After all that disruption in the national and world economy in October, I expected the worst when October real estate statistics for Odenton were released.  While things certainly didn't improve, the decline wasn't nearly as drastic as I expected, and it could have been much worse.  Twenty-three homes did sell, in spite of concerns about the stock market, unemployment and the banking debacle, including new restrictions on mortgage financing qualifications.

The Average sold price in Odenton is down from last month, and lower than every month this year.  But it's down less than 10% - "only" 7.26% - from last year - not as bad as I expected in these difficult economic times.

Median prices are down 6.24% from October 2007.

The number of units sold in Odenton declined during October, as well, but the total is not lower than it was in January.  As you can see from this chart, the units sold declined last year from June-October, as it did this year. 

Comparing October of this year with last, the decline was 32.35

The Days on Market went up in Odenton during October, but April and May were even higher - and those are supposed to be the prime real estate selling months of the year.

That's one of the reasons I'm relatively pleased with October real estate sales, given the world economic situation. 

Absorption Rate:  As of October 31, there were 217 active listings in Odenton; only 23 homes sold during the month.  At this rate, it would take nearly 10 months for today's inventory of homes to sell - assuming no other houses come on the market in Odenton.  I think we all know that won't happen.

As I said in the beginning, I didn't expect "good" news from last month's statistics, but you may agree with me that the potential was there for much worse.  I'll be eager to see if things bounce back in November.

Source of Data:  MRIS
Charts:  Margaret Woda