April 12th, 2022

 

Mortgage Rates Start to Climb but Our Local Market Is Not Slowing Down

    Lower Eastern Shore, Md. – Mortgage rates have been climbing recently and are reaching levels we haven’t seen since 2011. As rates go up, we would expect to see a cooling off of the market but because of low inventory and an urgency to get into a home before rates get any higher March continued to be a very strong month.

     The most notable change this month was the Median Cumulative Days on Market (CDOM) which had been slowly going up for the last eight months dropped significantly from 17 days in February to 8 days in March. Buyers are not waiting to decide on a property. The CDOM is down 33.3% from March 2021 and down 53% from February 2022.  

    The median home price is 10.8% higher than it was in March 2021 but is down 2.3% from last month February 2022. We currently have only 368 active listings in the lower three counties compared to 490 in March 2021 and 1389 in March 2020 when the pandemic began.

   In all three counties throughout March, new settlements were down 17% compared to the same time last year. Individually, new settlements throughout March were up by 11.5% in Somerset and down 20.6% in Wicomico, and 18% in Worcester.

   New listings in March were down 15.6% compared to the same time last year in all three counties. Individually, new listings were down by 22.1% in Worcester, 3.3% in Wicomico, and 7.7% in Somerset from March of 2021.

  Active listings in all three counties were down by 24.9% from March of 2021. Individually, there were 179 active listings in Worcester, 132 in Wicomico, and 57 in Somerset.

   “The market is still very strong but with interest rates starting to rise we may see some slowing as buyers leave the market,” said Coastal Association of REALTORS® President Grace Masten. “We still have very little inventory, only 0.9 months in March, and buyers taking a little more time and increasing the days on market would help stabilize our market.”

“There are many factors that are contributing to our housing crisis. We have years of underbuilding. The cost of materials like lumber and concrete have skyrocketed over the last two years and though we can’t predict the

future, if interest rates continue to increase then now is the time to buy a home and lock in a low-interest 30-year rate,” said Masten.   

    CAR’s monthly local housing statistics are compiled by Bright Multiple Listing Service, which represents the activity of over 1,000 local REALTORS® in Somerset, Wicomico, and Worcester counties, as well as 95,000 real estate professionals across the Mid-Atlantic region. The Bright MLS service area includes Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and West Virginia.

Visit www.coastalrealtors.org for more information.

More about Coastal Association of REALTORS®

The Coastal Association of REALTORS® is fortunate enough to represent over 1,000 real estate professionals in Somerset, Wicomico, and Worcester Counties. These members are engaged, informed, and active in their communities. They support the American dream of homeownership, as well as the purchase and use of all types of real property. They are local. They are accurate. They are trusted. They are REALTORS® and affiliate members.

For more information on Coastal REALTORS®, visit www.coastalrealtors.org. The term REALTOR® is a registered collective membership mark unique to real estate professionals who are members of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® and subscribe to its strict Code of Ethics.

MEDIA CONTACT: Colin Zimmerman / 410-641-4409 / colin@coastalrealtors.org

 

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