Aberdeen, MD Real Estate for March, 2012

Initially, when I first saw the Aberdeen, MD real estate figures for this month, I did what is natural to me as an optimist- I tried to find a way to spin the numbers.

They were pretty putrid. Only 12 homes sold in the Aberdeen, MD zip, down from the 23 that changed hands last year during the same month. This drop represents a 47.83% drop. When I saw this, I thought, “there is an explanation; the amount of inventory has dropped proportionately.” I was wrong. The inventory did fall off pretty considerably- by 37.36%- but not by as much as the number of homes sold. I didn’t give up that quickly. I looked at the data a little more closely, knowing that there must be a reason for this morbidity. Then I came across the loan type information, which shows exactly that- the type of loan used by home purchaser. I noticed that seven of the 12 homes that sold in Aberdeen, MD utilized the FHA loan, the preferred type for the first time homebuyer. Then I saw that three had opted for the VA loan, and only two had gone conventional. There were no cash deals. So it would seem to me that most of the activity involved first time homebuyers, and move-up buyers still seem to be sitting on the fence. Are they going to sell their home and buy something else soon? Are home prices going to rebound so they can do so? If you are a prospective home seller, sign up here for more information about data for your neighborhood.