….Baltimore area home sales enjoyed their best August in five years as buyers took advantage of affordable prices and record low interest rates. While August pending sales of 2,365 was 1.7% below the July 2011 total of 2,407, the current decline was well below the 6.9% average month-over-month decline of the past 5 years and the 4% average month-over-month decline of the past ten years. Median sales price also outpaced seasonal patterns, rising 4.4% to $235,000 in August from $225,000 in the July . For the past ten years, median sales price has slipped an average of 0.5% from July to August…

…The last month of summer provided an unusual amount of economic uncertainty caused by the S&P downgrade of U.S. debt after July’s raucous political debates on the debt ceiling. There was a widely held expectation that consumers would delay their home purchases until they felt more comfortable with the impact to the economy. For the Washington, D.C. metro area, there was no apparent impact on the volume of new pending sales beyond seasonal patterns. There were 4,169 contracts signed in August 2011, 8.6% less than the 4,563 contracts signed in July, consistent with the 5-year 9% average month-over-month decline and the ten year 7.5% average month-over-month decline. The monthly total was the highest number of August signed contracts in 4 years. New pending sales were 19.9% above the August 2010 level but that increase is exaggerated due to the dearth of activity in the months following the expiration of the federal homebuyers tax credit in April 2010. The median sales price for August 2011 showed a similar seasonal pattern, declining 3.8% to $356,000 from $370,000 in July 2011 but was essentially unchanged from August 2011. Median sales price has averaged a 3.6% month-over-month decline over 5 years and a 2.2% month-over-month decline over ten years…