Baltimore area home prices continued to climb in January, as steady demand and fewer foreclosures pushed a streak of year-over-year gains into the 11th month.
The median home price in the metro region last month was $234,950, up 6.8 percent from a year earlier, according to a monthly report based on data from the MRIS listing service.
The gains come as Baltimore’s housing market appears to be shaking off several years of sluggish appreciation.
Excluding distressed sales such as foreclosures, the median price increased 5.4 percent from a year ago to $268,750.
That was the biggest year-over-year gain for standard sales in more than three years, according to the report, which was provided by ShowingTime, a firm that provides market statistics to the residential real estate industry.
Anne Arundel County again dominated the luxury homes market last year, but homes from Harford, Howard and Baltimore counties moved up in the ranks. Take a peek at the priciest pads sold in the Baltimore region in 2016.
As demand eats into supply, sellers are commanding higher prices, said Andrew Strauch, vice president for product innovation and marketing at MRIS.
"It’s definitely ticked up another notch because inventory is so tight," he said.
Sellers have responded to the price gains, putting more than 3,600 homes on the market last month — 9.4 percent more than in January 2016.
But buyers snapped them up, even in January, typically a slow month for the housing market.
Active listings retreated to their lowest January level in a decade, as 2,196 homes traded hands — up nearly 6 percent from January 2016. Pending sales — which are in process but haven’t closed, were up 14.6 percent.
Every jurisdiction in the region saw the appreciation.
In Baltimore City, the least expensive market, the median climbed 14.2 percent year-over-year to $117,000.
Howard County, the most expensive market, saw the median sales price increase 8.2 percent year-over-year, to $367,000.
The median price in Anne Arundel County rose 7 percent year-over-year to $306,000.
In Harford County, the median jumped nearly 9 percent, hitting $234,000.
In Baltimore County, the median price increased 7.5 percent to $215,000.
Carroll County saw the weakest gain, with the median price inching up about 1 percent year-over-year to $272,000.
nsherman@baltsun.com
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