The Fort Meade Area Housing Market Continues to Stay Hot

The real estate market is very local in nature.  It varies from city to city, county to county and state to state.  The market condition also varies with home type and price point.  However these national trends and data do provide some insight from a 40,000 foot view of the overall market conditions.  It is not surprising that many of the markets that went up quickly in price are also the areas that are beginning to see some price declines as well as activity declines.  These are tending to be out West and some areas in the South. 

Our real estate market in the Fort Meade area continues to be very hot due to the lack of available home inventory and the solid Washington DC area job conditions.  We are recommending that Sellers who have been waiting for the later part of the "Spring Market" move forward sooner rather than later if possible while the available home inventory is still relatively low.

Leading Indicators of National Homebuying Activity:

  • For the week ending March 30, average 30-year fixed mortgage rates dropped to 6.32%, the third straight week of declines.
  • The daily average was 6.59% on March 30.
  • Mortgage-purchase applications during the week ending March 24 increased 2% from a week earlier, seasonally adjusted, marking the fourth straight week of increases.
  • Purchase applications were up 19% from a month earlier, but down 35% from a year earlier.
  • Google searches for “homes for sale” were up about 44% from the trough they hit in December during the week ending March 25, but down about 17% from a year earlier.
  • Touring activity as of March 26 was up about 20% from the start of the year, compared with a 24% increase at the same time last year, according to showing service company that logs tours for the majority of Realtors, ShowingTime.
  • The median asking price of newly listed homes was $392,225, up 1.4% year over year.
  • The monthly mortgage payment on the median-asking-price home was $2,518 at a 6.32% mortgage rate, the current weekly average. Monthly mortgage payments are down slightly from the peak they reached three weeks ago, but up 16% ($354) from a year ago.
  • Pending home sales were down 19.2% year over year, the biggest decline in nearly two months.
  • Pending home sales fell in all 50 of the most populous U.S. metros.
  • Active listings (the number of homes listed for sale at any point during the period) were up 13.9% from a year earlier, the smallest increase in more than four months.
  • Months of supply—a measure of the balance between supply and demand, calculated by the number of months it would take for the current inventory to sell at the current sales pace—was 2.8 months, down from 3.5 months a month earlier and up from 1.9 months a year earlier. On average, 4.9% of homes for sale each week had a price drop, up from 2.2% a year earlier.
  • The average sale-to-list price ratio, which measures how close homes are selling to their final asking prices, was 98.6%, the highest level in four months but down from 101.7% a year earlier.

A Closer Look at the Data for Some Cities Around Fort Meade

Monthly Housing Data and Statistics for Odenton

Monthly Housing Data and Statistics for Gambrills

Monthly Housing Data and Statistics for Crofton

Monthly Housing Data and Statistics for Annapolis

Monthly Housing Data and Statistics for Bowie