Howard County, MD, May 2023 -According to HCAR, in April 2023, the median sold price for residential homes in Howard County was $560,000, representing an increase of 8.7 percent compared to the previous month, and an increase of 9.4 percent from April 2022.
The Howard County housing market is starting to gain strength in home demand. As reported by the Bright MLS T3 Home Demand Index (HDI), the index for Howard County in April 2023 jumped to 141, indicating a rise from steady to high conditions.
Typically, a market with between four and five months of supply indicates a balanced housing market. Currently, there are 0.76 months of supply in Howard County, which is higher than the same time last year. The months-of-supply metric is based on average sales activity over the past 12 months. This measure can overstate how rapidly inventory is being consumed in a changing housing market.
New listings were down 40.3 percent (310) from last year (519) and 5.8 percent from the previous month (329). The average days on market for units sold was 12 days, which is a 38 percent decrease from the five-year April average of 19 days.
Active listings in Howard County were up 12.6 percent (250) compared to the previous year (222). Closed sales (271) saw a 31.9 percent decrease compared to the previous year (265) and a 2.2 percent decrease compared to the previous month (271).
There was a 14.3 percent month-over-month (MoM) increase in new contract activity with 352 new pendings; a 20.2 percent MoM increase in all pendings (new contracts + contracts carried over from March) to 453; and a 1.6 percent increase in supply to 250 active units.
This activity resulted in a Contract Ratio of 1.81 pendings per active listing, which is an increase of 1.53 compared to March 2023 and a decrease of 2.57 from April 2022, respectively. The Contract Ratio was four percent higher than the five-year April average of 1.75.
A higher Contract Ratio signifies a relative increase in contract activity compared to supply, and indicates the market is moving in the seller's favor. A lower Contract Ratio signifies a relative decrease in contract activity compared to supply, and indicates the market is moving in the buyer's favor.
HCAR’s monthly 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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