Gross sales of new homes in the Baltimore metropolitan area for May dropped 8.1 percent when compared with the same period last year, according to statistics released last week by the Meyers Group.

Anne Arundel and Howard counties had the biggest decline of all jurisdictions, sagging 24.8 percent and 23.1 percent. Harford County was off 3.6 percent. Baltimore County, lifted by an almost 50 percent increase in sales in the Owings Mills/Pikesville corridor, was up 12.8 percent and Carroll County saw a 2.4 percent increase.

Gross sales are all homes that have gone to contract before cancellations by buyers.

Overall, year-to-date net sales for the area are 3.3 percent behind 1998's pace.

In May, condominium sales dropped the most, off 18.5 percent, while single-family detached and townhouse sales slid 7.7 and 5.5 percent respectively.

For the year, the average price of a single-family detached home in the Baltimore metropolitan area increased to $244,093 from $233,230 in 1998.

Pub Date: 7/11/99