Maryland Housing Market: Home Prices, Rent and Affordability
The typical Maryland home is worth $428,308, flat over the past year and up 13.5% over five years, 16.2% above the national $368,697 (latest release). That ranks #16 of 50 on price. A 20%-down mortgage runs $2,204 a month and takes about $116,485 of income; the median Maryland household earns $102,905, $13,580 short.
In Baltimore, the state's largest metro, typical rent is $1,948 a month against a $2,059 principal-and-interest payment on the typical home, so renting is $111 a month cheaper before taxes, insurance and maintenance. The market is cool: 28.5% of listings cut their price (national 26.4%), homes go pending in 37 days (national 53), and for-sale inventory is up 12.3% from a year ago.
All housing figures are the latest published numbers for August; median household income is from the Census Bureau.
Maryland Housing by the Numbers
How much does a house cost in Maryland? The typical home is worth $428,308, the median sale price is $434,167 and the median list price $420,000. The six figures below describe the market this month, each with the national comparison.
- Typical home
- $428,308
- #16 priciest · national $369K
- Mortgage payment
- $2,204/mo
- P&I, 20% down · national $1,897
- Income needed
- $116K
- median earns $103K (+13%)
- Rent, Baltimore
- $1,948/mo
- +2.6% in 1 yr · national $1,948
- Price cuts
- 28.5%
- of listings · national 26.4%
- Days to pending
- 37
- national 53 · 20,301 for sale (+12.3%)
How Have Maryland Home Prices Changed?
The typical Maryland home value every month since 2000, with the national typical home as a dashed line. Values held flat over the past year, are up 13.5% over five years, up 50.4% over ten, and up 180% since January 2000.
- Peak
- $429,097
- April 2026 · now -0.2%
- 10-year change
- +50.4%
- national +77.9%
- Median sale price
- $434,167
- list price $420,000
- Payment, 1-yr change
- +0.8%
- Rates and prices combined
Is It Cheaper to Rent or Buy in Maryland?
Two direct answers from the data. Rent versus buy sets typical asking rent in Baltimore, the state's largest metro, against the mortgage payment on the typical home there, since rent indexes are published by metro rather than by state. The affordability gap is the income needed to buy the typical Maryland home minus what the median household actually earns.
Rent vs. buy · Baltimore, MD
Renting is $111/month cheaper
The payment excludes property tax (1.02% of value in Maryland), insurance and maintenance, all of which push the cost of owning higher; renting builds no equity. If values kept rising at the past five years' pace (13.5%), equity would narrow that gap over a long stay.
Affordability gap · #22 of 50
The median household is $13,580 short of the income needed
A $2,204 monthly payment takes 25.7% of the median Maryland household's income before property tax and insurance; lenders generally cap total housing costs near 28–31%.
Full budget for your household →Is Maryland a Buyer's or a Seller's Market?
Market temperature is our label from three market signals compared with the national market: the share of listings with a price cut, days from listing to pending (days on market), and whether homes for sale are up from a year ago. Maryland is cool: it leans toward buyers: two of the three market signals point cooler than the national market.
Median sale price $434,167 against a median list price of $420,000, so the typical home closes at or above asking.
Where the Maryland market is heading
Compared with a year ago, all three signals point looser, in buyers' favor: the share of listings with a price cut is up 0.4 points from a year ago to 28.5%, homes take 4 days longer to go pending than a year ago (37 now), and the number of homes for sale is up 12.3%. The typical home value held flat over the same period and is 0.2% below its April 2026 peak of $429,097. We publish no forecasts: these are the current-month readings, not a prediction of where Maryland home prices go next.
Home Values and Rents in Maryland Cities
A city-level home value or rent is available for 16 of the Maryland cities we track. The most expensive is Potomac ($1,350,962) and the cheapest Baltimore ($186,741). Click a city for its full profile.
| City | Population | Home value | 1 yr | 5 yr | Rent | Rent 1 yr | Value ÷ income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baltimore | 573,243 | $186,741 | -3.4% | ||||
| Columbia | 104,338 | $507,609 | +0.5% | ||||
| Germantown | 90,719 | $416,884 | -2.2% | ||||
| Frederick | 83,395 | $459,795 | -0.9% | ||||
| Waldorf | 82,943 | $431,875 | -1.7% | ||||
| Silver Spring | 81,462 | $542,238 | -0.3% | ||||
| Ellicott City | 75,257 | $735,463 | +0.7% | ||||
| Glen Burnie | 72,590 | $395,060 | +0.3% | ||||
| Gaithersburg | 69,825 | $517,488 | -1.5% | ||||
| Bethesda | 69,397 | $1,121,468 | +0.7% | ||||
| Rockville | 67,671 | $608,002 | -0.4% | ||||
| Dundalk | 65,969 | $221,991 | -1.5% | ||||
| Towson | 58,679 | $474,404 | +2.6% | ||||
| Severn | 58,402 | $517,542 | +1.3% | ||||
| Bowie | 57,926 | $520,578 | -0.4% | ||||
| Potomac | 45,902 | $1,350,962 | +0.5% |
Home value and rent are city-level indexes; population and median household income are Census ACS. Cities without a published index are omitted.
