OCEAN CITY — In a report released this week by a major regional real estate company, home sales and a variety of other indicators showed positive trends through August for Worcester, Wicomico and the entire Eastern Shore, providing further evidence the sluggish economy and housing market continue to improve.
Long and Foster this week released its “Market Minute” report for August 2013, providing a snapshot look at real estate trends for the month, which reveals positive trends in home sales and other important indicators across Worcester and Wicomico and the entire Eastern Shore. The report is a compilation of all real estate transactions in the region, not just those handled by Long and Foster, and revealed an increase in the number of homes sold and an increase in median sale prices compared to the same levels a year ago.
For example for Worcester shows 150 units were sold in August 2013, representing a 14-percent increase over the same month last year. The median sale price in Worcester in August 2013 was $242,500, compared to $225,000 in August of last year. The inventory total for Worcester in August 2013 was 1,621, down about four percent from August 2012.
There were 294 new listings in Worcester in August 2013. For the homes sold in Worcester during the month, the actual sale price came in at just around 94 percent of the requested list price, which is another positive trend. The average number of days a listed property has stayed on the market in Worcester is 183 days.
Similar trends bore out in Wicomico County although the volume is decidedly lower compared to Worcester. For example, 72 units sold in Wicomico during August 2013, representing an increase of about nine percent over the prior year. The median sale price in Wicomico during August was $147,000 compared to $136,500 a year ago, representing an increase of about eight percent.
The housing inventory in Wicomico in August was 562, which is down about 12 percent over the prior year. There were 128 new listings in Wicomico in August and the percentage of the actual sale price versus the list price came in at around 96 percent. The average number of days on the market in Wicomico came in at 113. Similar positive trends were reported in other counties across the Eastern Shore.
“Across the mid-Atlantic and in the Eastern Shore region in particular, we’re seeing continued improvements in the real estate market,” said Long and Foster president and chief operating officer Jeffrey Detwiler this week. “Consumer confidence is up with the economy and that reflects in the rising home prices and the increasing number of sales.”
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