We’ve all heard the news:

Interest Rates are on the Rise! Home Prices are Surging! Inflation is at the highest point since December of 1981! Rental rates are up 17% nationwide!

But the demand for housing ownership in 21771 and surrounding Maryland areas continues to outpace supply, at an alarming rate. Currently, we have 15 active listings in Mount Airy, all counties, all prices, all styles: Inventory, like Interest Rates, remain historically low. Prices are not sliding or stalling. But, we are experiencing key indicators which tell us the track might be a bit muddy.

“While the 21771 market is still flourishing, the rising interest rates will catch up to the buyers and price many out of the market. We are seeing this change already with less showings, higher days on market, and less offers on higher priced homes,” says Blake Haegele, Mount Airy Resident and REALTOR® with RE/MAX Realty Plus, “ It is only a matter of time before the effect continues into all markets.”

Sellers on the back stretch, hurriedly preparing their homes for sale, are worried they might not make the finish line before their asking price stalls, before the “Multiple Offers Over Asking” scenario comes to a halt. Sellers in the race now are enjoying stress-free sales, robust pricing, happy buyers. I feel sellers will continue to experience a strong market, even as the pace slows. As long as there is a demand, the real estate market will remain strong and steady.

But what about buyers? Is it time for them to make a bolder move or should they lay back and wait for the right opening? “Buyers purchasing in this market are paying large premiums and should base their urgency on the right home for their needs,” said Blake Haegele, “It is likely the largest purchase of one’s life and a refinance down the road may not be out of question! Stay vigilant and the right home will come along.”  For owner occupants, first time buyers and buyers who do not need to sell their current home as a condition of purchase, keep looking, keep making offers that make sense to you. But Move Up Buyers and Investors – I believe your time to take the lead will come later this year and in 2023.

Whether you’re buying or selling real estate, you need an advocate. Your best advocate in the 21771 is a local REALTOR® who lives here and works here.

We have the answers!

Oh, it’s SPRING! Finally! All over Mt Airy the grass is getting green and lush, flowers are popping up everywhere, trees are budding and blooming and best of all, everyone seems happy and energetic! But where are all the houses to sell? Where is the land to buy?

Spring has traditionally been the best time to list your house. Sellers and Buyers with school age children time it: list/buy in spring, move in summer. The last couple years, there has been a hesitancy to list too soon for fear of selling too fast and not being quite ready to physically move. To allay some of the worries, REALTORS® have become expert negotiators of the Post Settlement Occupancy agreement and the Contingency: Finding A Home of Choice (a complete reverse of the norm: Buyers being contingent on their Home Sale.)

On the flip side, earlier this year when the weather warmed, we saw a stream of homes come on the market. “People get weary of being cooped up!” said fellow RE/MAX Realty Plus agent Mari Uzzo. “I’ve noticed perhaps due to COVID – that the Spring market starts earlier and earlier each year. As soon as we get a few nice days in February we begin to see an influx of homes on the market. Our market has been saturated with buyers but few homes. Once we get back to a more ‘normal’ and balanced market. I believe we will once again see Spring as the busiest season for sellers and buyers.” With inflation looming and interest rates rising – but still historically LOW! – we may see a normalization of the market this year. The question is: When? “This Spring I believe will be a great time for sellers,” says Blake Haegele, fellow agent at RE/MAX Realty Plus. “We will see a lot of record breaking sales prices due to buyer demand and historically low inventory. The buyers will face competition like never before and accepted offers will continue to be very strong. While the shift is upon us, I believe we will not see it until later on in 2022. Now is the time to sell!”

I could not have said it better: NOW is the time to sell!

Give us a Call to Get the Dirt on Real Estate! We Have over 30 Years of Hands-on Experience!

