Total new-home closings: 3,481
Population: 2,785,874
The good: The new-home market proved flat, but steady in early 2015.
The bad: A decrease in the percentage of market share among new single-family homes registered.
The bottom line: There may not be anything to write home about in terms of market changes, but the area’s performance is steady for builders.
The start of 2015 signaled a relatively flat year for the new-home market in Baltimore, with a total of 3,372 units sold amid the 12-month period ending in January—equal to the period ending a month earlier in December. In the year ending March 2015, MLS sales figures for Baltimore registered an 8% increase, but the share of closings among single-family units fell year over year in January, from 59.8% to 46.4%. Unemployment remains unremarkable, dropping from 6.3% to 5.8% year over year in March 2015, still above the national average (of 5.5%). Coming off a solid year, steady will do for most builders, but gains in this market could occur if it manages to shed its foreclosures and REOs, which declined at the start of 2015, but continue to drag down the market.
