Photo by Ed Waters, Jr. Brooke Burns, left, and John Birge of Hanley Wood Market Intelligence, were guest speakers at the monthly meeting of the Sales & Marketing Council of the Frederick County Builders Association. Thanking the speakers is Sasha Nugent, president of the council. Purchase this photo

John Birge and Brooke Burns of Hanley Wood Market Intelligence spoke to the Sales & Marketing Council of the Frederick County Builders Association on Monday.

Builders and their sales representatives can list their homes on newhomelistings.com for free. The site provides a place for consumers to view complete information on homes by geographic area, price level, features and more.

Several members of the council said they had sold homes in the past month. Some members said they had sold two, some as many as six homes in the past month.

According to the Hanley Wood report, Birge said, 87 new homes were sold in the county in the fourth quarter of 2008; nearly 1,500 in the Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes 20 counties around Washington.

"Traffic is up, sales are up," Birge said.

The top 10 builders in Frederick County accounted for 86 percent of the homes sold in 2008. Ryan Homes sold 152, followed by NV Homes at 59 and Drees at 57.

"But we have a five-year supply of homes, based on the anemic sales rate," Birge said. "We are showing hopefully sustainable improvement."

Burns said the website was linked to lifestyle sites that could draw consumers interested in golf or lakeside living to new homes. Information on the site allows new home sales personnel to update the information twice a month.

"We rely on the information we get electronically and from people out in the field," she said.

Hugh Gordon, branch manager for First Home Mortgage in Frederick , said loans are available to qualified buyers. "I'm tired of hearing in the media that there are no lenders out there," he said.

The National Association of Home Builders in a recent survey showed 70 percent of consumers agreeing it is a good time to buy a home because of historically low prices and interest rates. But at the same time, the survey said consumers are still worried about the future because of an uncertain economy and job security.

The association said it thinks the price drop in homes may have bottomed out and the industry could see a positive move upward by the end of the year. The association, on its website, noted however that "it is a housing market with weak demand, a lot of excess supply and a lot of foreclosures."