First Time Home Buyer Maryland

The Maryland housing market in Maryland’s two major metro area markets started out strong this year before the COVID-19 pandemic which prompted lockdown orders from elected officials.  Both the Baltimore and Washington DC metro areas posted their highest median March sales prices in a decade according to data from MarketStats. By late in the month, however, the pending sales and new listings  in these areas declined precipitously.

The average home price in the eight counties / city that comprise Maryland’s major metro area reached almost $330,000 last month, with the average year-over-year price increase of over 8.4%. At the very same time the median increase in the total number of closed sales in those same areas exceeded sixteen percent.

The Pending sales, however, decreased from Feb. in each of the jurisdictions at a time when sales should be set to increase into the spring selling period. Across the metro areas the year-over-year same number of pending sales decreased an average of 3.25%.

New listings also dropped in March compared to the month before. While Anne Arundel and Montgomery counties experienced slight increases in the number of new listings from last year, the median number of new listings reflects a 2.5% decline in that category.

At the beginning of March,  Maryland had three confirmed cases of the new Coronavirus. That number grew quickly to 423 roughly 4 weeks later. As of Monday the state’s health department had confirmed over 9,000 cases and 262 deaths.

In an attempt to stop the pandemic’s spread Gov. Larry Hogan in March issued an order for residents to stay at home extending to April 24. As a result, the economy has nearly ground to a halt as businesses, particularly in the restaurant and hospitality sectors, suffered.

During the past three weeks more than 235,000 Maryland residents made first-time unemployment claims with the state,  historic highs totaling more than any six-month period.

The are growing concerns about whether potential homebuyers will opt out of buying new homes and if the plight of existing homeowners will create a new wave of foreclosures similar to what hammered the nation following 2008’s Great Recession.  For now, there are moratoriums on foreclosures ordered by federal and state authorities. The market is a sellers market with inventory continuing to shrink in the market.