Maryland's housing crisis isn't about demand — it's about vanishing supply and political inaction

Buyers are returning to Maryland’s housing market, but they’re finding almost nothing to buy. Pending sales rose 8.7% in March, a sign of growing demand — yet home sales overall dropped 4.4%, with only 4,874 units sold. The reason isn’t lack of interest. It’s that housing inventory has collapsed by 21.7% and new listings have plunged 24.6% compared to a year ago. While the rest of the country saw active listings climb 8-10%, Maryland’s housing stock is evaporating.

The average sales price rose 4.9% to $513,997, and the median jumped to $430,000 — more than most returning buyers can afford. Mortgage rates, though lower than 2023 peaks, have climbed back to 6.37% in mid-April after surging to 6.46%, driven by rising Treasury yields tied to the Iran conflict. That same conflict pushed oil and gas prices higher, sapping household budgets and dragging consumer confidence down 9% from a year ago. Diesel prices rose even faster, foreshadowing broader inflation across goods and services.

Maryland’s economy isn’t helping. The state added jobs in just two of the past eight months. Employment has fallen by nearly 50,000 over the past year. The unemployment rate has climbed to 4.3%, up more than two points from its 2023 low, and the labor force has shrunk by over 25,000 people. Yet even in this weakened economy, demand for homes is reemerging. The bottleneck isn’t economic — it’s physical.

“Buyers are clearly coming back into the market, but the supply simply isn’t there,” said Denise Lewis, 2026 President of Maryland REALTORS. The state legislature did pass two bills: the Housing Certainty Act, which delays developer fees until project completion, and the Maryland Transit and Housing Opportunity Act, which promotes transit-linked construction. Both now go to Gov. Wes Moore.

But lawmakers rejected the Starter and Silver Homes Act, which would have expanded affordable housing, and downgraded the Bring Back Main Street initiative to another study. “We don’t need more studies — we need more homes,” Lewis said. Local restrictions and political hesitation have stalled construction for years. Until that changes, affordability will remain out of reach, and sales will stay flat — not because people don’t want to buy, but because there’s nothing to sell.