BALTIMORE — The price of just about everything seems to be going up but the cost of one big-ticket item is coming down. Real estate analysts say high-end housing sales are starting to drop.
Housing inventory is up.
As the supply starts to outweigh the demand, prices start to come down. Buyers have the usual suspects to thank which are: rising interest rates, soaring inflation, a shaky stock market, and overall economic uncertainty.
It's good news for buyers because it signals the market may be becoming more balanced and competition is easing up.
Nationwide sales of luxury homes just saw a huge decline 17.8% between February and April.
A Redfin analysis shows it's the biggest drop since the start of the pandemic.
For those not looking for a mini-mansion but first-time homebuyers, according to MarketWatch Pittsburgh remains the most affordable metro area for the second quarter in a row.
Pittsburgh is the only market where homes met the threshold for affordability which is three times a first-time buyer’s income.
The other top affordable metropolitan areas are Cleveland; Detroit; and Buffalo, New York. Baltimore comes in at number five where prices are 3.7 times a first-time buyer’s income.
MarketWatch shows the average list price in the Baltimore area is down slightly from the last quarter of 2021 to the first quarter of 2022, 2% from $318,000 to $311,000.
The investment firm Norada Real Estate Investments predicts the Baltimore real estate market still looks good for 2022-2023.
According to Norada, the Baltimore area has a track record of being one of the best long-term real estate investments in the U.S.
Using the Zillow Home Value Index, the typical home value in Baltimore County alone has appreciated by around 46% over the last ten years since June 2012.
