Delaware Beach Blog

Sometimes people accuse me of painting one picture of the future for buyers and another one for sellers.  And, it’s sort of true…. but I’m not lying!  When I tell buyers, “There’s never been a better time to buy.” for the most part I believe what I’m saying.  If I wanted to get technical, I’d have to add “well, maybe right at the end of 4th qtr 08, or beginning of 1st qtr 09 , when absolutely nothing was moving and my sellers were depressed and ready to jump on anything – it might have been slightly rosier for you…” 

 But  the INSANE prices on the larger/higher-end properties and the “fire-sale” prices on residential land and lots (which still aren’t moving – helloo, builders are bargaining like never before) are still to be found.  

Inventory for single family homes or townhomes priced in the $250-350K  has moved the most this year, but they probably make up the greatest percentage of inventory, and though there may be a few short-sales or foreclosures in that lower price range, most have already been snapped up.  I’m not saying there are absolutely no bargains in that range, there definitely are, but the discount bin has been picked over.

Homes priced in the $500-800K are moving too, but those are the homes that were priced in the $700K-$1M range two years ago. So you’re getting a lot more for your money comparatively speaking.  And although there is plenty of inventory in this range, its not excessive because anyone who bought in the last 3 years isn’t selling unless they absolutely have to.  But u probably already knew that, didn’t you?  

Unfortunately for sellers, (here’s where I paint the less rosey picture) I think that the big blast of buyers that we (in Lewes and Rehoboth) have experienced over the last several months was at least partially fueled by the pent-up demand from buyers sitting on the fence all winter.  And those buyers have, for the most part, bought something by now. I’m not saying the phones aren’t still ringing, but we are seeing a slight ease-up in appointment requests. And its hard to imagine the pace of May and June could sustain itself for the rest of the year.  Of course, we could see another small spike at the end of the summer when the bottom feeders (oops, I mean bargain hunters) come in to look at what hasn’t been sold by then.  We’ll see.