Charles County Maryland Real Estate Market Report, December 2007

Here’s the latest on the current Charles County real estate market! Sluggish sales trends are continuing to force prices down while making it increasingly difficult to get a home sold due to the market pressure.

What’s Good:

The number of active, available homes on the market has fallen for the third consecutive month.  As fewer and fewer homes are listed for sale, the difficulty in selling should (at least in theory) ease.  September of last year saw over 1,750 active listings, while in December that number was closer to 1,500.  There’s a couple of reasons for this.

First, many people don’t like to deal with the hassle of trying to sell their home in the middle of winter.  Holiday stress is high enough without having to worry about people showing up at all hours of the day to tour your home.  I expect that the number to climb again as the spring approaches, and you can see that historically, the number of active listings always falls during the holiday season.

The second reason is that a number of homeowners have decided to rent their home rather than sell it, so as homes are rented out they are no longer listed for sale.  Creative moves like this are becoming a serious option to more and more people these days.

What’s Bad:

Sales rates have remained stagnant for the last four months, as have the number of pending settlements.  This figure is particularly disheartening to sellers right now because it underlines the difficulty the are currently experiencing.  Traditionally sales tend to pick up once winter ends and I know quite a few sellers who are anxious to see the cold weather snap and the rate of sales rise.

The average number of days on market has jumped again.  at over 150 days, this is the highest Charles County has seen in over 8 years.  While this should not be a surprise, it does not look like it is going to change anytime soon, and I would anticipate that this will continue to climb while the market deflates.

The average sales price of a home has fallen once again.  We’re currently looking at a 12% drop in value since July 2007, and I would expect this number to continue to fall as buyers continue to sit on the fence and sellers get more anxious.

Wrap Up:

The Housing Slump continues to place pressure on the local Southern Maryland real estate marketplaces.  Foreclosures are also continuing to rise with many lenders anticipating an increase in foreclosure this year over 2007.  Lending criteria is also continuing to creep upwards while interest rates have managed to hit a 2-year low this past week.  Be sure to check back every month to see the latest analysis of what’s going on in your back yard!