Low Housing Supply Leads To Real Estate Market Slowdown In Howard County: Report

HOWARD COUNTY, MD — Low housing supply inventory continues to slow down market activity in the area, according to the Howard County Association of Realtors, which recently released its August 2023 housing report.

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, the report indicated. As reported by the Bright MLS T3 Home Demand Index, 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.

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).

Visit www.hcar.org for more information.