Howard County, MD, April 1, 2022 - The Howard County Housing Market ended 2021 strong according to the Howard County Association of REALTORS® (HCAR). HCAR released its 2021 Housing Report and Economic Forecast on Friday, April 1, 2022.
According to HCAR, REALTORS® in the Howard County metro area sold 5,363 homes worth a total of $2.8 billion throughout 2021 and remained steady with increases in almost every category. When compared to five years ago, the average sale price of a home saw a 24 percent increase to $543,319. The sold dollar volume increased 43 percent, units sold increased 17 percent, the average sold price increased 24 percent, and the average days on market for units sold decreased 84 percent.
According to Freddie Mac, 2016 closed out with 4.32 percent mortgage interest rate on a 30-year loan. 2021 closed out with 3.11 percent on a 30-year loan.
"The pandemic triggered historically low mortgage rates, thus greatly increasing market activity, while also exacerbating inventory issues that we struggled with even before 2020," said HCAR President Sarah Anderson. "Mortgage rates are slowly recovering and have exceeded four percent for the first time since May 2019. This is not expected to significantly impact demand, and we expect 2022 market activity to remain stable."
Top Five Active Zip Codes in Howard County 2021
Least Amount of Activity in Howard County 2021 by Zip Code
"We are past the point of incredibly low mortgage rates," said Dr. Lawrence Yun, Chief Economist for the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) during HCAR's 2022 State of the Market event on March 29. Dr. Yun added that for those who were unable to take advantage of the three percent or below mortgage rate, they've missed out on the absolute bottom as mortgage rates are now on the rise. Last year, at this time, rates were at three percent, today they're at 4.5 percent.
Dr. Yun said that according to HCAR's housing data, Howard County's closed sales were 237 at the end of February 2022.
"Cosing activity is down 7.1 percent so we are starting off the year a little lighter compared to last year," he said. "I believe that one of the contributing factors is the rising of interest rates squeezing away some buyers."
Dr. Yun said although the real estate market has been exceptionally strong, with mortgage rates on the rise, first-time homebuyers are being affected as homeownership becomes harder to obtain. Interests rates could potentially reach five percent, but it looks like the Federal Reserve is definitely interested in trying to contain inflation. Once inflation is contained, the Federal Reserve does not have to raise interest rates any further.
Lastly, Dr. Yun said 2021 was a good year, as national home sales saw an increase of 8.5 percent and Howard County saw an increase of 10 percent. His forecast for 2022 is that home sales will decline about six percent this year due to high mortgage and inflation rates. However, he said that home prices are not in danger of declining and will remain strong.
HCAR’s local housing statistics are pulled from the Bright Multiple Listing Service. The Bright MLS service area includes Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and West Virginia.
Visit www.hcar.org for more information.
More about the Howard County Association of REALTORS®
The Howard County Association of REALTORS® is fortunate enough to represent over 2,000 real estate professionals in Howard County. HCAR’s mission is to advance Howard County’s real estate industry by shaping public policy on real property issues; and encouraging, promoting, and teaching consistent standards for ethical practice and professionalism for our REALTOR® members.
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