The year 2023 proved to be a shifting market year — one in which mortgage rates continued a significant increase and sales volume was further reduced.

However, with only a small gain in inventory and a continued lack of inventory in most categories, prices continued to rise slightly.

Here’s an “at a glance” recap of some of the various market stats for Worcester County (no data for December is included in these figures).

• The average sales prices varied monthly throughout the year, but October had the highest sales price average increase year over year for Worcester County at a 16.6 percent increase and a $482,165 sales price average. November was the only month that did not show an increase in sales price average, and it was even with 2021. The lowest sales price average reported in 2023 was for the month of January at $436,082.

• The months of inventory reported figure for January 2022 showed Worcester County was at one and-a-half months, compared to the same time in 2021 where the months of inventory average was one. November 2023 statistics show we are sitting at three months.

• For the month of November, in 2022 there were 362 active listings but November 2023 shows 473 units of active inventory. This is compared to the beginning of the year, where January showed only 272 active units.

• For the month of November, inventory remained limited at 168 new listings in 2023, a small increase over November 2022, which saw 136 new listings.

• As of the first week in 2023, there were only 21 total units actively listed for sale in the MLS that are direct oceanfront. As of the last week in 2023, there are 57 total oceanfront units listed.

• The luxury market saw 73 homes sell in 2022, and 2023 saw even more with 85 homes selling over the $1 million dollar mark. With sales price averages on the rise, this is a sharp increase in $1 million or more sales from 2021 with only 34 sales at this mark.

• The highest priced sale in Worcester County in 2022 was for $4.05 million in Snow Hill. This year, the highest priced sale was for $6.1 million in West Ocean City.

• At the beginning of 2023, there were only eight active homes listed under $400,000 in Ocean Pines, and now at the end of 2023, there are only 14 homes listed under this price mark.

• In 2021, Worcester County saw 82 new construction units sold; in 2022, it increased to 123 new construction units sold for an average price of $587,588; and by the last week of data in 2023, there were again 123 new construction units sold in the MLS with an average price of $577,529.

Lauren Bunting is a Broker with Keller Williams Realty of Delmarva in Ocean City, Maryland.