Harford County Maryland, Real Estate Market Update June 2023
I’m back with a new “How’s the Market?” update so if you’re a homeowner in Harford County, Maryland or planning to become one, I’m going to be sharing the latest real estate market trends from June 2023. Make sure you stick around to the end of this blog so that you can take advantage of some hidden opportunities whether you’re thinking about buying or selling.
Alright, overall in June there were 2 months of supply available in Harford County, which, still keeps things firmly in seller's market territory. This means, months of supply tells you how many months it would take for all of the homes currently on the market to sell, given the average sales volume. 4-6 months of inventory indicates a more balanced market, less than 4 months means there’s not a lot of inventory available which can drive prices up. More than 6 months of supply means there are lots of properties available for buyers to choose which can drive prices down. How is that number trending vs. last month? Well, it’s the same from May staying at 2 months which shows that inventory is still staying low.
The average sale price for a home in Harford County is $396,584 but keep in mind that is the average across all areas. That average price is up, from this time last year, at $375,627 in June of 2022 but it is also up from $371,541 in May of this year. So prices are still steadily increasing regardless of interest rates simply because of a lack of inventory. So as of right now, the summer market seems to be having no effect on sale prices but only time will tell on how this continues for the remaining summer market which historically is always a slow time for buyers. However, since inventory is not expected to increase anytime soon these prices might not change too much.
Moving along, the average list to sale price ratio was 104.6% in June. That simply means that properties were selling for 104.6% of list price. So bidding wars are still very much occurring but seem to be going down from May’s 106.4%. However, that is still up from this time last year which was 103.8%. So since the other statistics are remaining firm, I am going to say that this lower list to sale price ratio is from agents pricing homes higher so they are not creating all out mayhem with offer prices.
It seems that June actually has shown a decrease in the amount of days on the market at 14 days from May’s average of 20. That is also down from last year where it took 20 days. I think the lowering of days on the market is actually being produced from sellers accepting offers quicker and not allowing homes to stay on the market long. I know just from being out and showing properties regularly that some homes are coming off the market in less than 24 hours which is not giving buyers ample time to get to the see the property. This could also be a reason we saw a decline in the list to sale price ratio because bidding wars aren’t occurring because sellers are accepting offers immediately instead of giving some time for buyers to get into the house.
OK if you’re thinking about buying real estate in the near future, mortgage rates today are still ranging from 6.75%-7.25% depending on your situation. These can change daily either higher or lower and have stayed the same from last month.
So in summary when you look at June’s market statistics, it still seems we are on the upward trend with home prices. The average day on market has dropped as well as the list to sale price ratio. That could be caused by the trend we are seeing of sellers taking a contract immediately instead of allowing all possible buyers through their home to make an offer. So the question lies in what will occur in the remaining months of the summer. With inventory still remaining super low the likelihood is we will remain stable. Either way, one really important thing to understand is that these numbers are encompassing all of Harford County which doesn’t mean that this is happening in every neighborhood. This summer could be an excellent time to purchase a home if the market does in fact stall, while if you are looking to sell this is still an amazing time, arguably the best time, to sell your property.