Howard County, MD, June 2023 - Summer has arrived in the Howard County housing market. May 2023, like previous months, experienced the effects of the lack of inventory with a decrease in housing demand from the previous month and steadily growing home sale prices, according to the Howard County Association of REALTORS® (HCAR), which released its May 2023 Housing Report on Friday, June 30, 2023.
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.
The Howard County housing market decreased in home demand. As reported by the Bright MLS T3 Home Demand Index (HDI), the index for Howard County in May 2023 dropped to 117, indicating a fall from high to moderate conditions.
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 over 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).
There was a four percent month-over-month (MoM) increase in new contract activity with 366 new pendings; a two percent MoM increase in all pendings (new contracts + contracts carried over from March) to 462; and a 1.2 percent decrease in supply to 247 active units.
This activity resulted in a Contract Ratio of 1.87 pendings per active listing, which is an increase from 1.81 compared to April 2023 and a decrease from 3.07 in May 2022, respectively. The Contract Ratio was three percent lower than the five-year May average of 1.93.
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.
-- XXX --
