Median home prices in Carroll County are on the rise, along with average monthly payments, according to a national survey on home affordability released Wednesday by RealtyTrac, the nation’s leading source on housing data.

These findings are among many recent indicators that show the local housing market is recovering from the 2008 crash that sent values plummeting and flooded the area with foreclosures, said the president of the West Metro Board of Realtors.

“Overall the market is getting a lot more stable and consistent,” said Dwayne Hicks, West Metro president and a broker with Metro West Realty. “If a home is priced right, it’s going to sell. With the values coming back up, current homeowners can move up to a larger house. We’re seeing solid signs of this, with more people putting their homes on the market and getting them sold.”

Hicks said most of the inventory of foreclosed homes that was keeping the market prices down has been sold. He said investors are bidding prices up on the remaining foreclosures left.

The median Carroll County home value at the end of 2013 was $96,267, up from $66,667 at the end of 2012, a 44 percent increase.

Along with the higher home prices, the average monthly payment rose from $288 at the end of 2012 to $458 at the end of 2013, a 59 percent increase.

During the same time period, the average Carroll County rental cost for a three-bedroom home rose slightly, from $1,158 to $1,187.

“Our rental market climbed a little, but it didn’t pick up as much as rentals in other parts of the country because we have a big rental market here with the university,” Hicks said.

 

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