Following national trends, housing inventory is on the rise in Maryland

Maryland’s real estate market follows national housing trends, with prices continuing to rise even as inventories also rise.

According reports in Fortune magazine.

In Maryland, the amount of inventory has risen since hitting a low of 5,217 active units in February, according to data provided by Maryland Realtors, an association representing real estate agents in the state. According to the organization’s May 2022 data, that number has since risen to 7,706, though it’s still down about 35% from the same time last year.

Months of inventory, a metric calculated using current on-hand inventory and monthly sales for the past year, has also increased by about a tenth of a month, every month since February. In May, 0.9 months of inventory was available, compared to 0.6 months in February – again, well below the May 2021 figure of 1.2 months.

Unit sales are also down year-over-year, with data showing 8,467 units were sold in May 2022, down 12.3% from May 2021.

These statistics reflect national trends. Economic Research Realtor.com® declared May was a “major turning point” in inventory, with more new listings entering the market than any month since June 2019.

Craig Wolf, 2022 president of Maryland Realtors, noted the impact of rising interest rates on the market.

“While the easing of inventories is a good thing, opening up opportunities for home buyers, we are also seeing rising mortgage interest rates, which is dampening sales,” he said in a statement. Press. “Freddie Mac reported that the 30-year rate rose to 5.23% from 5.09% last week. In May 2021, the average rate was 2.96%. Rates are expected to rise throughout 2022, which means that if you’re looking to buy a home, doing so as soon as possible can secure the best possible rate.

According to the Fortune report, which used data collected from Zillow, inventories rose in 83% of the nation’s 400 largest real estate markets in the six weeks to May 7.

This included both the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson metro area, which saw a 14% increase in inventory, and the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria area, which saw a 19.1% increase.

Nevertheless, other real estate metrics in Maryland indicate that the market remains hot. Home prices continued to rise, reaching a median price of $405,000 in May, up 9.5% from $370,000 at the same time last year. The median number of days a unit stayed on the market this month – six – was the same as in 2021.

This increase in median price is also consistent with trends across the United States. In fact, data from Realtor.com® Economic Research indicates that house prices could rise at an even faster rate nationwide than they are in Maryland; Nationally, the median listing price of a home in May was $447,000, up 17.6% from a year ago.

Housing experts attributed the rise in inventory to a spike in mortgage rates; the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate increase from 3.11% at the end of last year to 5.23% on June 9, the result of measures taken by the Federal Reserve to slow inflation.