“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 click here find out more about me personally and my background.
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.
September 2019 – We finished the month with 52 new listings, down from 69 new listings in August. The biggest news I report on below is the 63 total closed sales last month! Its 37% over 2018 and 31.3% from last month. Year to date sales are up to 365 homes – up 4.3% over last year. Meanwhile, the leaves are coming off of their peak in most areas and I have a fair amount piling up in my yard. The air is crisp and while it’s been frosting a few nights, it still is warming up to the low 60s on most days. Plenty of time for fall hiking, golfing and even one last boat ride. Most docks are now out of the water, but the lake is still as gorgeous as ever.
The specifics:
-There were far less new listings in September …52 new listings versus 69 in August. That is slightly less than the 5 year average of 55.
-Pending sales (homes that went under contract) were down 11.5% – 61 total homes (same as last month). This is again from last months 21.8%. Closed sales (homes that actually sold) were up 31.3% from last month, with a total of 63 sales county-wide. That’s up 37.1% from September 2018.
The total number of active listings is now down to 411 active listings from 425 last month. End of season = less inventory.
-The average sold to original listing price (OLP) ratio is down to 91.0% from 92.6% last month. The five year average is 88.9% and year to date is 91.6%.
-The median sold price was $260,000, down 15.2% from last months $306,500. The 5 year average is $257,700. I say this every month, but it bears repeating again – this number is 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. Some months, big dollar lake homes sales skew this number higher and other months. Interested in more specific stats for YOUR property/neighborhood? Drop me an email jay@deepcreekvacations.com
-The average days on market (DOM) was 116 up from 115 days last month.
In summary, September was a productive month. We got 63 more homes off the books. Prices are relatively stable overall but look for things to dramatically slow down as we enter the offseason and await holidays + snow. Have a great day and thanks for reading!
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