Dewey Market Watch 2/13/25 thru 3/9/25

St Patty’s weekend is here! Tradition marks this weekend that so many businesses in the entire resort area open for the summer of 2025! Daylight savings has just arrived and life is great in good old Dewey! The spring selling season is off to a slow start. There were only four sales in the last three weeks, one single family, one condo and two Surf Club units. This is a minimal amount of closings for this time of the year. The inventory for single family homes is stable. There’s four single family homes in Dewey for sale, two in Indian Beach, one in Killens Addition , one in Country Manor and one in Ann Acres. That’s a pretty broad inventory! The condo inventory reflects a very similar inventory. Presently there’s five condos in Dewey, one in Dodds Addition, one in Ann Acres, one in Rehoboth By The Sea (leased land) and two surf Club fractional ownerships. The inventory could use a little boost but what is on the market offers availability in all areas of our market. The interest rates have eased just a tiny bit, nothing significant. The rate for a 30 year primary is averaging about 6.50% and 7% for a 2nd home/investor, no drastic change. I believe that the cold winter weather that we just experienced during the month of February surely impacted our market. It was damned cold!!! Temperatures are all hovering into the 70’s this week, couple that with daylight savings time and St. Patty’s weekend and we’re going to flourish with the new spring flowers!!! The ospreys will arrive this week! The crabs will be coming out of the mud and schools of migrating fish are all coming to the summer of 2025 party! Helloooo spring!!!!

MY NEW LISTING  Charming beach rancher, walk to the beach,  2/3 bed/1bath zoned commercial residential. Multiple possibilities!

MY NEW LISTING 24 Vandyke # B, ocean block 4bd/3ba, 1,912 sq’, two owner suites, full screened porch, open floor plan. Grat rental potential!

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Dewey Market Watch 1/14/25 thru 2/12/25

Got sun? Got 85 degrees? Sussex county got socked with another 8 inches of snow yesterday! We’ve seen enough snow for 5 years! Unlike the weather, the spring market is heating up in a quick way. We just went from the holiday doldrums to a very, very active market. I was on solid listing appointments for the last couple of weeks. The quick sales at 9 Read Ave. (9 days on market), 103 Bayside Ct. (3 days on market) & 304 Dutch Rd. (10 days on market) proves that anxious buyers are out there. Be fast or be last! Coming soon: 24 Van Dyke St., ocean block, 4bd/3ba, 1,920 sq’, two owner suites, fully furnished, asking $1,469,000 & 38399 George St. charming yesteryear, upgraded 2bd/1ba, fee simple single family home, zoned commercial 1. This unique zoning offers endless possibilities asking $899,900. Please contact me for additional information. The interest rates remain the same , approx. 7% for a 30 year fixed primary and approx. 7.5% for a 2nd home/investor. The interest rates haven’t seemed to slow our resort market activity, however I’m working with a couple first time home buyers and it’s surely having an impact on them by increasing their monthly payments by $200. to $300 which is huge at entry level pricing. It doesn’t appear that there’s going to be any drop in the immediate future. Inventory remains low. Presently there’s only a dozen properties for sale. There’s seven condos, 1 leased land condo and five single family homes, all within the area of Indian Beach, Dewey and both east & west sides of Ocean Hwy in the Forgotten Mile. I expect inventory to increase with the spring selling season. I know one thing for sure, I’ll be happy to see that Easter bunny and spring!!! Stay warm and be careful in the snow!!!

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Dewey Market Watch 11/14/24 thru 1/13/25

     Happy new year!!!! It’s nice to have the holidays behind us and looking forward to spring. I’d be happy to never see snow again! We received a foot of snow and artic temperatures. The forecast for the next 2 weeks is record shattering artic temps. Where’s that damned groundhog? LOL The 2024 selling season was spectacular. I’d like to thank all of my clients and friends who helped me have one of my best year’s in 23 years in the business. I couldn’t have done this without you. Thank you!!

     The market has been at a snail’s pace. There was very little activity during the last two months that was all due from the holidays. Typical yearly scenario! Our inventory is starting to dwindle down. We presently have four single family (fee simple) homes for sale. There’s five condos and three fractional share units in the Surf Club and that rounds out our inventory in the town of Dewey. There’s one single family home (fee simple) in Ann Acres, two homes in Indian Beach and one townhome in Dodds Addition. That’s our entire inventory! We surely need some inventory for the upcoming spring season. There’s not a whole bunch of good news for the interest rates. The rates are averaging about 7% for a 30 year fixed primary, 6.750% for a jumbo. The rumor is that we may not see any rate drops in 2025. Time will tell:) The 2024 selling season was good! Let’s hope for tons of inventory and a record 2025 season!!!

Have a happy and prosperous new year!!

