ANNAPOLIS, MD - August 21, 2020

Maryland’s July housing market continued its upward pace with an 8.1 percent increase in both units sold and average sale price when compared to 2019. July saw 9,602 total homes sold, an increase of 736 from 2019, while the average sale price rose to $394,723, a $29,734 gain from 2019. Median sale price grew as well, by 7.3 percent, rising to $339,900.

“While real estate remains a bright spot in this pandemic economy, our ongoing concern is with the increasingly tight inventory. July’s months of available inventory—homes placed on the market—continued to tighten to 1.6 months compared to 3.5 months last year,” said Maryland REALTORS® President John A. Harrison. “This economy certainly has buyers for real property, but we need more sellers to balance the market.”

To underscore the need for inventory, July’s active inventory—the homes and properties available for sale—was 11,321 units. This figure represents just 45 percent of the 25,111 units available in July 20191. 

According to Harrison, the challenge facing the industry is to find meaningful ways to help sellers enter the market. “Houses are moving fast in this market,” said Harrison. “We need to figure out how to communicate to sellers who are on the fence that now is a good time to enter.”