The real estate numbers aren?t pretty, but they?re not particularly ugly either.
Housing prices climbed slightly in September in the Baltimore metro area ? Anne Arundel County, Baltimore City and Baltimore, Carroll, Hartford and Howard counties ? but fewer houses were sold than in the same month in 2005.
“This is exactly what?s been predicted ? transactions are falling because sellers don?t want to take less money,” said Deborah Ford, a professor of finance and chair of the Department of Economics, Finance and Management Science at the University of Baltimore Merrick School of Business.
The average price of a house sold in the metro region during September was $308,841, up 1.69 percent from September 2005, according to statistics compiled by Metropolitan Regional Information Systems Inc. In September 2005, the average price of a house sold was $303,713.
“Buyers are reading these articles that say the housing market is soft, so they are waiting,” Ford said. “There are fewer buyers and fewer sellers because they are all waiting to see what is going to happen.”
In the metro area, the number of houses sold in September was 2,810, down 30.41 percent from September 2005?s number of 4,038.
“It?s not a sellers? market because the number of transactions are down, and it?s not a buyers? market because of the pricing,” said Don Hunter, owner of Hunter Interests Inc., a national real estate development and economic consulting firm based in Annapolis. “It will be a buyers? market when prices come back more in line with reality.”
Hunter predicted that the metro region?s real estate market has hit a “plateau,” where it will stay for the remainder of this year and into 2007.
“There will be no big increases in value, but no significant, if any, decreases,” he said.
By the numbers
» Anne Arundel County
Average price of a home sold last month was $425,915, up 4.14 percent from September 2005?s average of $408,991.
» Baltimore City
Average sold price last month was $178,698, up 9.7 percent from September 2005?s average of $162,901.
» Baltimore County
Average sold price last month was $287,609, down 4.15 percent from September 2005?s average of $300,051.
» Carroll County
Average sold price was $354,593, down 5.55 percent from September 2005?s average of $375,436.
» Harford County
Average sold price was $296,841, up 6.39 percent from September 2005?s average of $279,024.
» Howard County
Average sold price was $437,335, up 1.08 percent from September 2005?s average of $432,661.