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Dewey Market Watch 10/17/24 thru 11/19/24

Happy Holidays to everyone! Before you know it, the holidays will be over, the days will be getting longer and spring is on the way! Wishful thinking!! LOL The Dewey area market remains to be very strong. Typically the market slows prior to an election but that wasn’t the case this time around. There were six pending contracts for the previous month coupled with four new single family listings and two condos. Our inventory is now well stocked with 11 single family homes on the market and nine condos. Ann Acres, Killens Addition, Silver Lake Manor, Indian Beach & Rehoboth By The Sea all have inventory now!! We haven’t seen this much inventory for years. There were six price reductions for the previous month possibly indicating the top of the market. Now that the election is over, I’m anxious to see what the rates do. We were promised 4-5 rate drops last year but only one was given. It really didn’t impact the interest rates at all. The rates are hovering around 7% for a 30 year fixed, slightly more for 2nd home and investors.  I’m excited to see what the market will bear in 2025. We’ll have a well stocked inventory and hopefully we’ll see a few rate drops. I believe that 2024 out sold 2023 and I fully expect 2025 to be a banner year. It’s that time of the year where families gather to celebrate the holidays. Please be mindful of the many, many homeless as winter’s cold settles in. Have a safe and joyous Thanksgiving!!!

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Dewey Market Watch 9/7/24 thru 10/15/24

       Happy Autumn! We just received our 1st frost of the year!! I’m already missing the summer! The market remains very active. Four new single family homes and three new condos increases our boosted inventory. We finally have a few homes for sale in the Forgotten Mile! How active is the market? Take a peak at the five pending condo contracts and one land sale:) Are we seeing the peak? This year’s appreciation is 6% ytd compared to 6% in 2023. Just after covid we were seeing record high appreciation at 26% & 24% per year. We are still seeing a few multiple offers when a property is priced right. We are noticing many more price reductions within the market, on the other hand I continue to see identical units sell for more than the last. The lighthouse Cove and Rainbow Cove are fine examples of this (see below). The days on the market has increased, possibly indicating the beginning of a market slow down. Prices aren’t going to drop overnight like they did in the early 2000’s boom but pricing and values will level off. The interest rates remain the same. 6.250 for a 30 year primary, 6.375 for a jumbo and slightly higher for an investor or 2nd home buyer. Typically the market slows just before an election but it’s not this year. Business usually slows a bit during the holidays, maybe this year it won’t!

       The annual cancer jog drew a monster crowd as always and it couldn’t be for a worthier cause. A huge thank you goes out to everyone who attended. Another popular fall event is the Sea Witch festivities scheduled on October 25th thru October 27th. The autumn weather starts our morning’s off a little chilly but afternoon temperatures in the mid 70’s has been offering us excellent beach weather! Get out and enjoy!!!

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Dewey Market Watch 7/17/24 thru 9/5/24

    OH NOOO! The summer is over in a blink of an eye! This was my fastest summer ever. I had the chore of settling my mother’s estate and had very little time for my typical summer activities. The market on the other hand has been a little on the slow side. This market update is for six weeks but it has the activity that previously took place in three weeks maybe less! Election years are typically slow in the summer months ahead so we’ll wait to see what the new year brings us. New industry standards now require all potential buyers must sign a buyers agency agreement that may have them paying the Realtor commission. This is a new national requirement that arose from a major industry changing lawsuit. All of the transactions that I’ve been involved with, the sellers were still offering compensation to the buyers agents not the buyers paying it. Buyers now also have the ability to represent themselves in any transaction. I’ll be sending out another update in the days to come that will totally explain the change in the industry that will surely impact everyone. The new regulations were scheduled to begin on July 15th but were delayed until August 17th. This may have also attributed to the very slow summer activity and the months ahead. 

     The inventory has increased dramatically. Presently there’s eight fee simple single family homes and one leased land home on the market. There’s seven condos and three fractional share Surf Club units available. That’s a pretty good inventory compared to recent market activity. The interest rates have dropped dramatically. The interest rate for a 30 year fixed, primary is 6.35% which is considerable down from the earlier 7’s.. Second home buyers and investors are slightly higher. It’ll be interesting to see how the remainder of the year plays out. Autumn is here which means it’s a little easier getting around town! Now that the summer crowds are gone, get out and enjoy our white sandy beaches!!! Enjoy!

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Dewey Market Warch 6/21/24 thru 7/16/24

The heat of summer is here making our beaches the best time of the year! The market has been very good for the previous three weeks. There were eight new listings, two being single family and six much needed condos. Four of the eight already went to contract within a very short period of time. These new listings add to the present inventory which wasn’t looking to awful bad but you have to be fast based off of the four pending contracts. Presently there’s three single family homes (fee simple) in Dewey and one in Dodds Addition. There’s two single family homes available in Indian Beach. Looking at Rehoboth By The Sea we have three active single family home listings. There’s six condos on the market, four in Dewey, one in Ann Acres and one RBTS leased land condo on Chesapeake. The inventory is still low and should remain low. The buyers are out there and fully educated by the abundance of real estate websites. The four pending contracts out of eight new listings in such a short period is proof of a very active and educated market! The interest rates haven’t changed a whole bunch. The rate for a 30 year fixed primary is in the upper 6’s, a 2nd home buyer is approx. 7% and an investor will be in the low to mid 7’s. I haven’t heard of any future rate drops, my guess is they’ll remain where they are until after the election in November. It’s a great time to just sit back, enjoy the weather, sunshine, sandy white beaches and all of the resort attractions! Summer’s the best time of the year!

