Housing prices continued to rise in August in metro area

Housing prices continued their upward trend in August in the Baltimore metro area, with a median sales price of $280,000, up 5.7 percent from a year ago.

The price was the highest for August sales in a decade, according to data provided by MarketStats by ShowingTime based on listing activity from Bright MLS, and it came close to the highest price for any month in the last decade. That top price was $285,000 in June.

Contracting inventory continues to be an issue, with 10,442 active listings at the end of August, down 3.2 percent from last year. There were 5,286 new listings on the market during the month, up 11.3 percent from last year.

That meant the year-over-year inventory decline was the smallest since early 2016.

Houses stayed on the market in August a median of 22 days, down four days compared to a year earlier, and sellers were getting 96.2 percent of their original asking price, up from 95.9 percent last August.

Howard County remains the region’s most expensive area, with an August median sales price of $440,000, up 7.3 percent from last year. Baltimore had the lowest median price of $158,000, but the price jumped 22.5 percent from a year ago.

Most other counties also saw prices increases, including Baltimore County, which had an increase of 7 percent to $252,500; Anne Arundel, which had an increase of 5.6 percent to $350,000; and Harford, which had an increase of 0.2 percent to $265,500.

Carroll County was the only jurisdiction without an increase. Its median price was flat at $325,000.