Baltimore Sun file photo
Some weeks back, we presented the most expensive city neighborhoods -- as ranked by 2009 home sale price -- for your edification and pontification. Left out of the fun were the Baltimore 'burbs, which are of course more pricey in general.
So let's remedy that. Right now.
Can you guess the suburban community (as in ZIP code) with the highest average sale price last year? (For that matter, can you guess No. 7, which is pictured above?)
Read on for answers and a link to the brand-new photo gallery, put together by editor extraordinaire Liz Hacken.
The priciest: Glenwood in Howard County, weighing in at $790,000.
Most of the highest-average-price communities are in Howard, including the one in the photo above (Highland, at No. 7 -- $643,000).
See them all in the photo gallery here, which includes the top-priced city neighborhoods as well.
As I always do when I compare ZIP codes based on Metropolitan Regional Information Systems data, I only looked at the communities with at least five sales. (Actually, they had to have had at least five sales in 2008 and 2009 each, since this ranking was pulled from an analysis of the change between the years.)
Average sale prices can't necessarily tell you where the region's absolutely most expensive houses are. Perhaps the most expensive houses weren't on the market last year. Perhaps they were and didn't sell.
But it gives you a general idea, and it's fun for anyone with lookyloo tendencies. (So is the "top properties" gallery.)
If you're sick of looking at mansions, check out the hidden-gem neighborhoods for more affordably priced examples of Baltimore-area living. (It comes complete with a huge photo gallery of its own.)
Oh, and if you're interested in holding forth on your own neck of the woods, don't forget My Neighborhood 'Tis of Thee. We've had people sharing in both words and photos, which is great. (The My Neighborhood 'Tis of Thee photo gallery is here.)