“There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.” – Mark Twain
My name is Jay Ferguson and I am one of the owners of the real estate division of Taylor Made Deep Creek Vacations & Sales. I am entering my 19th year in the real estate business here in Garrett County and at Deep Creek Lake. If you are interested, you can find out more about me personally and my background here.
I will be writing a monthly blog post about our local real estate market, sharing & interpreting statistics and offering some insights into the market as a whole…as I see it. These are my personal thoughts and musings about the market in general and are not intended as anything more specific. And, to be clear, I am an optimistic, glass half-full kind of guy.
Lastly, every stat I reference is based on the official stats published by Bright MLS on or around the 15th of each month. My plan is to give you straightforward stats coupled with my analysis from the front lines and let you interpret what you read in your own way.
Your March 2019 Real Estate Rundown
February 2019 brought almost all good news for the local real estate market. Virtually all measurables were positive, with the exception of the number of new listings that hit the market. That number dipped from last month AND last February. If you are in the market to sell, that’s pretty good news – less homes you are competing with overall. If you are in the market to buy, it’s about a dozen less homes you have to choose from.
The specifics:
-There were only 37 new listings that came on the market. That’s a decrease of 26% from last month and a 31.5% decrease from last year…but its right in line for the 5 year average – 38.
-Pending sales (homes that went under contract) were up 11.4% from last month. That matched February 2018 and it was up from the 5 yr avg.
-The total number of active listings is down again, which continues a trend I have been interested in. County-wide, there are now only 322 listings for sales versus 335 last month. It’s lower than the 5 yr average, as well. We continue to shed inventory overall.
-Lastly, the average sold to original listing price (OLP) ratio improved to 90.9%, up from 88.7% last month. Its trending slightly higher than the YTD average of 90.4%
-The median sold price is up to $321,150. That’s an increase from last month of 23.5% and 35.9% over February 2018. It’s a $100,000+ increase over the 5yr average! ***The truth is, with this number, its always going to be off month to month. We don’t have a cookie cutter market, as ALL of Garrett County is factored into theses stats. Interested in more specific stats for YOUR property, drop me an email jay@deepcreekvacations.com.
-The average days on market (DOM) was 55 days longer from last month. It remains ~40 days lower than the 5 year average.
-Lastly, the last months ‘worst’ stat is a big positive this month. The total number of closed sales (30) was 76.5% higher than Jan 19 and 36.4% higher than last year. That’s 5 more sales than the 5 year average.
To sum it up, February was a great month for DCL real estate. And as I prepare this report, I think March is going to be even better. I have put two homes under contract in the last week that were less than 7 days on the market – both at or above full price. There were several other ‘new listings’ that sold very quickly. If you are a buyer and you are watching this, do not hesitate to put an offer in on your favorite before its too late. Multiple offers are starting to happen more often – another sign of a hot spring market. If you are a seller, perhaps now is the time to list. After all, March & April buyers are READY to close and be ON THE LAKE by Memorial Day!
Questions about the market? Whether you are buying or selling, I can put my experience to work for you! Contact me anytime for a free market analysis of any property you may be interested in purchasing or selling!
Jay Ferguson
Co-Owner
Associate Broker
301-501-0420 – cell