Courtesy Citybizlist – Maryland is one of five markets across the country where home building has increased the most over the past year, according to SmartMoney.
As of December 2011, Maryland saw a 160 percent increase in building permits from a year ago, second only to Washington D.C.’s gargantuan 414 percent leap.
Said SmartMoney:
“Housing experts say Maryland’s proximity to Washington, D.C., has helped to boost its housing sector, including the number of building permits in the state. Many government employees reside in parts of Maryland and they’re likely fueling some of the demand for new housing.
For home builders there’s even more incentive to break ground in Maryland, says McCabe: some of its cities have higher home prices than many other parts of the country. “The more expensive the homes, the larger the dollar profit will be,” he says. For instance, the median sales prices of existing single family homes in the metropolitan area that the state shares with Washington, D.C. was $313,300 in the fourth quarter 2011 compared to the national median of $163,500, according to the National Association of Realtors.
