I report details of North Rehoboth (as opposed to other sections of Rehoboth) because I have a listing there and track it for my client. There just isn't enough time to track them all in detail but I would suspect that the other sections look a lot like North Rehoboth in terms of real estate sales. Typically the close in beach areas are somewhat insulated from market declines as there is a finite amount of real estate available (no new construction) and prices tend to simply appreciate less in a down market. I don't think that was the case in 2008. I believe prices have actually depreciated in this unprecedented real estate market. Again, my numbers are gathered from the Sussex County MLS so any unreported sales would not appear hear but neither would they from previous years. 17 SFH properties closed in 2008, down 19% from the 21 that closed in 2007, down 23% from the 22 that closed in 2006 and down 29% from the 24 that closed in 2005. 2005 is generally considered the apex of the housing market bubble. How did housing prices and days on market compare? First prices, and these are only average selling prices which is not totally representative of whether prices were up or down on a specific property, just the average price of property sold. In 2005 the average selling price was $1,465,000, in 2006 it was $1,228,000 (slightly down), in 2007 it was $1,415,000 (almost equal to 05) and in 2008 the price dropped to $1,281,941 (about 9.5% below 2007). In 2008 Sellers got approximately 81% of their original asking price. This was down from 83% in 2007, up slightly from the 78% in 2006 when the market started to fall, and down dramatically from the 90% Sellers were getting in 2005. The average days on market steadily increased from 2005 to 2008 from 128, 202, 206, and 306 respectively. There are currently 36 properties listed for sale in North Rehoboth. Most are on Henlopen Ave., Columbia Ave., and Lake Ave. (17 total for these streets). The average listing price for these active listings is $1,595,000 and the average days on market are 348. The highest priced listings are 2 Oak Ave. and 48 Surf Ave., both listed for $3,250,000. The lowest priced listing is 158 Columbia Ave. listed for $895,000. Based on the 2008 sales rate and the current active inventory, there is a 2 year supply of property in North Rehoboth. Obviously if sales rates increase and listings slow, this could change quickly. Let's hope that is the case.
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