Sales In Baltimore

Because of incorrect information supplied by the Metropolitan Regional Information System, the percentage rise of existing home sales in the Baltimore area for November was reported incorrectly in yesterday's Business section.These are the correct figures: Sales of existing homes in the Baltimore area rose 37.35 percent over the same period last year. Sales in Baltimore City were up 49.75 percent; Baltimore County sales rose 30.09 percent; Carroll County sales rose 58.78 percent; Harford County sales rose 14.11 percent; and Howard County sales rose 40.76 percent.

Baltimore-area homeowners trying to sell are having the easiest time of it in six years, with the balance of power — though not price — back to where it was before the market crashed. And while prices remain below their housing-bubble highs, they are rising again. The average sale price in the Baltimore region rose 9 percent in June compared with a year earlier, the fourth month in a row of gains, Rockville-based RealEstate Business Intelligence said Tuesday. Some of the increase is simply fewer foreclosures to pull down the average.

This chart and map track recent movements in single-family home sales in Baltimore and Baltimore County by ZIP code. The chart lists sales volume and median price for November, the most recent month available, and for the first 11 months of 1992, and compares those figures to 1991 statistics. The map reflects percentage changes between the median price during January-November 1992 and the same period last year. The information is provided by Rufus S. Lusk & Son Inc.

You've probably noticed if you're looking to buy a home: The choices out there really shrunk in the last year. That's been a theme in the 2012 housing market, here and elsewhere. Locally, it's driven by fewer foreclosures (well, for now, at least ), a pickup in sales and plenty of homeowners who might like to move but can't or won't sell at today's prices . All told, about 12,700 homes were listed for sale in the Baltimore metro area in May, less than in May 2006, when more than 13,700 homes were for sale.

The picture for home sales in the Baltimore area was mixed in April, according to statistics released by the Greater Baltimore Board of Realtors yesterday.Compared with the same month last year, home sales rose 16 percent, but the number of pending sales declined 8 percent, the trade group reported.The same trends were evident when April statistics were compared with those of March this year.The board's executive vice president, Fletcher Hall, discounted the importance of the drop in pending sales in April.

This chart and map track movements in single-family home sales in Baltimore and Baltimore County. It lists sales volume for January 1991 and for all of 1990, and compares those figures to 1989 statistics.Year-to-date figures were not used because they would have reflected only one month of data. Instead, the chart includes sales and price information for 1990 and comparisons to 1989, which offer a more complete indication of sales trends.Charts and maps will appear for Anne Arundel County (April 14)

January home sales slipped by 5 percent in the Baltimore area, while the number of homes on the market reached its lowest point in nearly six years, numbers released Friday show. There were 1,334 homes sold in the area last month, down from January 2011 but 4 percent higher than the five-year average for the month, according to data from the Metropolitan Regional Information Systems. The median sale price of a home in Baltimore rose 29 percent, to $93,100, but the city continued to be the most affordable in the region.

Home sales and prices in metropolitan Baltimore continued to slide in March, statistics released Friday showed, though the decline was not as sharp as in recent months. Sales in Baltimore and the five surrounding counties fell more than 18 percent last month, with 1,545 homes changing hands. Home values dipped nearly 6.5 percent compared with a year earlier, to an average sales price of $278,511, according to Rockville-based real estate listing service Metropolitan Regional Information Systems Inc. Sales in the Baltimore area have been down on a monthly basis by more than 30 percent in eight of the past 14 months, including by 31 percent in February.

Voters to decide on slots next year Lawmakers gave final approval to a referendum on slot machines for the November 2008 ballot. If approved at the ballot box, the measure would allow thousands of slot machines at five locations throughout the state. Priest removed after abuse allegation The Rev. Michael Salerno has been removed as pastor of St. Leo Roman Catholic Church in Little Italy because of a claim that he sexually abused a teenage boy 30 years ago. Tax increases are on the way Marylanders soon will be feeling a pinch in their pocketbooks under the plan approved during the special session that includes $1.3 billion in tax increases.

Move over, Boardwalk and Park Place. The swanky Ritz-Carlton condominium project rising at Baltimore's Inner Harbor is pulling in buyers as fast as units are released for sale, and the first two mid-rise buildings are expected to be just about full when they open in the fall. The developer credits the cachet of the luxury Ritz-Carlton brand and the project's prime waterfront location for the strong demand, even as the housing slump has stalled condo sales in Baltimore and elsewhere. When the last batch of five were put out for sale in mid-December, including a penthouse with a price tag north of $5 million, all were gone in a day. All three of the $5 million-plus penthouses have been sold.

The number of houses sold in the Baltimore area fell more than 25 percent in August compared with August 2005, and prices went up less than 5 percent, leaving frustrated sellers with houses sitting on the market longer than expected. Sales in the city and five surrounding counties totaled 3,460 homes in August, down from 4,639 a year earlier, Rockville-based Metropolitan Regional Information Systems Inc. said yesterday. The area has not seen such a sharp decline in sales in any month since the MRIS began tracking data in the region in March 1999.

Home sales in Baltimore City are on track to overtake Baltimore County for the first time in years as sales both in the region and nationally close in on a fifth consecutive record. Through November, 11,486 homes were sold in the city, according to statistics from Metropolitan Regional Information Services, a Rockville company that tracks homes sold through the multiple-listing service. For the same period, sales in Baltimore County totaled 10,971. Though prices advanced at double-digit rates throughout the area, the city also posted the biggest increases.

Selling prices of existing homes in the Baltimore area surged yet again last month as buyers raced an uptick in mortgage rates to record what may be the peak in a three-year housing boom. Sales in Baltimore and its five surrounding counties rose 25.03 percent to 3,617 homes sold last month compared with April 2003, data released yesterday show. Average sale prices rose 22.78 percent to $235,682 from $191,950, according to Metropolitan Regional Information Systems Inc., the Rockville-based database used by agents and brokers.

Sales of existing homes in the Baltimore area dipped slightly in January compared with those of a year ago, bolstering some experts' prediction that the housing market will slow from last year's record-breaking pace. Prices, however, continued their double-digit climb. Sales in Baltimore and five surrounding counties declined 1.95 percent to 2,419 homes, according to figures released yesterday by Metropolitan Regional Information Systems Inc. of Rockville. Average sale prices rose 10.93 percent to $216,302, the listing service found.