Demand For Housing, Available Homes Declines In May From April: Report

HOWARD COUNTY, MD — The month of May, like previous months, saw a lack of housing inventory and a decrease in housing demand from the previous month and steadily growing home sale prices, reports the Howard County Association of Realtors., which released its May 2023 Housing Report June 30.

According to HCAR, in May 2023, the median sold price for residential homes in Howard County was $565,000, representing an increase of 0.9 percent compared to the previous month and an increase of 1.6 percent from May 2022.

The Howard County housing market decreased in home demand. As reported by the Bright MLS T3 Home Demand Index (HDI), the index for Howard County in May 2023 dropped to 117, indicating a fall from high to moderate conditions, according to HCAR.

Typically, a market with between four and five months of supply indicates a balanced housing market. Currently, there are 0.78 months of supply in Howard County, which is higher than the same time last year by 73 percent. The months-of-supply metric is based on average sales activity in the past 12 months.

New listings were down 39.7 percent (316) from last year (524) but increased 1.9 percent from the previous month (310). The average days on market for units sold was 13 days, which is an 11 percent decrease from the five-year May average of 15 days, HCAR reported.

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), the report disclosed.

There was a four percent month-over-month (MoM) increase in new contract activity with 366 new pendings; a two percent MoM increase in all pendings (new contracts + contracts carried over from March) to 462; and a 1.2 percent decrease in supply to 247 active units. This activity resulted in a contract ratio of 1.87 pendings per active listing, which is an increase from 1.81 compared to April 2023 and a decrease from 3.07 in May 2022, respectively. The contract ratio was three percent lower than the five-year May average of 1.93, the report indicated.

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 shared.