstate how rapidly inventory is being consumed in a changing housing market.
New listings were down 39.7 percent (316) from last year (524) but increased 1.9 percent from the previous month (310). The average days on market for units sold was 13 days, which is an 11 percent decrease from the five-year May average of 15 days.
Active listings in Howard County were up 25.4 percent (247) compared to the previous year (197). Closed sales (338) saw a 25.2 percent decrease compared to the previous year (452) and a 27.5 percent increase compared to the previous month (265).
HCAR’s monthly local housing statistics are pulled from the Bright Multiple Listing Service. Its service area includes Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and West Virginia.