August sales stats for Maryland are in and the number of homes “pending”, which means they are under contract waiting to go to settlement or closing is impressive! Compared to August of 2008, Harford County is up over 55%, Baltimore County is showing a 45.9% increase, and Carroll County is at a 29.1% increase.
Many of us are watching to see how much of this increase is the result of the $8,000 tax credit for first time buyers. Allowing for what is usually considered a “normal” slowdown during December and through the holidays, it will be interesting to see what happens to the market after the first of the year. Many of the first time buyers have been out and will be hitting the market hard through September and October, needing to settle by November 30th to qualify for the tax credit.
There is also a massive grass roots effort trying to get the tax credit, or at least something similar, established for when this credit expires. However, nobody knows for sure if this will happen. So again, if you are a first time buyer sitting on the fence, you may want to jump now!
Want more information on current sales stats? http://www.ltrealty.com/statspage.htm
