Buying a home isn?t what it used to be. With a record-setting market still finding a balance in the Baltimore region, many potential buyers are finding themselves priced out.
The average sale price of a home in the area is about $337,000, nearly $18,000 more than the same time a year ago and $26,000 more than 2005, June?s Metropolitan Regional Information Statistics indicated.
For both buyers and sellers, these figures explain the long lag time in the selling property: averaging 82 days on the market.
“In this particular market, three years ago there were five buyers for every home,” said Gary Hoffer, a Century 21 broker and owner in Carroll County, and host of a weekly real estate radio show on 680 AM. “In today?s home, we are looking at 10 homes for every buyer.”
With the market currently balancing, Hoffer added, it is important to find amenities or other key selling points to help emphasize a house. Making it stick out is important, and fatures such as a game room, Jacuzzi or new carpeting can make the difference between a sale and a few more weeks on the market.
As far as seeing a light at the end of the tunnel, Hoffer said the market will trend down about 1 to 1.5 percent each month for the next 18 to 24 months. In 2009, the biggest rush from the Base Realignment and Closure initiative is set to hit the region and should bring a measure of relief, he said.
“That will turn the market upside down for us and cue the market back to the sellers? market,” Hoffer said, “hopefully for a short period and then leveling off.”
High prices raise the risk of trap mortgages or dangerous subprime loans. During May, RealtyTrac, an Internet-based foreclosure tracking firm, indicated Maryland had 1,677 foreclosures for the month, up nearly 600 percent from the same month last year.
Stuart Hoffman, chief economist for PNC Financial Services Group, sees the struggle at a deadlock.
“New homes are coming down in price, existing homes are sitting on the market, and unless you are a determined seller … it?s a little bit of a stalemate,” he said.
House buying tips
With high prices demanding high mortgages, potential homeowners should be well informed. For information and tips, visit namb.org, www.hud.gov/buying or naeba.org.
