Gail n Greg - Your Agents @ The Beach

PRICE REDUCED IN SOUTH REHOBOTH BEACH

 601 Bayard Avenue in South Rehoboth has reduced price again, this time down to $1,149,000 from $1,200,000.  It originally listed back in July of 2009 for $1,390,000.  Average listing price in South Rehoboth now stands at $2,044,000 and 506 days on market.

PRICE REDUCED - MILL SPRING RUN IN PAYNTER'S MILL

 16537 John Rowland Trail  has been reduced for the second time this month.  It is now being offered for $428,000, down from the original asking price of $443,000 or 3%.  There is one other Easton listed for $379,000.  This property has been on the market since December 22, 2010.

APRIL STATS - SUSSEX COUNTY REAL ESTATE ACTIVITY

Sorry for the tardy posting for April, I was in South Carolina for a week moving my mother into a continuing care retirement facility and have been working feverishly to catch up.  What a difference a month makes.  We went from the lowest average price per SFH  in March ($281,942) to the highest in April ($402,528).  The well healed have come out of the shadows and into the light.  163 SFH properties closed in April which was 38% more than closed in April of 2010 bringing our YTD closing number to 23% ahead of last year to date.  This is good news in deed although starting in May, we come up against some serious comps from last year.  But let's focus on how good things look right now.  As I mentioned, selling price peaked for the year so far at $402,528 and Sellers received 91% of their asking price at time of contract.  Due to heavy listing activity, inventory did go up by almost 3% to 3,030 SFHs on the market (up 13% from December of 2010).  Based on a 6 month rolling average of closings, this represents 22.6 months of inventory - still way too high.  SFHs under contract at the end of April was down slightly from March at 295.  Interest rates have dropped again to one of the lowest levels of the year, under 4.75% for a 30 year fixed with no points.  You can get an ARM for under 4%.  Note to Buyers: Desirable properties priced aggressively are selling quickly.  I had a Buyer who has been looking for a property in Dewey and when a really good deal came on the market I contacted her.  She was excited but hadn't gotten her financing lined up.  She started the process but the property went under contract within a few days and she missed out on a really good deal.  If you're in the market for beach property, get you financing lined up in advance so you can move quickly.  The really good deals still go fast.

Condo/Towns - This segment of the market is still struggling.  There were only 55 recorded closings in April, almost even with last April but we are 14% behind last year to date which was a really bad year.  Inventory came down slightly from March but is still up 11.4% from end of December, 2010.  The average selling price of a C/T in April was $293,313 down a little from March's $312,953 and down a little from the YTD average of $301,174.  Seller's got a respectable 94.3% of their asking price at time of contract.  Properties under contract also went up slightly to 100 from 91 in March.  We are still sitting on 28.6 months of supply based on the 6 month rolling average sales rate.  Condo prices are way down.  A community of Bank Owned 3 bedroom condos in the Lewes area just sold in a "fire sale" for $150,000.  This was a new construction community where the Builder went belly up.  All units (10 or 12) sold within a couple of weeks.  Like I said, when great deals happen a Buyer has to be ready.

As always, if you have any questions or want more information regarding this material please contact me directly by phone or email.  Remember, these figures are calculated daily through my analysis of the Sussex County MLS and are totally dependant on the accuracy thereof.  Many Builders do not report sales to this MLS nor do For Sale By Owners.  Also, our MLS service allows some other Counties to input data to ours and I try hard to make sure those numbers don't get into my analysis.  Actual closing dates may not coincide with mine exactly as some agents take longer than others to load closings into the MLS.  I report daily so my cut off is the last day of the month/year.  If they report several days later, it will show up in my data for the next month/year.  This analysis is intended to be used directionally, not literally.

PRICE REDUCTION - MILL POND COMMONS IN PAYNTER'S MILL

 16256 John Rowland Trail is a Bank Owned property that has been listed as such since February 15th of this year.  It has been reduced in price to $289,500.  Something a lot of people don't know is that when you purchase a Fannie Mae owned property (which this is), you don't have to pay any transfer tax.  If you purchased this home for say $265,000 you would save almost $4,000 in closing costs.  This home had renters in it for over a year so I don't know what shape it's in but it does represent a good buy for someone.

SHORT SALE CLOSED IN CANAL CORKRAN

 28 Fillingame  finally closed on April 15th.  It was just posted a few days ago however.  This property had been on the market for a cumulative 990 days but was not in "short sale" mode nearly that long.  It is a 5 bedroom, 4.5 bath contemporary with every upgrade imaginable.  It was built in 2005 and sits on a 100 x 120 foot lot.  In my opinion, someone's patience was generously rewarded.  That is only the second home to close this year in CC, both "distressed" properties.  The other one was a foreclosed home.  There are still two under contract waiting to close, one of which is another short sale.

NEW TOWNHOUSE LISTING IN CANAL CORKRAN

 This is one of the large townhouses toward the center of the community on Thompson Court.  It is a 5 bedroom unit with 3.5 baths.  They actually call it a "carriage home" which is another term for a duplex.  It is advertised to be professionally decorated with an "open floor plan, plenty of room for family and guests...high ceilings, granite countertops, Amish built-in with a screened 3-season porch".  They are asking $680,000.  The address is  9 Thompson Court.

PRICE REDUCTION - MILL SPRING RUN IN PAYNTER'S MILL

 The Easton model situated at 16537 John Rowland Trail  has reduced price from $443,000 down to $438,000.  It is one of three Eastons currently listed for sale.  It has been on the market for 122 days.

SOUTH REHOBOTH ACTIVITY

 Not much happened in South Rehoboth while I was gone, just one price reduction.  204 Philadelphia Street  lowered price from $975,000 down to $925,000.  There are 26 active listings in SR with 4 sales so far this year, 3 of which have closed.  The average listing price of the active SFHs is $2,046,000.  The avg. closing price of the three that have closed is $871,667....what does that tell you? 

NORTH REHOBOTH ACTIVITY

 While I was away North Rehoboth was quite active.  One new listing came on the market, 43 Olive Avenue  an 8 bedroom (5 of which are in the main house and 2 of which are in the garage), 3.5 bath colonial on the second ocean block.  They advertise a view of Lake Gerar.  It is on a 50 x 100 foot lot and is being sold furnished.  That brings us up to 37 active SFHs listed in NR.  The price on this one is $1,250,000, a little below the avg. listing price of $1,364,000. 

In the price reduction category, 12 Cookman  lowered price down from $899K to $880K.....162 Henlopen Ave.  reduced price from $749K down to $715K.....and 23 Kent Street  lowered from $1,199K down to $1,099K.

COUNTRY CLUB ESTATES ACTIVITY

 While I was away, 320 Laurel Street  withdrew from the market and 327 Laurel Street  lowered price to $599,900.  320 Laurel  had been on the market for 386 days at the time of withdrawal and had originally listed for $599,000.  327 Laurel has been on the market for 386 days now.  Strangely, there has been no activity in this "in town" community so far this year.  Eight home remain listed and one townhome.  The avg. listing price of the SFHs is $721,000.  The townhome is listed for $449,000.