LOWER EASTERN SHORE, MD. – Thinking about selling your home? Now is the time to do it. Home prices continue to rise and buyers continue to have bidding wars on homes and offer above asking. Inventory is still at historic lows and with interest rates still very appealing, causing no shortage of buyers.
Because inventory is low, home prices continue to rise. The median home price in April was $285,00, which is up from $275,255 in March and up $35,000 from April of 2020. We currently have only 471 active listings in the lower three counties compared to 1329 in April 2020.
In all three counties throughout April, new settlements were up 57.3% compared to the same time last year. Individually, new settlements throughout April were up by 53.2% in Wicomico, 56.3% in Worcester, and 93.3% in Somerset.
New listings in April were up 118% compared to the same time last year in all three counties. Individually, new listings were up by 140.7% in Worcester, 95.3% in Wicomico, and 66.7% in Somerset from April of 2020.
Active listings in all three counties were down by 64.6%. Individually, there were 267 active listings in Worcester, 141 in Wicomico, and 63 in Somerset. We had 1,329 active listings at this time last year.
The average Cumulative Days on Market (CDOM) for April was 44, or 54.6% less than the same time last year. Over the last 5 years, the average DOM was 88 for April. “The question that everyone is asking is how do we get more listings to satisfy all of these buyers,” said CAR President Joni Martin Williamson. “The answer is creativity and nimbleness, which is not easy to accomplish when it comes to creating housing. We need to be looking at zoning, incentives, and other tools to create new housing in our area before we lose prospective buyers to other markets.”
“Right now some of the homes that are being sold used to be rentals and although it is good to have the listings for sale I am worried about the rental market and the affordable housing market,” said Williamson. “The market is so tight we have sellers who sell their home and can’t find a new home to buy or even rent. People are staying put because of fear of not finding a new place to live.”
CAR’s monthly local housing statistics are pulled from the Bright Multiple Listing Service, which represents the activity of over 1,000 local REALTORS® in Somerset, Wicomico, and Worcester counties, as well as 95,000 real estate professionals across the Mid-Atlantic region. The Bright MLS service area includes Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and West Virginia.
Visit www.coastalrealtors.org for more information.
