Prince George's County, Maryland
Market Watch - May 2020
Prince George's County Residential Real Estate Market
With Limited Supply; Home Buyers Eager, Home Sellers Rewarded
Landover, MD - The Prince George's County Association of REALTORS® (PGCAR) reports the May local real estate market still reflected great opportunity for home sellers with quicker sales while sustaining 2020 pricing levels. Amid the coronavirus pandemic (which had much of our state and country under government-mandated stay-at-home measures and business slowdowns), there were 703 closed sales recorded, a decrease of 33.4 percent from May 2019. (May 2020 total sales volume was $240.5 million). The Average Sold Price increased 5.3 percent from May 2019 to $342,817, reflecting the County's limited inventory of existing homes.
Even with average home sale prices increasing, home buyers appear to recognize Prince George's as one of the go-to destinations in metropolitan Washington. Prince George's County had 1,113 new pending sales recorded in May, a 34.7 percent increase from April 2020. As further indication that consumers are interested in buying homes, the Median Days on Market (DOM) was only 13 days, a decrease of 13.3 percent from May 2019. Average DOM was 26 days, down 25.7 percent from May 2019. In short, the pandemic and second straight month of "stay-at-home" orders for Prince George's appeared to deter home sellers, but not buyers.
The chart above details May activity compared to the five-year average, an important longer-term measure of market trends. While New Listings, New Pendings and Closed Sales dropped substantially due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Median Sold Price and Average Sold to Original Listing Price both increased. The supply of homes for sale remains at a five-year low of 1.2 months (representing 1,106 units) available for sale (versus a 1,574 historical May measure and 1.9 month's supply.) This important statistic means that if no new listings come on the market and with typical demand, the supply will be exhausted in 1.2 months.
| May 2020 | Year Over Year (YoY) | Month Over Month (MoM) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Sold Dollar Volume | $240,535,776 | - 29.9% | - 7.3% |
| Closed Sales | 703 | - 33.4% | - 6.6% |
| Median Sold Price | $337,000 | + 7% | - 0.9% |
| Average Sold Price | $342,817 | + 5.3% | - 0.5% |
| New Pending Sales | 1113 | -12.0% | + 34.7% |
Yolanda Muckle, PGCAR President and a professional REALTOR® with Long & Foster Real Estate Inc., shared: "We're pleased to report that, in May, our real estate community continued to prioritize the health of our clients and residents, while still serving home buyers and sellers as the County continued under a "stay at home" mandate (Prince George's entered Phase I of re-opening on June 1). We never forgot our responsibility to flattening the curve, and we will not let our guard down now."
"Thankfully, REALTORS® have had tools such as virtual home tours and electronic signing services for several years so our ability to operate as an essential service has, in some ways, been a little easier," continued Muckle. "Our challenge has been to instill confidence in our clients that we can market their property effectively and sell their home in a timely fashion. The promising news is that 1,059 new listings went on the market in May (still lower than the five-year May average of 1,317 homes), but promising as those home sellers still entered the market. Hopefully, we will see homeowners (who may have been considering selling their homes) being more motivated to sell now as they learn we are in a seller's market and that home buyers are responding well to virtual home buying, inspections and settlements."
The Voice for Real Estate in Prince George's County
PGCAR is the voice for REALTORS® in Prince George's County, Maryland. Representing more than 3,500 real estate professionals in the national capital area, PGCAR is an affiliate of the Maryland and National Association of REALTORS®. We are proud to serve our members and our community, and work to ensure professionalism in the industry. Our volunteers and staff work to offer services to real estate professionals and to provide avenues for our members to become more successful. We proudly work to promote and protect home ownership and private property rights.
