Charles County Housing Report - August 2009
The real estate market outlook, based on results for the month of August 2009, continues to show signs of improvement in some areas, compared to last month as well as this time last year. There were 115 homes sold in Charles County during the month of August compared to only 103 homes sold in July, which represents an increase of nearly 20% over 2008 figures. As a result the current overall inventory supply has dropped to 11 months.
Home prices continued to decline at the largest monthly rate we have seen this year with average sold prices down over 22% compared to last year. The highest percentage of sales continues to fall in the $150,000 to $350,000 range with very little sales activity on homes over $400,000. In fact, less than 10% of home sales in Charles County during the month of August were over $350,000.
Inventory “appears” to be falling, and some news sources are reporting this as good news for the real estate market. Granted it is “good news”, but it is only temporary. What they are failing to see is the amount of inventory that banks are holding onto. With more than 100 new defaults being recorded by the County each month, and total sales which include resales and new construction, at about the same amount, don’t add up to “continued good news”. Also given the Foreclosure data as listed by the Multiple Listing System, the inventory numbers remain grossly understated.
As for properties in Foreclosure, Realtytrac.com reported 105 new properties in default for the month of August in Charles County. The rate of new defaults continues to out-pace the total monthly rate of sale, which is an ongoing trend. The total number of properties in Charles County that are in some state of Foreclosure (including Bank-owned) has dropped, modestly, to 938 properties, compared to 954 during the month of July. The number of properties in a state of Foreclosure continues to be of concern, and all these numbers are not reflected in the MRIS Trends Report because the majority of these homes are not currently being actively sold at this time.
Currently there are discussions taking place in the Presidents’ Cabinet, surrounding the “streamlining of the short sale Process”. At this point, 3rd party approvals for this process are taking from 3 to 6 months and in some cases as long as 9 months. Most buyers do not have the luxury of waiting that long to see if they are even approved for the purchase. By instituting some consistent systems into the approval process, transactions could be shortened to just 60 days.
New construction has continued to be very aggressively priced and marketed, with builders paying all closing and adding tons of high-end extras as standard features. Lennar Homes continues to build luxury 3-level townhomes starting at $233,000. About 20% of the inventory listed in the Multiple Listing System for Charles County is new construction.
Rental activity continues to remain strong. There are currently 200 rentals on the market. Over the past 30 days 147 homes have been rented. It is an excellent market for investors. There is a high demand for single family rentals under $1800 a month in the Waldorf area.
If you know of anyone looking for a career in real estate, now is the time to begin one. DeHanas Real Estate is looking for high quality people to help our clients buy, sell and rent homes. A number of new systems we have recently instituted within our organization are producing a large volume of business. In the past, we have found some of our best agents are former clients. Please call us to discuss the opportunity at 301-870-1717.
Metropolitan Regional Information Systems, Inc. Real Estate Trend Indicator - <$100K to >$5M Format
Charles County, MD
From: 08/01/2009 to 08/31/2009 Statistics generated on: 09/09/2009
|
Residential |
Active Listings |
Time on Market |
|||||||||
|
Price Class |
2 |
|
4 |
Condo |
Ground |
Residential |
Condo |
Ground |
of Units Sold |
||
|
Under $100,000 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
7 |
10 |
3 |
1 -30 Days |
31 |
|
|
$100,000 - 149,999 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
0 |
49 |
13 |
1 |
31-60 Days |
22 |
|
|
$150,000 - 199,999 |
2 |
14 |
4 |
1 |
0 |
146 |
13 |
0 |
61 - 90 Days |
14 |
|
|
$200,000 - 249,999 |
1 |
18 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
176 |
3 |
0 |
91-120 Days |
9 |
|
|
$250,000 - 299,999 |
1 |
8 |
13 |
0 |
0 |
241 |
9 |
0 |
Over 120 Days |
39 |
|
|
$300,000 - 349,999 |
0 |
2 |
17 |
0 |
0 |
177 |
6 |
0 |
Total |
115 |
|
|
$350,000 - 399,999 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
1 |
145 |
0 |
0 |
|||
|
$400,000 - 449,999 |
0 |
1 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
94 |
1 |
0 |
Type of Financing |
||
|
$450,000 - 499,999 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
63 |
1 |
0 |
|||
|
$500,000 - 599,999 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
39 |
0 |
0 |
Conventional |
15 |
|
|
$600,000 - 699,999 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
20 |
0 |
0 |
FHA |
57 |
|
|
$700,000 - 799,999 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
21 |
0 |
0 |
VA |
26 |
|
|
$800,000 - 899,999 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
7 |
0 |
0 |
Assumption |
7 |
|
|
$900,000 - 999,999 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
8 |
0 |
0 |
Cash |
6 |
|
|
$1,000,000 - 2,499,999 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
11 |
0 |
0 |
Owner Finance |
0 |
|
|
$2,500,000 - 4,999,999 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
All Other |
4 |
|
|
$5,000,000 & Over |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Unreported |
0 |
|
|
Totals |
7 |
46 |
55 |
6 |
1 |
1207 |
56 |
4 |
Total |
115 |
|
|
Grand Totals |
115 | 1267 | |||||||||
|
|
Source: Metropolitan Regional Information Systems, Inc. - MLS Resale Data
