Housing Prices Remain Weak in Baltimore Metro Area

According to ""RealEstate Business Intelligence"":http://www.rbintel.com (RBI), an MRIS company and a source of real estate data, analytics, and business intelligence for real estate professionals in the Mid-Atlantic, the Baltimore housing market continued to look bleak in December.

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Based on figures from RBI's newly launched pending home sales index, a two-year moving window on the housing market using pending sales and average sale price, the average price of homes sold in the Baltimore area dropped 6.6 percent, from $283,269 at the end of 2009 to $264,500 by the end of 2010.

At the same time, active listing inventory grew in the Baltimore area by 10 percent. Due to the increase in competing properties on the market, properties are taking longer to sell and buyers and sellers are negotiating prices

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more aggressively, explained RBI/MRIS analyst Jonathan Miller.

The average sold-price-to-list-price ratio expanded to 88.6 percent from 90.3 percent, and days on market increased to 116 days from 109 days over the same period.

""Although national and local economic conditions have experienced modest improvement, higher than desired unemployment and tight credit restrictions present formidable challenges to the housing market,"" Miller said.

He continued, ""In the Baltimore area, rising inventory has kept downward pressure on housing prices in the second half of 2010. The variance in the list/sale price ratio has grown, and properties are taking longer to sell, making it more critical than ever that properties enter the market properly priced and marketed with the expert assistance of a real estate professional.""

While seasonal holiday slowdown is evident, the decline was less than normal in 2010, according to Miller. Over the past decade, the average decline in pending sales from November to December is 18.8 percent. The month-over-month pending sales decline in December 2010 from November 2010 was 13.3 percent.

RBI provides online access to statistical information directly from the Multiple Listing Service. The Baltimore-area results include pending sales through and including December 2010 and include Baltimore City, Baltimore County, Anne Arundel County, Carroll County, Harford County, and Howard County.