Piney Orchard Townhomes: Are End Units Worth More?

ODENTON, MD — Are end units worth more than other townhome units?

Yes. $5,499 more, on average.

Since the beginning of 2015, 120 townhomes have sold in the Piney Orchard section of Odenton, Maryland. According to Metropolitan Regional Information Systems (MRIS), the local multiple listing service, 88 of those homes were “interior” units, and 32 were “end” units.

The average sale price of the interior townhomes sold in Piney Orchard during that time was $330,864. The average Piney Orchard end-unit townhome sold for $336,363. That’s a difference of $5,499.

Why would that be?

Many buyers prefer end units to interior units when purchasing a townhome. Among the reasons:

- end units offer more privacy and serenity, because they have only one adjacent neighbor;

- end units often have larger interiors in terms of total square feet;

- with windows on three sides, end units usually allow more natural light inside;

- with a yard on three sides, they offer more outside space to spread out; and

- they sometimes offer more architectural interest, inside and out.

Garages usually increase a home’s value. But curiously, the $5,499 premium buyers have paid for Piney Orchard end units since the beginning of 2015 is not because a greater proportion of the end units had garages.

In fact, the opposite is true: 31 percent of the interior townhomes purchased in Piney Orchard since the beginning of 2015 offered a garage, while only 19 percent of end-unit townhomes did.

The simple fact is that if you want to buy an end-unit townhome in Piney Orchard, expect to pay about $5,000 more for it than you would for an interior townhome. Sales data since the beginning of 2015 shows that the added benefits of owning an end unit make them worth more.

Jerry Kline is a Realtor with the Odenton, Maryland, office of Keller Williams Flagship of Maryland (1216 Annapolis Rd., Odenton, MD 21113.) For more information on the local real estate market, contact him at (443) 924-7418, or visit his website (www.JerryKlineRealtor.com) or blog (http://www.jerryklinerealtor.com/about/jerrys-blog/).