Housing Sales Increase Slightly In May 2024 Across Howard County

HOWARD COUNTY, MD — Housing sales slowly increased in May 2024 across Howard County, inching upward by 1.78 percent to 344 units compared to 338 units sold in 2023, according to the Howard County Association of Realtors.

According to HCAR, in May 2024, the median sold price for residential homes in Howard County was $646,750, representing an increase of 1.9 percent compared to the previous month and an increase of 14.5 percent from May 2023.

The Howard County housing market increased in home demand. As reported by the Bright MLS T3 Home Demand Index, the index for Howard County in May 2024 slightly declined to 115; however, this indicates that the Howard County market has maintained moderate conditions, in comparison to the previous month.

Typically, a market with between four and five months of supply indicates a balanced housing market. Currently, there is one month of supply in Howard County, which is 22 percent higher than a year ago.

New listings were up 6.3 percent (336) from last year (316) and up 3.7 percent from the previous month (324). The average days on market for units sold was eight days, which is a 38.5 percent decrease from the same time last year (13) and 30 percent below the five-year May average of 11 days.

Active listings in Howard County were up 8.9 percent (269) compared to the previous year (247). Closed sales (344) saw a 1.8 percent increase compared to the previous year (338) and a 10.6 percent increase compared to the previous month (311).

There was a 5.5 percent month-over-month increase in new contract activity with 381 new pendings; a 5.3 percent MoM increase in all pendings (new contracts + contracts carried over from April) to 440; and an 8.5 percent increase in supply to 269 active units.

This activity resulted in a contract ratio of 1.64 pendings per active listing, down from 1.69 in April 2024 and a decrease from 1.87 in May 2023. The contract ratio is 22 percent lower than the five-year May average of 2.10.