HUGHESVILLE, Md. –– While interest rates and prices continued to climb over the past month, housing market activity been historically low, as many potential homebuyers seem “spooked”.
According to the most recent data from the Southern Maryland Association of REALTORS®, several “frightening” trends have appeared over the past month in the local market.
Although active listings have remained low for months, new listings and newly pending home sales saw sharp declines over the past month. New listings dropped over 27%, whereas new pending sales dropped over 23%.
This all comes as mortgage rates have reached a 20-year high, pushing up to approximately 8% for a standard 30-year home loan.
“A lack of inventory is not a new problem. However, with interest rates going up, it is not surprising to see more buyers starting to sit out for the time being,” SMAR 2023-2024 President Tracy Vasquez said. “It is really difficult to define what a regular housing market would be, but these strains on homebuyers and lack of market activity is not something Southern Maryland would consider normal.”
While fewer buyers are interested in the current interest rates, many are still engaging in the housing market, as the median sold price rose by roughly 8.74% in the region.
Fewer units sold in the past month’s year-over-year data, but many of those that did, did so in less time than in 2022. Across Southern Maryland, 416 units sold for a decrease of almost 20% from last year, and they did so in an average of 20 days, which is four less than this time in 2022.
Another key indicator is that the average sold price to original list price ratio rose by 1.61% to approximately 99.5%. That means although there are fewer buyers out looking, there is still enough demand to keep sellers in the driver’s seat of the transaction.
Although months of supply rose year-over-year by over 20%, the region is still far off from what would be considered a healthy amount of housing supply.
“There is a reason why many sellers feel handcuffed to their low-interest rates, and that is in part because we don’t know the next time we might see rates that low,” Vasquez said. “Buyers should not be scared of this market. Interest rates are up from our recent history, but many homebuyers will remember a time when these rates would be considered normal or even better.”
Housing market statistics from each county in the Southern Maryland region can be found below:
Calvert County
Units Sold: 95 (-34.48%)
Total Sales Volume: $ 49.2 Million (-27.23%)
Average Days On The Market: 19 (-7 Days from September 2022)
Median Sold Price: $500,000 (+28.53%)
Charles County
Units Sold: 203 (-7.31%)
Total Sales Volume: $ 88.5 Million (-6.94 %)
Average Days On The Market: 23 (+2 Days from September 2022)
Median Sold Price: $425,000 (+4.94%)
St. Mary’s County
Units Sold: 118 (-21.85%)
Total Sales Volume: $ 50.1 Million (-17.83%)
Average Days On The Market: 18 (-7 Days from September 2022)
Median Sold Price: $375,000 (+2.74%)
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: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5H9XP8ZKZw
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.
The only “scary” thing I see is how much realtors are charging for “services”. There are more and more people selling their own homes and saving tons of money doing so. No one has the money to shell out for high interest rates, over-valuated properties AND what amounts to nothing more than expensive self-marketing and networking realtors do. Open houses do NOTHING for your sale. Serious buyers nearly never attend them and have already made an offer by the time they happen. They function as networking parties for your realtor…using YOUR home as a venue. Limited inventory will hopefully start weeding out all the unnecessary agents. There are currently about 4 realtors for every ONE available listing. Realtors are not your friends, they are not “looking out for you”, they are in it for the MONEY. Just 15 years ago, realtors were only charging 3-4% commissions on listings. Now the “standard” is 5-6% while some ask as much as 7% depending on the market in that area. THAT IS RIDICULOUS. I know some will say they really need one and that’s fine; just don’t kid yourself into thinking they are in it for anything other than that commission.
It’s not rocket science, look up the average personal income and compare it to the cost of living in Maryland and you will see why it’s the 7th most moved out of state
In 2022 Maryland had the highest median household income in the nation, almost $30k a year higher than the nation wide median. There are absolutely cheaper places to live in the country, but what people make is reflected by lower wages in those areas. And if you think Florida is cheaper ask them about homeowners insurance, it will wipe out whatever you think you’re saving on taxes (and yes they have no income tax but they generate revenue by taxing everything else).
Totally agree with this as well.
Average income is $68000 yearly in southern Maryland, you cannot buy or rent any home here on that income
Google it if you don’t believe me
You really need to stop bringing up the fact that interest rates used to be this high, and acting like that makes it ok. The costs of housing (and higher education) have outpaced inflation since then, while wage growth has lagged behind it. People are paying a much higher percentage of their income for housing than they were the last times interest rates were this high. Just because people could bear those rates in the past does not mean that they can now. The comparison just does not hold up. There’s a reason that a much larger percentage of homeowners are in the older generations than used to be the case.
And who wants to move into this area
It’s fast becoming a sewer
Too much crime and no support from our elected leaders
It all boils down to prices period!
I was making $75k yearly in Maryland and could not afford to buy a home or rent a home, even with a low 800 credit score!
I did the smartest move of my life and moved to Kentucky where I purchased a 1800 square foot home on 3 acres for just under $200,000 and I started out making the same amount of money as I did in Maryland, my current home would cost me $450,000 plus in Maryland, it’s just too expensive there to live, my property taxes are $438 where there they would be $4-6 thousand on my current house
I left and will never go back