Median home prices in Baltimore reached a record high of $220,000 in 2024, according to data from Live Baltimore, the city’s marketing arm.

In an annual report covering neighborhood sales and price points, the organization said city home prices rose in tandem with high housing costs around the region. Still, the report said, Baltimore remains much more affordable than its suburban neighbors — particularly Howard County, where home values reached a median price point of $605,000 overall, according to Live Baltimore’s data.

Demand for city homes has long been lower than in other Maryland communities. Concerns about public safety, education and square footage are often cited as detractors for prospective homebuyers.

But as surrounding counties’ home costs become more unattainable and barriers to building new housing persist, Live Baltimore sees an opening for Baltimore to emerge as a competitor.

“It’s not an ideal market for homebuyers right now, so it gives the city an edge,” said Jordan Klumpp, Live Baltimore’s business relationship manager. “It’s strong medicine for homebuyers to consider.”

Many neighborhoods in the city see similar sales activity as neighborhoods in the counties, Klumpp said. The median sales prices in several neighborhoods, including Bolton Hill, Charles North and Locust Point, exceeded $400,000 last year, the report shows. Canton, long the leader in the number of city home sales, saw more than 400 houses sold, producing $163 million in total sales. And homes near shopping centers sold especially quickly in 2024, especially in Southeast Baltimore and near the Village of Cross Keys.

Live Baltimore’s hot neighborhoods list, which it determines based on purchase volume, median sales prices and the median number of days homes spent on the market, includes Canton, Belair-Edison, Riverside, Washington Village/Pigtown and Hampden.

Prospective city buyers usually prefer resource-rich communities, said Julia Neal, a Baltimore County-based real estate agent with the W Home Group of Next Step Realty.

Of the clients who have been interested in city homes, Neal said, those with access to stores, attractions, parks and dining options tend to win out.

“They want as much walkability and close proximity to things as possible,” she said.

Still, Neal said, a majority of clients have been looking in the surrounding region, especially Baltimore, Anne Arundel and Harford counties, where the median price points in December stood at $355,000, $486,250 and $389,450, respectively.

Data from Bright MLS, the area’s multiple listing service, shows that the regional housing market — which includes Howard, Harford, Anne Arundel, Carroll and Baltimore counties plus Baltimore City — held steady year over year in the face of inventory challenges and high mortgage rates, following a purchasing frenzy during the height of the coronavirus pandemic. Both 2023 and 2024 saw about the same number of homes sold, with the median pushed last year to $387,000. Homes spent a median of 10 days on the market.

Industry insiders say 2025 pricing isn’t expected to cool all that much, though a new administration in the White House could find ways to shake up the building economy. Klumpp, from Live Baltimore, said the city possesses as much as 46% of all the Baltimore region’s available inventory.