Charles County home values continue to be in a state of “free-fall” in spite of optimistic projections that March real estate statistics would be more favorable than in the preceding quarter. There continues to be an overall supply of inventory in Charles County that extends more than 13 months. The surplus of supply, increased by 11% during the month of March, adding further pressure to already falling prices.
Hardest hit price points seeing the most price pressure, as well as days-on-the-market, are homes priced over $400,000, where there is a 26 month supply of inventory compared to the rate of sale. Homes priced at $600,000 and above saw no sales activity during the month of March. Homes priced between $200,000 and $400,000 are sitting in a 14 month supply of inventory. A healthy real estate market sees an inventory of 3-6 months. Only one category is currently considered healthy which are homes priced below $200,000, where there is a 4 month supply of inventory, creating multiple offer situations. This category is largely investor driven due to the fact that rental prices and monthly mortgage payments have equalized. While this may seem to be a silver-lining, an overwhelming majority of these homes are Bank-owned foreclosures, and are not producing any move-up buyers to stabilize home prices over $200,000.
The median sales price also continues to fall. The largest drop of the first quarter was seen during the month of March, down 9.2% over last year, and down 8.6% year to date. The median sales price currently stands at $270,000. For prospective purposes, a house valued at $400,000 a year ago, now hold s a value of $365,600, according to current market statistics.
Another noteworthy statistic is the average sales price as a percentage of the average list price, which currently sits at 87.76%. For prospective purposes, a home is listed at $300,000. Market statistics tell us that a buyer will end up paying $263,280, which is 12.24% below the original list price.
While this is a difficult market to be selling a home in, it has never been a better market in which to buy a home. First time home buyers are receiving an $8,000 tax credit, interest rates are as low as 4.5%, and Government money from the Housing Relief Fund will soon be hitting Charles and St Mary’s Counties creating down payment assistance for specific Bank-owned properties. Details are still emerging on this program which was expected to be released at the beginning of April.
There remains a strong demand for affordable rental properties which have seen little to no negative impact on monthly rental rates, creating a comfort-zone for investors. The quickest moving rental rates are $1,800 and below, and most affordably priced rentals are seeing occupancy within 30 days.
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