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Dewey Market Watch 4/24/24 thru 6/20/24

Happy summer! I hope that everyone is enjoying this gorgeous weather! Surf, sand and suds, that’s my motto:) I’ve been AWOL for the last couple of months. I had the mundane chore of emptying, repairing and selling my parents home of 57 years. It’s an obligation that I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy! LOL 

     The market has been so, so. It appears the market is cooling a bit. We’re seeing longer days on the market and more frequent price reductions. There is one very noticeable trend in the market. Ocean block condos are still very high in demand! I sold my listing at 13 Clayton #3 within 9 days. 25 Read Ave #5 sold in 12 days. There were four new ocean block quarterly fractional shares in the Surf Club. One of the units already closed, two units are pending and one unit remains active. The average days on the market for all four units is 17 which reflects a very, very active market. The present inventory remains low. The Dewey market offers three fee simple single family homes, three single family homes on leased lands, two condos (fee simple), one condo on leased land and one fractional share unit in the Surf Club. There are two single family homes for sale just north of Dewey in the Forgotten Mile and one condo on Rogers Ave. (El Capitan) in Ann Acres. This is a minimal inventory to say the least. The interest rates have dropped a bit over the last couple of months. You can get a 30 year fixed, primary for 6.750%. The rate for a 2nd home is approximately 6.875%. Investment rates are hovering around 7.250%.

     I have two nice single family homes (leased land) listings in Rehoboth By The Sea. Two very nice investments! 102 West is a 6bd/3ba that had a previous rental history just shy of $75K. The home has a 52 year lease @ $23,925 yr. The 2nd home is located at 112 Chicago. The home was remodeled a few years back and shows tremendously well. Rental income was nearly $55K with many weeks blocked for owners use. The owner just renegotiated a new 60 year lease @ $25K yr to convey at settlement. Two great properties! Please contact me for more information.

   The best time of the whole year is upon us. If you’re receiving this update, you’re either a beachgoer enjoying the beach and resort activities or you’re an investor collecting summer rental incomes, either way life is good! Let’s not forget about those flashing yellow lights at the crosswalks. Please pay special, special attention and drive alert! I’ve seen too many close calls. Wishing you a safe and memory filled summer!!!

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Dewey Market Watch 3/23/24 thru 4/23/24

Happy springtime!! I just saw my 1st hummingbird yesterday which makes it officially summer in my book! The forecast is 78 on Sunday and into the mid eighties next week which again makes it officially summer:) The market has been a little slow for the spring selling season. I actually had to delay my market update until we got a little activity. There were only two new single family listings and one new condo listing for the previous month’s activity. There were two leased land single family homes and three condos that went to contract. Typically there should be about 7-8 transactions if not more for four weeks in the spring selling season. Multiple offers are still occurring if the property is priced properly. I had several offers on my Izzy Plaza listing and I know of several more within this update so the market still remains very strong despite the higher interest rates. There were eight closings from the previous month. Presently in our immediate market area there’s six fee simple single family homes, two leased land single family homes and four condos. Inventory is surely increasing in our market and nationwide. We only had one single family home and one condo on the market not that long ago. The interest rates remain the same as my last report. The rate for a primary, 30 year fixed is hovering about 7%. The rates for a 2nd home might be a little higher at approx. 7.250% and last but not least 7.50% for our investor loans. Where’s the four or five rate drops that we were supposed to see? The good news is that 75% of my buyers (Dewey & Rehoboth) are cash. I personally don’t think that the higher interest rates have effected our market one little bit. The multiple offers and full contract prices are the proof.  It’s the best time of the year to list and sell a property. Please contact me for a free market analysis. Spring is here! Life is good! Get outside and enjoy our beaches and parklands!!!

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Dewey Market Watch 2/28/24 thru 3/22/24

Spring has sprung!!! They are my most favorite words! Spring flowers, the return of our migrating shorebirds, the beach, warm weather, I could go on and on what makes springtime the best time of the year!!! The real estate market has been steady. There’s been five transactions in the previous three weeks. These numbers reflect the average amount of pending transactions for the previous months. We would hope to see these numbers increase during the spring market season but in order to do so then we have to see some additional new listings hit the market. I personally expect more listings in 2024 as people realize that we may be at the top of our market. Presently there’s four fee simple single family homes, four single family homes on leased land and four condos in Dewey and the surrounding communities. One of the new listings is my listing at 2103 D in Izzy Plaza. This unit offers a huge open floor plan that’s great for entertaining and a covered rooftop deck that further enhances the festive atmosphere. The home had a $54K rental income in 2023 with several weeks already booked into 2024. Custom colors, new stainless appliances and the list goes on and on. Better hurry on this one! The interest rates haven’t dropped much as promised. The rates are approx. 7% for a 30 year fixed on a primary residence and approx. 7.250% to 7.5% for a 2nd home buyer or investor. Please contact me if you’d like a free, no pressure market analysis on your home. It’s a wonderful time to enjoy the beach and all of the newly arriving shorebirds! Get out and enjoy Delmarva!!!

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