Calvert County
|
TOOLBOX
   Resize
COMMENT
 Discussion Policy
 CLOSE
Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.
Who's Blogging  |
Sunday, March 30, 2008
For the second year in a row, home prices in Calvert County increased somewhat despite a decrease in home sales.
The county's median home sales price rose 2 percent in 2007, to $330,000 from $323,000 in 2006, according to a Washington Post analysis of state sales records for single-family houses and townhouses. That makes Calvert still one of the least expensive parts of the region.
The number of home sales in the county fell 38 percent, though, to 773 last year from 1,238 in 2006.
"I think as an area it still sparks people's interest because it's a nice area within commuting distance" of Washington, said Paul Lee, an associate broker with Long & Foster's Dunkirk office who also does appraisals.
One of the sharpest price increases was on the northern edge of the county in Zip code 20736, which includes Owings. The median price there rose 13 percent, to $524,875. Sales were off sharply, though, falling 40 percent, to 54.
In neighboring Zip code 20754, which includes Dunkirk, prices were essentially flat at $530,000, making it the county's most expensive Zip code. Sales fell 28 percent, to 43 from 60.
The mix of relatively stable prices and much lower sales volume is in part because sellers and agents tried to "hold out and get the prices [houses] are worth instead of slashing prices," said Russ Boyce, a Re/Max 100 agent who works in Southern Maryland.
The southern part of the county, Zip code 20657, which includes Lusby, mirrored the county's 2 percent growth in home prices, with the median rising to $270,000 from $265,000. Sales were off almost 50 percent from the previous year. Still, the Zip code is more densely populated than other parts of the county and had the most sales last year, 251.
Although it is a longer commute to Washington, that area is accessible to the jobs spun off by Patuxent River Naval Air Station, across the Patuxent River in St. Mary's County.
"There's been good deals in Lusby," Lee said. This includes a lot of foreclosures, which create opportunities for buyers.
Because sales have slowed considerably, Lee said, the county "has become a buyer's market."
