Although the supply of homes on the market nationally is at a 22-year high, it fell in November locally.That is a point local Realtors are quick to make, that real estate is a "local" issue.
"There are areas around D.C. that are really hot right now," said Larry Riggs, president of the Frederick County Association of Realtors.
Even some sections of Montgomery County are doing well, he said, such as Rockville and Silver Spring.
"I think that will creep up 270," Riggs said, "I don't expect it to be a big jump, but I do expect it to pick up after the holidays."
The number of homes on the market in Frederick County fell from nearly 2,000 in October to 1,826 in November, according to the Maryland Association of Realtors.
"A lot of forecasters are predicting it might be bottoming out," said Stephen "Buzz" Mackintosh, a local Realtor, referring to the housing slump.
"I'm starting to see more people poking around in the market. A lot of savvy buyers and investors are looking to get back in the market," Mackintosh said.
He said sales of homes in the "lower stuff" -- less than $500,000 ----is getting a lot of market attention locally. "That should trickle up to the higher priced homes."
The average price for a home in Frederick County in November was $341,285, up from $328,826 in October, but down nearly 2 percent from November 2006.
Mackintosh said he expects not only sales of existing homes, but new homes as well, to pick up in the spring.
"People plan on moving after the school year and it takes six months to build a house, I look for new construction to pick up," he said.
Mackintosh noted that the regional economy has remained fairly strong, boosted by lower unemployment and job opportunities in the Washington area.
Riggs said he expects to see home prices decline in 2008, "though not in a huge amount, and a fair rate of activity."
Richard Gaylord, president of the National Association of Realtors, noted that in 93 of 150 metropolitan areas sales were up. "Broadly speaking, home prices in most areas are up modestly for fairly stable," he said in an interview with the Philadelphia Inquirer.
In the same interview, Patrick Newport of Global Insights said he didn't expect the housing slump to hit bottom until mid-2008. He said he expects home sales may drop another 10 percent before it hits the bottom.
In Montgomery County, home sales fell 35 percent in November from a year earlier and the average price for a house was $518,474, down less than 1 percent from a year ago. Montgomery County had, as of November, more than 4,700 homes on the market, down from 5,300 in October and nearly 7,000 in November 2006.
Meanwhile the number of foreclosures filed in Frederick County in November was 87, ranking it 11th in the state. The highest was in Prince George's County with 797 foreclosures, followed by Baltimore City with 487. In Montgomery County, 431 foreclosures were filed in November.
Statewide, the number of foreclosures fell more than 11 percent from October to November, but were up 637 percent from November 2006. Nationwide, the foreclosure rate fell 10 percent, according to Realtytrac, a California-based research firm. Maryland ranked 12th worst in the number of foreclosures filed for the month. The worst is California, with nearly 40,000 foreclosures filed in November, followed by Florida with more than 29,000 filings.
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