Southern Maryland's Housing Market Sees a Decrease in Activity

David M. Higgins II, Publisher/Editor

Mar 23

As the spring market approaches, Southern Maryland's housing market shows signs of decreased activity. According to the Southern Maryland Association of Realtors® (SMAR), inventory has risen steadily, and fewer units are selling. In addition, those that do sell take longer to sell and are going for less.

SMAR's 2022-23 President, Michael Funk, stated, "It's taking longer for sellers to find buyers, but it's still historically shorter than it has been to find ready, willing, and able buyers. Homes priced below $350,000 and other popular first-time home buyer options are still moving quickly."

The most recent year-over-year data from SMAR shows that average sold home prices across Southern Maryland dropped by 1.26%. However, Calvert and St. Mary's counties saw marginal increases in their average and median sold prices. The decline in Charles County weighed down the region's average.

Active inventory is up 80.37% from this time last year, yet fewer homes are selling. The total number of units sold over the past month totals 315, a 30.16% drop from this time in 2022. Additionally, homes that are selling are taking almost 20 more days to sell than they were last year, with an average of 44 days on the market. Buyers are taking their time to find the right house and are getting more concessions from sellers than they have over the past year.

Last month, the average sold price to original list price ratio was approximately 97.2%, down from 100.1% in 2022. This indicates that homes are selling for less than their original list price, unlike last year when many buyers paid above the list price to get a home.

New listings were down from this time last year by roughly 38.74%, indicating a slow start to the approaching spring market as many sellers contemplate staying where they are. Funk commented, "We have started to see a shortage of sellers because people don't want to sell. That could be due to several reasons, with some common examples being economic uncertainty or people not wanting to lose the low-interest rates they locked in over the past couple of years."

Southern Maryland's housing market is seeing decreased activity as the spring market approaches. Inventory is up, but fewer homes are selling, and those that are selling take longer to sell and are going for less.