"There's a lot more stuff that's been dropping into the realm of affordability," said Zack Blum, 24, who lives in Pennsylvania and wants a Baltimore-suburbs townhouse in the low $200,000s. "But they're not going to be perfect. The ones in the best shape, you have to pounce on, because you don't get a second chance."
That's because options are still pretty limited in parts of the region. Blum, who wants to reduce his commute to a job in the Washington area, has mostly been searching in Anne Arundel County, where just two out of every 10 homes for sale in May were priced below $250,000. It's the same in Carroll County, according to The Sun's analysis. And it's even worse in Howard County, with 1 1/2 homes under $250,000 for every 10 on the market.
In Baltimore and Harford counties, about four in 10 homes were priced below $250,000. And in the city? Nearly eight in 10.
On top of that geographic split, there's the "distressed property" dilemma. More and more of the homes in lower price ranges are foreclosures or potential "short sales," which require a lender's OK because the owners are trying to sell for less than they owe on their mortgages. It can take months for buyers to get from offer to settlement on either type of distress deal, said Joseph T. "Jody" Landers III, executive vice president of the Greater Baltimore Board of Realtors.
Blum knows that all too well. He's had a $220,000 contract on a short-sale townhouse in Laurel since April. The settlement date is up in the air, and he realizes he might never get the home.
"The bank is just horribly slow," said Blum, who feels as if his life is on hold. But, he added, "For that price, you kind of have to suck it up and go deal with the short-sale stuff."
What, exactly, buyers can get in lower price ranges piqued Landers' curiosity. Right before the July Fourth weekend, he logged onto the regional listing service for homes, run by Metropolitan Regional Information Systems, to see what was on the market in a price range that's solidly first-time-buyer territory: $200,000 or less.
He pulled up listings at random. An Ellicott City condo with two bedrooms, two baths and a balcony (asking price: $194,900). A four-bedroom rowhouse in Baltimore's Fells Point neighborhood ($179,900). A three-bedroom Glen Burnie rancher, white with green shutters ($160,000). A Cape Cod in Dundalk with three bedrooms and a carport ($129,900). A four-bedroom Colonial in Northeast Baltimore ($82,900). A two-bedroom mobile home in Elkridge, with a snazzy sunken tub in one of the bathrooms ($44,900).