All Maryland cities ranked →How Maryland Compares With Nearby States
The Northeast states closest to Maryland on price. Each card links to that state's housing page; the compare link puts the two states side by side on every category.
More on Maryland
Maryland dashboard
Overall rank and grade, every category score, taxes, utilities, safety, schools and all tracked cities.
What you'd keep in Maryland
Take-home after housing, taxes, childcare, utilities and groceries for your household and income.
Who is moving to Maryland
IRS migration data: where new residents come from, where leavers go, and what both groups earn.
Maryland Housing Market FAQ
What is the average house price in Maryland?
$428,308 is the typical Maryland home value according to the latest release of the home value index, which tracks homes in the middle third of the market. The median sale price was $434,167 and the median list price $420,000. That makes Maryland the #16 most expensive state; the national typical home is worth $368,697.
Are home prices dropping in Maryland?
No. The typical Maryland home value held flat over the past year, though it remains 0.2% below its April 2026 peak of $429,097. Over five years it is up 13.5% and over ten years up 50.4%. Nationally, values rose 1.2% over the year.
How have Maryland home prices changed over the past 1, 5 and 10 years?
0.0% over one year, +13.5% over five years and +50.4% over ten years for the typical Maryland home value, per the latest release; the national figures are +1.2%, +20.3% and +77.9%. Since January 2000 the typical Maryland home is up 180%. The monthly chart above shows the full series against the national line.
Will the Maryland housing market crash?
We publish no forecasts, so this page cannot answer that; it can show the current readings and the historical worst case. Right now the typical Maryland home value is 0.2% below its April 2026 peak of $429,097 after it held flat over the past year; 28.5% of listings have cut their price (national 26.4%), homes go pending in 37 days (national 53), and inventory is up 12.3% from a year ago, per Zillow Research. The largest decline in the monthly value series for Maryland was 30.5% from November 2006 to February 2012, and values took 107 months to regain that peak.
Is it a good time to buy a house in Maryland?
The Maryland market is cool right now, which means it leans toward buyers: two of the three market signals point cooler than the national market. 28.5% of listings cut their price (national 26.4%), homes go pending in 37 days (national 53), and for-sale inventory is up 12.3% from a year ago. Affordability is the constraint: buying the typical home takes $116,485 of income, $13,580 more than the median household earns. Whether the timing is right also depends on mortgage rates and how long you plan to stay.
Is Maryland a buyer's or seller's market?
Maryland leans toward buyers. More listings are cutting prices than the national average (28.5% vs. 26.4%), homes take 37 days to go pending (national 53), and the number of homes for sale is up 12.3% from a year ago at 20K listings. Two of those three signals point toward buyers.
What is the average rent in Maryland?
In Baltimore, Maryland's largest metro, the typical asking rent is $1,948 a month, up 2.6% over the past year and up 19.4% over five years, per the rent index. The national typical rent is $1,948. Among Maryland cities we track, rents range from $1,485 to $4,649 a month.
Is it cheaper to rent or buy in Maryland?
Renting is cheaper month to month in Baltimore, Maryland's largest metro. Typical rent is $1,948 and the principal-and-interest payment on the typical home with 20% down is $2,059, a difference of $111 a month in favor of renting. The payment excludes property tax (1.02% of value in Maryland), insurance and maintenance, and renting builds no equity, so the full answer depends on how long you stay.
How much income do you need to buy a house in Maryland?
About $116,485 a year, using the standard assumptions of 20% down at current mortgage rates and a payment of no more than 30% of income. The median Maryland household earns $102,905, so the typical household is $13,580 short. That is the #22 smallest affordability gap of the 50 states. The monthly payment of $2,204 equals 25.7% of the median household's income.
Where are homes cheapest and most expensive in Maryland?
Among the Maryland cities we track with a published home value, the most expensive typical home is in Potomac ($1,350,962) and the cheapest in Baltimore ($186,741). Also at the top: Bethesda ($1,121,468), Ellicott City ($735,463), and Rockville ($608,002). The city table above lists every tracked Maryland city with its value, one-year change and rent.
How does Maryland compare with nearby states?
In the Northeast, the closest comparisons on price are Maine ($415,552, up 1.6% in a year), Delaware ($406,074, up 1.3% in a year), and Connecticut ($450,873, up 5.0% in a year). Maryland's typical home is $428,308, flat. On affordability, Maryland ranks #22 of 50 versus Maine at #34, Delaware at #19, and Connecticut at #36.
How current is the Maryland housing data?
Every figure on this page comes from Zillow Research, which publishes state, metro and city data free each month for the prior month; the latest month shown is August. Median household income is from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey. We rebuild the page from the newest Zillow files as they are released.
Home values, rents, mortgage payments, income needed, inventory, price cuts, days to pending and sale and list prices are published by Zillow Research and shown as released, with attribution. Median household income and city populations are from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey. Home prices and housing markets in all 50 states →