Month: May 2019

Posted on

Take Action Today! Contact the County Commissioners letting them know you do NOT want them to increase the accommodations tax.

Currently, the Garrett County Commissioners are exploring methods to balance the FY2020 budget that has an approximate $10.5 million shortfall as is. The County requested and just received authority from the MD General Assembly this past session to raise the Accommodations Tax by up to another 2%, from 6% to 8%. Let the Commissioners know that the budget cannot be balanced on the back of Garrett County’s main economic driver, tourism.

Consumers: TAKE ACTION

Any member of the public can use this link to TAKE ACTION.

REALTORS: TAKE ACTION

This link is only valid for GCBR REALTORS.

Posted on

FIRST QUARTER 2019 WAS A GOOD TIME FOR SELLERS

The first quarter of 2019 started out slow with only 17 homes sold in January but then took a sharp upswing with a 76.5% increase in February and closed out with 35 homes sold in March for just a 4.7% drop from the same time last year. The average sold price and average median price of a home in Garrett County increased by 30.0% and 11.5% respectively as compared to same period in 2018.

“Pending sales have increased 31.4% from January to March while during that same time months of inventory have dropped, from a high of 19.7 in January to 8.9 in March,” noted GCBR President Larry Smith. “We are seeing a more balanced market as we move into the spring selling season.”

Below is a summary of the Garrett County Real Estate Market

  • Homes Sold in 1st quarter 2019 – 82, down 4.7% from previous year
  • Average Sold Price in 1st quarter 2019 – $359,075, up 30.0% from previous year
  • Average Median Price in 1st quarter 2019 – $261,884, up 11.5% from previous year
  • Average Sales Pending Units in 1st quarter 2019 – 40, up 0.8% from previous year
  • Average Active Inventory in 1st quarter 2019 – 323, down 1.4% from previous year
  • Average Months of Inventory in 1st quarter 2019 – 13.1, up 9.2% from previous year

Monthly housing statistics for Garrett County are compiled by data as reported by Bright MLS. For the purposes of this report, “units” are defined as the closed sales and “pending units” are properties under contract. Months of inventory are based on the current active inventory and monthly sales for the corresponding month.

The Garrett County Association of REALTORS® is an affiliate of the Maryland REALTORS® 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.