Area home prices remain high despite slip in October

The median sale price for homes in the Baltimore region dropped $10,100 from September to October and remained unchanged from a year ago.

October’s median sales price of $259,900 marks the third month of dipping prices after a sustained rise that peaked in June at $285,000, according to data provided by MarketStats byShowingTimebasedonlisting activity from Bright MLS, the region’s multiple listing service.

Nonetheless, prices remain historically high. Prices in the region remain well above the five-year average of $249,380 and the 10-year average of $240,555.

The rising prices had reflected a persistently tight inventory of homes. But that appears to have eased ever so slightly as the inventory in the metro area ticked up in October 0.5 percent over last year. It was the first increase since September 2015.

There were10,669 active listings at the end of October.

Sales volume also was down 7.8 percent from last October, and new pending sales were down 7.6 percent.

Owners were still selling their homes for close to their asking prices, with buyers paying on average 95.7 percent of a property’s asking price.

Median sales prices this October, compared with last October, rose only in BaltimoreCounty, to $242,000from$226,500, and in Baltimore City, which remained the region’s most affordable jurisdiction, to $135,000 from $130,000, according to the data.