By Kim Solloway

How is the real estate market doing in Linthicum? If you drive around the community you’ll notice the lack of ‘For Sale’ signs which is a quick indicator of how low the supply is of available homes. The monthly supply in January was 2.75 according to statistics from RBI (Real Estate Business Intelligence). So what does that mean? When there is 0-4 months of inventory, all of the current homes listed for sale can be expected to sell within 4 months. Great news for sellers. At 5-8 months of inventory it is considered a balanced market. At 9 months or more you’ll find happy buyers since there are many options to choose from. Except for January, the Linthicum inventory has been decreasing since September. As the spring market arrives it will be interesting to see if more signs pop up.

With the great inventory news for Linthicum sellers, one might wonder why some homes sit for months on the market. Questions that I ask when a home is not selling start first and foremost with the price. Is the home priced according to what the market will support? Do the photos on the internet show the property in the best possible light? Is the home clean and uncluttered so that buyers can see the space and features the home has to offer? If the home does not show well, has the price been set to entice a buyer to look past what a seller is not able or willing to do?

Taking a look back at 2015, in Linthicum there were a total of 142 detached homes sold. Since January of this year, 14 detached homes have sold which puts the market on pace for what occurred in 2014 when a total of 85 homes sold. The average days on the market in 2015 before a home went under contract was 73 days. The highest number of average days on the market in 2015 was 150 days (February) and the shortest occurred in July when the average was just 43 days.

With the higher number of sales the average sales price dropped in 2015. In 2014 the average sales price was $276,650 vs $259,177 in 2015. I would expect that the average sales price will increase this year if the inventory remains low.

So what does this news mean right now for buyers and sellers in Linthicum? For a buyer don’t waste any time getting out to see new homes coming onto the market. Ask your agent to check the coming soon status to look for homes not yet on the market. If you are a seller make sure your home sparkles the day it hits the market. If it means waiting a few weeks to make sure the home shows in the best light then in my opinion it is time well spent. If you do not have the ability or the means to show your home in the best possible light, adjust the price to encourage buyer interest. Adding the home to the coming soon status to generate interest before it hits the market may be something a seller might want to consider.

All data included was obtained from RBI.