ABednar@TheDailyRecord.com
Baltimore's residential housing market ranked among the worst in the nation amid rising prices in the surrounding areas, according to a recent survey.
On Tuesday financial advice website WalletHub released its rankings of the best real estate markets in the nation. Baltimore, based on economic, demographic and real estate data, ranked as one of the worst in the nation.
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| Despite some recent evidence of improvement in Baltimore’s residential housing market, a new survey concludes that it’s almost the worst among major U.S. cities. (The Daily Record File) |
Baltimore placed No. 293 out of 300 markets Wallethub researchers analyzed. Charm City's residential real estate market outperformed only Detroit among cities with populations of at least 300,000 people.
The city fared the worst in categories such as the number of properties with negative equity; foreclosure rate; population growth; and number of unsold homes owned by banks.
The struggles come after roughly a decade of economic expansion and a corresponding boost to the Baltimore metro area's real estate market. In recent years the median home sale price in the region, because of supply constraint, has increased from $250,000 in July of 2010 to $299,900 last month, according to data from MarketStats by ShowingTime, based on listings with Bright MLS.
That's in line with the median price in June, which was the highest price reached in that month in the last decade. It also continues a run stretching back to 2014 of year-over-year median price increases.
Baltimore's housing market faces a host of challenges, from its well-documented struggles with violent crime to a ransomware attack that halted sales. But despite all the obstacles the city's real estate market had shown signs of a turnaround.
The city's median home price hit $175,260 in July. That represents a nearly 10% increase from July of 2018. For the year the median home price in Baltimore is nearly 8% higher than the year before.
Last month Chris Finnegan, vice president of marketing and communications for Bright MLS, touted the city as an affordable alternative for people looking to purchase a home in the Baltimore metro area.
“Despite some recent negative coverage about Baltimore, the city experienced the greatest increases throughout the metro area in both median sale price and median list price year-over-year,” Finnegan said in a statement. “Even with these increases, housing in Baltimore City is still the most affordable in the region, making it attractive to first-time homebuyers who can take advantage of low unemployment and low interest rates.”
The city's real estate market is not alone in facing headwinds. Concerns linger, fueled by sluggish stock market performance, that the national economy is headed for a recession.
At the same time, Baltimore’s real estate market, despite recent high median prices, still hasn't fully recovered from the 2008 recession.
Homes in the Baltimore metro area are still worth less than they were before the 2008 economic collapse. The National Association of Retailers in July 2007 placed the median home price in the Baltimore metro area at roughly $278,000, which after adjusting for cumulative inflation is equivalent to more than $344,000.
WORST HOUSING MARKETS AMONG LARGE CITIES
53. Long Beach, California
54. Albuquerque, New Mexico
55. New Orleans, Louisiana
56. New York City
57. Tulsa, Oklahoma
58. St. Louis, Missouri
59. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
60. Miami, Florida
61. Chicago, Illinois
62. Cleveland, Ohio
63. Baltimore
64. Detroit, Michigan
Source: WalletHub
