"It all gets down to location. In areas with high subprime exposure, you can have prices going down and in areas not far away, but with little subprime exposure, you can see prices rise," said Molony. "It's very neighborhood specific."
Lynne Bare, a real estate agent with the Hampstead office of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, would agree. Bare said it's difficult coming up with an average sales price in northeastern Carroll County.
"I don't think it's as accurate in Carroll County," said Bare. "It's such a rural area and we also have neighborhoods. So you're looking at everything from a $200,000 house on Main Street to a horse farm that sells for $650,000 to $800,000."
Like most real estate agents, Bare said the buyer's budget is most pertinent - not what the average sales price is - when it comes to starting the house hunt. Once the budget is determined, Bare then determines what type of house the buyer wants and pulls up comparable listings. The search goes from there, with the average sales price seldom entering the conversation.
"People are saying the housing market is down and you should wait to sell," said Bare. "The other side of the coin is if the market is righting itself and prices are where they should be, you might not want to wait. Pricing is more reasonable now. It was out of control before."
As home prices fall, the market becomes more attractive to buyers. In September, the decline in home sales slowed markedly. Sales were off about 2 percent from a year earlier, compared with months of year-over-year declines around 30 percent.
Buyers are pursuing houses with lower prices and sometimes fewer amenities. Even sellers seem to be coming down to earth.
Last week, real estate brokerage Coldwell Banker launched a national 10-day "sales event" during which participating home sellers agreed to lower their asking prices by as much as 10 percent. More than 300 sellers signed on in the city and its suburbs, according to the real estate company.
"The fact [is,] the economy is tight, buyers are looking for more affordable housing. That's not necessarily a bad thing," said Melvin Knight, a real estate agent with the Roland Park office of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage. "Maybe that's why the city is doing so well. The buyer trend right now is less-expensive houses that are in decent shape."
