New-home sales in the Baltimore metropolitan area continue to lag behind 2001 through the first five months of the year.

According to the Meyers Group, a Washington firm that tracks new-home construction, 3,099 homes have been sold in the region, a 6.85 percent decrease compared with the corresponding period last year. Last year, 3,327 homes were sold from January through May.

Only Baltimore City and Howard County showed net increases in sales. In the city, 153 new homes were sold compared with 53. Howard County had a 13.1 percent increase with 500 sales vs. 442 for last year.

Sales in Anne Arundel County were off 34.1 percent with 525 homes sold, down from 797. Carroll County dropped 9.5 percent; Baltimore County was off 6.4 percent; and Harford County dipped 2.8 percent.

Average sales prices continued to rise.

Baltimore County gained 33.4 percent to $247,244; Anne Arundel County was up 23.6 percent, rising to $268,349; Carroll County grew 6.5 percent to $216,316; Harford rose 6.8 percent to $192,554; and Howard County increased 13.2 percent to $350,455.