Howard County, MD, March 2024 - The local home market is still moving slowly as winter draws to an end in Howard County. February 2024 data shows that while housing prices increased, limited supply resulted in a slow-moving market, according to the Howard County Association of REALTORS® (HCAR), which released its February 2024 Housing Report on Monday, March 25, 2024.
According to HCAR, in February 2024, the median sold price for residential homes in Howard County was $552,500, representing an increase of 6.9 percent compared to the previous month, and an increase of 10.5 percent from February 2023.
The Howard County housing market is starting to transition in home demand. As reported by the Bright MLS T3 Home Demand Index (HDI), the index for Howard County in February 2024 rose to 107, indicating steady conditions from the slow conditions of January 2024.
Typically, a market with between four and five months of supply indicates a balanced housing market. Currently, there is 0.72 months of supply in Howard County which is 19.4 percent higher than a year ago (0.61). 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 up five percent (232) from last year (221), and up 13.2 percent from the previous month (205). The average days on market for units sold was 21 days, which is a 12.5 percent decrease from the same time last year (26) and 23 percent below the five-year February average of 24 days.
Active listings in Howard County were down 2.9 percent (202) compared to the previous year (208). Closed sales (194) saw a 2.1 percent increase compared to the previous year (190) and a 25.2 percent increase compared to the previous month (155).
There was a 17.2 percent month-over-month (MoM) increase in new contract activity with 252 new pendings; a 17.9 percent MoM increase in all pendings (new contracts + contracts carried over from January) to 343; and a 3.6 percent increase in supply to 202 active units.
This activity resulted in a Contract Ratio of 1.70 pendings per active listing, up from 1.49 in January 2024 and a decrease from 1.71 in February 2023. The contract ratio is 17 percent lower than the five-year February average of 2.05.
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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