If you are moving to Mount Airy, whether you’re new to Maryland, new to Mount Airy or just moving up the street, your best resource is a “local” REALTOR® –  an agent who lives here and works here. Although REALTORS® and Consumers have an extreme amount of information at their fingertips, learning first hand, face to face knowledge is priceless. This is knowledge you need when you’re making one of the biggest financial and personal investments of your life. This is knowledge you need when you’re buying real estate in a zip code comprised of FOUR counties with in-town and outside of town areas! “Having the knowledge of a local real estate agent is imperative and very beneficial,” says Mount Airy resident and REALTOR® Kasey Wootten of Real Estate Teams: “A Buyer wants and needs an Agent who knows the current market, community and has established connections. Purchasing a home can be overwhelming. No one knows the local area and market like a local REALTOR®.”

Selling property here? Your incredible property values are a result of the local economy. All of us who live here and all those who work here contribute to our local economy. Hiring a local REALTOR® keeps the money here along with a host of other benefits: It creates more jobs, invests in entrepreneurship and nurtures a sense of community. Although most anyone can determine the value of a property with a little bit of internet research, there are other reasons it is just as important to choose a local REALTOR® to assist you.

• Creating Jobs
• Keeping Money in the Local Economy
• Investing in Entrepreneurship
• Nurturing a Sense of Community
• Supporting the Environment by Reducing Waste and Conserving Energy

Every town, including Mount Airy, encourages residents to “Shop AND Buy Local.” This is crucial for small businesses to survive. REALTORS®  ARE small businesses! Small Business includes our retail shops, our restaurants and all the wonderful professionals who live here and work here, ready to help you handle your important everyday needs.

Mount Airy REALTORS® are gearing up for another blockbuster year… with a keen eye on all the pesky economic indicators that can make it or break it. Generally, our national economists tell us the nation will steadily march forward, that inventory will continue to be a huge issue for home buyers, sellers will enjoy higher prices and fewer days on market, and those prices will continue to appreciate while interest rates will, for the most part, remain historically low.

Although the number of residential units sold (through the MLS) in the 4-County Mount Airy area decreased from 572 to 509, the median sales price increased from $440,000 in 2020 to a whopping $530,000 last year. This is well above the average sales price of Carroll and Frederick County combined – which was $400,000 last year. Days on market went from 22 in 2019 to 9 in 2020 to an unbelievable average time on market of SIX DAYS in 2021. Based on the sales of Team Bonnie & Maureen’s listings, that 6 day period could’ve been much less, but we felt it was in our sellers’ best interests to allow showings for at least 4 or 5 days. During COVID, most brokerages, like us, would not allow “overlapping” showings, so agents with their buyers would sometimes need to get in and out of a house in 15 to 30 minutes!

Location, Location, Location – the one thing I think we will all agree on: Mount Airy is an awesome town, an awesome area. From the point in the pond where all 4 counties meet, to the historic, quaint and renovated downtown area, to the ample shopping and easy access to commuter routes and cities of all sizes, to the wonderful schools, the library and the parks, the breweries, wineries and specialty farmers, to the incredible view of the mountains and the scenic vistas – Mount Airy Maryland is “THE” place to Call Home!

What’s the Plan?

Mount Airy sure has seen some changes over the past 30 years, including phenomenal residential growth in The 21771. The demand has remained constant over the years and the shortage of available homes for sale in our current market makes it appear we have not kept up with the demand. As residents, we often look at the developers as the big bad wolves anxious to snatch up our farm fields to plant houses as far as the eye can see. But when the children we’ve raised here want to settle and raise their children here, when our parents want to downsize and stay near their friends and family in the area they grew up in, and there is no house for them to buy or lease, affordable or not, we look to the town, to the counties and to the developers to ask: What’s the plan?

Residential planning decisions and those who bring them to the table are necessary. Personally, as a REALTOR®  and resident, I haven’t agreed with all the planning decisions made over the years in Frederick and Carroll Counties or The Town of Mt Airy. But I do believe our elected officials have tried hard to explore and fight for the right balance of growth for us.

Taking into consideration an increasing and always shifting population and the impact of this on our environment is part of the planning process. I think I speak for everyone when I say it is our wish that we all work together to help our planners manage the growth, that instead of trying to stop the inevitable we help mold it to be the best it can be for all. While doing so, we will respect the needs and wants of our citizens and we will respect every landowner’s fundamental and legal rights – be they to develop or to preserve their land.