The Kent Island Waterfront Report
A quarterly read on the only market we live in: waterfront property in Stevensville and Chester. Every figure below is computed from closed Bright MLS transactions — not estimates, not national headlines. We publish it because nobody else does.
Six numbers that define the quarter
Based on 69 closed waterfront sales settled between July 2025 and July 2026, measured against 37 active-equivalent listings. All figures are medians. Year-over-year comparisons are drawn against the 58 waterfront sales that closed in the twelve months prior.
Stevensville and Chester are two different markets
They share an island, a zip-code border and a bridge. They do not share a price or a pace.
Stevensville
21666- Median sold price
- $1,198,000
- Median $ per sq ft
- $486
- Median days on market
- 24
- Median sold-to-list
- 98.3%
- Median above-grade size
- 2,740 sq ft
- Closed / active
- 43 / 26
- Months of supply
- 7.3
Chester
21619- Median sold price
- $647,500
- Median $ per sq ft
- $359
- Median days on market
- 49
- Median sold-to-list
- 97.8%
- Median above-grade size
- 1,755 sq ft
- Closed / active
- 26 / 11
- Months of supply
- 5.1
Stevensville waterfront carries a 35% premium per square foot over Chester ($486 vs $359). Chester's homes are smaller and cheaper — but they clear inventory faster relative to their sales pace. Price per foot and speed of sale are not the same signal, and conflating them is the most common mistake made on this island.
There is no "Kent Island market." There are five.
Months of supply is the honest measure of leverage: how long it would take to sell every active listing at the current pace. Under 4 months favors sellers. Over 6 favors buyers. The spread across bands this quarter is the widest number on this page.
| Price Band | Closed | Active | Median Sold | Median $/SF | Median DOM | Sold-to-List | Months of Supply | Signal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under $600K | 16 | 7 | $391,000 | $326 | 48 | 99.6% | 5.2 | Balanced |
| $600K–900K | 13 | 3 | $755,000 | $361 | 11 | 100.0% | 2.8 | Strong seller's |
| $900K–1.3M | 17 | 3 | $1,025,000 | $437 | 25 | 96.8% | 2.1 | Strong seller's |
| $1.3M–2M | 15 | 8 | $1,690,000 | $522 | 49 | 95.3% | 6.4 | Buyer's |
| $2M+ | 8 | 16 | $2,375,000 | $538 | 9 | 99.5% | 24.0 | Buyer's |
What overpricing actually costs on this island
We split every closed sale this period into two groups: homes that sold without ever reducing their asking price, and homes that required at least one price cut. The gap is not subtle.
Seven times longer on the market, and roughly eight cents on the dollar surrendered. On a median Kent Island waterfront home, that is a $78,000 penalty for guessing at the list price.
Median $ per sq ft by price band
Closed waterfront sales, above-grade finished area.
What the numbers are telling us
Kent Island waterfront is more expensive than it was a year ago, and it is taking noticeably longer to sell. Both statements are true, and holding them together is the whole job this quarter. The median closed sale came in at $989,000 against $860,000 in the prior twelve months — up 15% — while price per square foot rose 7.2% to $403. Over the same stretch, median days on market went from 19 to 35. Prices climbed. Patience got expensive.
What did not happen is a discount. Sold-to-list actually strengthened to 98.0%, up 1.5 points year over year, and sold-to-original improved to 96.6%. Sellers who are getting deals done are still getting close to their number — they are simply waiting longer to get there. That combination, firming prices on a slowing clock, is the signature of a market where inventory has built up faster than demand has disappeared.
It has built up unevenly, and the band table is where that shows. Overall months of supply reads 6.4 — technically a buyer's market — but the figure averages a middle that is genuinely tight against a top end that is genuinely stuck. Waterfront between $600K and $900K went to contract in a median of eleven days at exactly 100% of final list price. The $900K–$1.3M band sits at 2.1 months of supply, the tightest on the island. Above $1.3M the picture inverts: 49 days and 95.3% of list in the $1.3M–$2M range, and at $2M+, sixteen active listings against eight closings in a year — two years of standing inventory at the current pace. Notably, those eight sales that did close above $2M went in nine days at 99.5% of list. The top of this market is not soft on price. It is thin on qualified demand, and the right buyer is not waiting around for the wrong house.
Between the submarkets, Stevensville commands a 35% premium per square foot over Chester ($486 vs $359) while carrying 7.3 months of supply against Chester's 5.1 — larger, dearer, slower to absorb. The practical takeaway runs through every band on this page, and it is sharper this year than last. Homes that never cut their price contracted in eleven days at 98.4% of the original ask. Homes that required a reduction took eighty days and closed at 90.5%. In a market where the clock has slowed but the price has not, the list price is the decision that matters, and it is made once — before the sign goes in the yard.
Most agents offer you one option. We built four.
The strategy should fit the house, the band, and your timeline — not the other way around. Every program below comes with terms in writing before you sign anything.
Your home sells at 100% of asking price — or we'll pay you the difference. In writing, before we list.
A real cash offer within 24 hours. No showings, no repairs, close on your timeline.
Buy your next home before you sell this one. No contingency, no double move.
Renovate now, pay at closing. The work that moves your price per square foot into the next band.
The aggregate figures on this page are public. Your home's number is not — it is prepared individually and delivered privately. Full program terms and eligibility requirements are provided before any listing agreement is signed.
Waterfront does not wait for the portals
In the tightest bands on this island, listings go under contract in a median of eleven days. Public search sites are not built for that timeline. Our VIP Home Buying Program is.
New listings and price drops, the day they happen
- Waterfront only — Stevensville and Chester, filtered to your price range
- Price reductions flagged the moment they post
- Coming Soon inventory before it reaches the public search sites
The Eastern Shore Legacy Experience
- A fee-based, two-day private tour of the Shore's waterfront
- Built for out-of-area buyers evaluating a serious purchase
- Water depth, exposure, erosion, flood zone — the things a listing photo will not tell you
David J. Moore
This report exists because nobody else on the Eastern Shore was willing to publish their numbers. It is computed the same way every quarter, from the same source, whether the numbers flatter us or not. That is the point.
First-generation in this business — nothing inherited. Fourth-generation Marylander, with the Eastern Shore knowledge that comes with it. The Paragon Home Team is a real estate solutions company: multiple engineered paths to a result, not one listing strategy applied to every situation.
(443) 249-9696- 20+ years of real estate experience
- 15+ consecutive years recognized by Real Producers and Real Trends
- Kent Island specialist — Stevensville, Chester, Queen Anne's County
- Six guaranteed programs for buyers and sellers