DC-Baltimore Housing Prices Remain Stable; Sales Down Over 2009

ROCKVILLE, Md., Nov. 10, 2010  -- RealEstate Business Intelligence (RBI), an MRIS company, released the latest market data on the Washington, DC, Baltimore metro housing market today, which suggests that home prices in the market continue to remain stable, but the number of home sales remains lower than October 2009. This is attributable to the federal tax credit expiration, which offered an $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers and a $6,500 tax credit for repeat home buyers, who signed a purchase contract before April 30th of this year.

According to real estate expert and analyst Jonathan Miller: 6,971 homes closed in the region in October 2010, 8.5% fewer than the 7,620 homes that closed the prior month and 24.4% less than the 8,950 homes that closed in October 2009.  The median sales price of a Baltimore Washington metro area home edged 0.8% higher to $265,000 in October from $263,000 in September and was 4% above $254,900 in the same month last year.

The amount of homes listed for sale were 4.9% above the level seen last year, but new listings entering the market fell 9.2% over the same period. Days on market, the number of days it took for a property to go to contract, fell by 9 days to 86 days in the month.  This is typically seen as an indication that demand has increased. Despite reduced sales in recent months, the number of sales year to date for 2010 was 81,194, essentially unchanged when compared to 81,561 over the same period in 2009.

"It's clear that the federal tax credit incentivized some people to change their plans to sign a contract by April 30th when organically, they would have likely purchased their home later in the calendar year," noted Miller.  "As a result, the number of sales was artificially elevated prior to April 30th and artificially low after April 30th—what I call the 'moving chairs around the room' impact of the stimulus program on the housing market."

The full report for all jurisdictions in the MRIS region along with charts and graphics can be found at www.rbintel.com/statistics.   RBI is the only company in the Mid-Atlantic region that provides timely, online access to statistical information directly from the Multiple Listing Service (MLS).  Mr. Miller is available for comment on this month's RBI data, and interview requests should be sent to Cassie Clancy at 301-838-4671 or cassie.clancy@mris.net.

Mr. Miller is available for comment on this month's RBI data, and interview requests should be sent to Cassie Clancy at 301-838-4671 or cassie.clancy@mris.net.