Howard County, MD, October 2023 - Fall is in the air in the Howard County housing market. Low housing supply inventory continues to slow down market activity, according to the Howard County Association of REALTORS® (HCAR), which released its August 2023 Housing Report on Monday, October 2, 2023.
According to HCAR, in August 2023, the median sold price for residential homes in Howard County was $567,000, representing a substantial decrease of 8.8 percent compared to the previous month, and a modest increase of 4.6 percent from August 2022.
The Howard County housing market is experiencing a decline in home demand. As reported by the Bright MLS T3 Home Demand Index (HDI), the index for Howard County in August 2023 fell to 106, indicating a static status of steady conditions.
Typically, a market with between four and five months of supply indicates a balanced housing market. Currently, there is 0.93 months of supply in Howard County, which is higher than the same time last year by 9.7 percent. 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 38.1 percent (284) from last year (459) and 0.7 percent from the previous month (286). The average days on market for units sold was 11 days, which is a 40 percent decrease from the five-year August average of 18 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 6.7 percent month-over-month (MoM) decrease in new contract activity with 318 new pendings; a 9.8 percent MoM decrease in all pendings (new contracts + contracts carried over from July) to 403; and a 8.4 percent increase in supply to 272 active units.
This activity resulted in a Contract Ratio of 1.48 pendings per active listing, which is a decrease from 1.78 compared to July 2023 and an increase from 1.32 in August 2022, respectively. The Contract Ratio was four percent higher than the five-year August average of 1.42.
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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