Maryland rental market data

Across 7 measured metros, median home-value growth was 1.5% year over year while median rent growth was 2.7%. The supplied rent-minus-price measure is 1.2 percentage points. Rent growth exceeded price growth in Philadelphia, PA, Cumberland, MD and Hagerstown, MD: 3.8% versus 2.5%, 3.6% versus 3.2%, and 3.0% versus 2.7%, respectively.

For screening, that separation supports testing current rent support and gross yield before relying on appreciation. The three named metro examples have gross yields from 5.9% to 7.0%, but those figures do not establish net returns after financing, vacancy, operating costs, taxes or insurance.

Metro job growth has a -0.2% median across 7 measured metros, ranging from -2.3% to 0.5%. County migration totals also point outward: 170,343 moved in versus 184,001 moved out, producing net migration of -13,658 and -2.2 people per 1,000 residents across the measured state population.

The counter-signal is that Easton, MD, Philadelphia, PA and Cambridge, MD recorded positive job growth of 0.7%, 0.3% and 0.3%. Aggregate inbound AGI also exceeded outbound AGI by $68,871. Because the AGI figure is an aggregate total rather than a household-level distribution, it is a reason to examine tenant and employer mix locally, not proof of broad demand strength.

Across 24 counties, the median vacancy rate is 8.0%, with a 3.8% to 21.9% range. The median renter share is 26.9%, while 49.4% of renter households are rent-burdened at 30% or more of income; that burden ranges from 45.9% to 55.6%. County median gross rent is $1,402 across 24 measured counties.

Kent County, Dorchester County and Caroline County show rent-burden shares of 59.6%, 56.0% and 55.8%, with vacancy rates of 18.0%, 17.6% and 7.7%. By contrast, vacancy reaches 57.6% in Worcester County, 32.5% in Garrett County and 23.6% in Somerset County. Those vacancy figures should not be treated as available rental supply without property-level confirmation; the packet does not identify how much vacant stock is offered for rent.

Among 5 metros with months-of-supply data, the median is 4.5 months, ranging from 2.7 to 5.8. Median days on market is 52 across 5 measured metros, with a 34.8-day to 61.2-day range. Price drops have a 28.4% median across 5 metros, ranging from 24.1% to 30.8%.

Local examples reinforce the dispersion: Easton, MD has 4.5 months of supply, 66 median days on market and 28.4% price drops; Cambridge, MD has 6.4 months, 54 days and 30.7%; Cumberland, MD has 4.8 months, 52 days and 24.8%. Their sale-to-list ratios are 97.6%, 97.1% and 99.1%, respectively. Screening should allow for slower resale and price negotiation rather than treating rent momentum as a proxy for exit liquidity.

County FHFA home-price appreciation over 5 years has a 44.4% median across all 24 counties, with a range from 37.8% to 58.8%. Current county appreciation is more moderate at a 3.0% median, ranging from 1.4% to 6.0%. County rent growth has a 2.4% median across 19 measured counties, but the rent-growth coverage is incomplete.

Worcester County combines 62.4% five-year appreciation with a 2.6% current annual rate, while Dorchester County shows 59.0% five-year appreciation and a 2.8% current rate. Listing friction remains visible in Somerset County, Worcester County and Kent County, where median days on market are 75, 68 and 67. Past appreciation is a counter-signal to weak current demand readings, but it cannot establish future appreciation or a net investment return.

Across the 24 measured counties, the mutually exclusive leading-hazard labels are inland flood in 19 counties, hurricane in 3 and coastal flood in 2. The county climate-loss-ratio median is 0.07%, with a 0.06% to 0.13% range. The median effective property-tax rate is 0.90%, and the median tax is $3,389.

County examples show why these costs belong in property screening. Somerset County has a 0.27% climate-loss ratio, a 0.92% property-tax rate and a $1,591 median tax; Dorchester County has 0.17%, 0.94% and $2,456; Worcester County has 0.13%, 0.73% and $2,738. Baltimore city and Howard County show higher property-tax rates of 1.46% and 1.17%, with median taxes of $3,354 and $6,987. FEMA labels and loss ratios are county-level risk indicators, not parcel-level exposure, actual losses or insurance quotes.