State Real Estate Market Outlook
Realty Market Outlook Maryland State Profile - Spring 2006
Maryland’s home appreciation remained strong, despite a growing inventory of unsold homes.
Home prices continued to rise at a strong pace in Maryland. In fourth quarter 2005 average home appreciation in the state was 21.5 percent, fifth highest in the nation. All of Maryland’s metro areas continued to report above-average appreciation compared with the nation, and home appreciation in Salisbury reached an all-time high of 24 percent.
However, several signs suggest that the pace of housing activity in the state has moderated from accelerated pace. Maryland’s rate of existing home sales has declined, while the trajectory of price appreciation stabilized in the second half of 2005 but well above the state’s long-term average. These trends coincide with a growing inventory of homes for sale, which has doubled in Montgomery, Prince George’s, Anne Arundel, and the Baltimore-area markets in the past year. A slowdown in home sales and higher inventory levels could potentially lead to an easing in home appreciation rates in Maryland.
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