Baltimore-area home sales jump 2 percent in March
The number of homes sold in the Baltimore area increased almost 2 percent in March, a month that included rising temperatures and falling interest rates.
There were 1,894 houses sold in the region in March, up from 1,862 in the same period last year, according to data from Rockville-based market research firm Metropolitan Regional Information Systems, Inc. The Baltimore area includes Baltimore City, and Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Harford, and Howard counties.
The average sale price in the region also jumped in March to $251,142, up 4.1 percent from $241,223 in March 2011.
Buyers and sellers enjoyed the unseasonably warm weather in March. The high temperature surpassed 60 degrees 23 times. The interest rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage also fell as low as 4.1 percent in middle of the month, according to Bankrate.com. Current rates sit at about 4.25 percent.
Here’s a March breakdown for the Baltimore region:
|
Units Sold |
% Change |
Average Sold Price |
% Change |
|
| Anne Arundel |
430 |
9.1 |
$329,120 |
-10.3 |
| Baltimore City |
417 |
-14.4 |
$136,604 |
39 |
| Baltimore County |
562 |
16.4 |
$219,799 |
-3.8 |
| Carroll |
103 |
21.2 |
$274,399 |
3.4 |
| Harford |
165 |
-21.1 |
$245,610 |
0.1 |
| Howard |
217 |
6.4 |
$391,068 |
9.9 |
Andrew Cannarsa has been writing professionally for almost 10 years, first as a crime and safety reporter at a community daily newspaper outside Philadelphia, and then as a business reporter at Baltimore Examiner. He graduated with a journalism degree from Boston University in 2005. Follow him on Twitter @cannarsa.