TR-HNR-April-2019

YEAR-END MEDIAN HOME SALES FOR MARYLAND

MEDIAN HOME PRICE

ANNUAL HOME PRICE APPRECIATION

10.0%

$300,000

9.1%

8.0%

$250,000

6.0%

5.9%

4.4%

4.0%

4.2%

$200,000

2.6%

2.0%

1.3%

$279,000

0.4%

0.0%

$150,000

$278,000

$261,000

$256,300

$254,753

$250,000

-2.0%

$230,000

$235,000

$231,000 $234,000 $240,000

$220,000

$217,000

$100,000

$205,000

-4.0%

-6.4%

-6.0%

$50,000

-6.8%

-8.1%

-8.0%

-8.3%

-10.0%

$ 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Maryland Still An Attractive Place to Invest MARKET SPOTLIGHT BY JOEL CONE, STAFF WRITER

Irani is projecting job growth for the state this year with the number of jobs making an about face, going negative starting in 2020. Over the next three years, he is projecting the largest annual average job growth to be in the health care and social assistance sector with the largest losses to come in the government sector during that time period. Although the job mix might be changing somewhat over the next few years, in any event the demand for housing will continue to exist. With higher interest rates, the threshold to enter home ownership will tighten even more giving investors more opportunity in the state. According to the Maryland REALTORS, the number of existing homes in active inventory was up between December 2017 and 2018, with a commensurate rise in months of inventory from 3.4 months to 3.8 months during the same time period. New housing is on the upswing as well. In its Febru- ary 2019 report, the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond reported that Maryland issued 1,271 new residential permits in October 2018, a 17.2 percent monthly decline but up 38.5 from October 2017. For year-end 2018, ATTOM Data Solutions reported median home sales prices increased 4.4 percent from the year before to $261,000, up 13.5 percent over the previous five year period but still 6 percent below its 2007 peak.

live in Maryland and commute to DC is actually larger than the number of workers who both live and work in DC,” he added. When it comes to jobs statewide, Irani showed in his 2018 Economic Outlook Forum presentation that as of September 2018 the government sector led the state in total number of jobs followed by health care, retail, professional services and hospitality. Although when it came to current job openings as of October 2018, computer and mathematical occupations led the way, followed by health care practitioners and technical occu- pations and management occupations. The largest contributor to migration into Maryland from a domestic source is the District of Columbia,” Irani explained. “In 2017 more than twice as many people

I t’s the home to millionaires and billionaires, even though it slipped out of the top ranking for the most millionaires per capita nationwide in 2018. Its close proximity to the nation’s capitol has a definite upside not only for the well-to-do, but there are a lot of positives for real estate investors as well. For one, population numbers spiked in Maryland at the end of the Great Recession and remain positive, although at a slow and steady year-over-year pace for the past three years, according to Dr. Daraius Irani, Vice President, Strategic Partnerships and Applied Research at Towson University who also serves as chief economist for the school’s Regional Economic Studies Institute. Net migration has been a mixed bag, according to numbers gleaned from the American Community Survey 2017 one-year estimates, Irani noted. While more people moved out of the state than into the state, international migration has more than made up for the net loss.

“The largest contributor to migration into Maryland from a domestic source is the District of Columbia,” Irani explained. “In 2017 more than twice as many peo- ple migrated from DC to Maryland as migrated in the other direction.” Along with population numbers, jobs are a major factor for investors looking for paying tenants and positive cash flow from their investment properties. With an unemployment rate of 3.9 percent for Decem- ber 2018, the future of job growth in Maryland overall is relatively stable. “Regardless of future job growth in Maryland as a whole, the job market around DC should remain rela- tively healthy. This is good news for parts of Maryland considering that Maryland is currently the number one choice of residence for people who work in DC,” Irani said. “According to the 2011-2015 American Community Survey Commuting Flows, the number of workers who