Spring Real Estate Season Looking Optimistic for Columbia and Ellicott City
Columbia, MD (PRWEB) April 08, 2014 -- The local real estate market in Howard County is gearing up for what will surely be a productive spring and summer season, and Columbia and Ellicott City specifically are poised to lead the way.
The McKenna Group of WEICHERT, REALTORS® — New Colony reported significant growth in inventory at the end of February this year, compared to the inventory level for the same month last year.
“We’re predicting a strong spring selling season. Even in record cold and snowfall, properties have been coming on the market earlier in the season than we’ve seen in the past,” said Michael McKenna of The McKenna Group of WEICHERT, REALTORS® — New Colony in Columbia, Maryland. “We have more than twice the listings today as we did at the same time last year, and three times as many homes under contract.”
Altos Research, a California-based data analytics company, reported that as of March 14, the median single-family home price in Columbia was at $402,427 for the weighted 90-day average. There were about 86 properties on the market at this time and the average property has been on the market for about 91 days. This is down significantly from early 2013 when the average property in Columbia was on the market for nearly 109 days.
In Ellicott City, the median single-family home price as of March 14 was at $654,198. This was up substantially for the 90-day average when compared to the same time last year.
Meanwhile, there were about 133 properties on the market at this time, with the average property available for about 111 days. For the weighted 90-day average, this is significantly lower than the more than 200 days an average property in Ellicott City was available on the market this time last year.
While the particularly harsh winter weather experienced across much of the country has played a role in limiting new home construction activity, all signs still point to renewed confidence in the overall health of the housing market and sellers and buyers both committing to take advantage of current conditions. The direct result of this has been an uptick in open house turnout.
In fact, the National Association of REALTORS®’ Diffusion Index found an increase in buyer foot traffic in February. The index reported foot traffic grew 7.2 points to 26.2 for the month. While still below the neutral mark of 50, it is a good sign that buyer activity is already trending upward even before spring gets underway.
Kim Manning, TRIBUS, +1 (877)894-2824 Ext: 3001, [email protected]
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