A typical slow January month in Garrett County & at Deep Creek Lake with only 9 residential sales (details here). One reason that it’s normally slower in the winter months is that November and December buyers (who will close in January) are typically pre-occupied with the holidays, shopping, etc. Some other reasons include the weather – who in their right mind WANTS to move all of their stuff in the middle of a Garrett County winter if they don’t have to?
Also, the new lending rules that are in place now are causing some previously unforeseen delays with financing, etc. There are 30 ‘contracts’ right now which will presumably close this month or next, so the market conditions are definitely improving some.
This is certainly debatable, but 6/7 of these sales appear to vacation homes or 2nd homes, while the majority are primary residential. This certainly makes a difference in pricing strategies, specifically demand-based pricing.
The average list vs. ORIGINAL sales price is 87.97% (up 3% from December), though the ADJUSTED list vs. sales price is 91.53% of asking price (up 1% from December).
The current number of active/for sale residential listings is 586. 30 of these homes are under contract. This is a net reduction from December 2009 (16 less homes for sale, 7 more under contract). Slowly but surely, our inventory numbers are coming down! Prices have stabilized and are increasing on average over the past few months!
Here are the statistical breakdowns:
If you are thinking of buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Long & Foster Real Estate for all of your real estate needs! 877-563-5350
