Northern Delaware Real Estate

Get ready, be prepared, time is running out, look out here they come, there will be mad crazy traffic, be ready for massive numbers of showings… umm wait, where are they all?  I don’t see them, I am not seeing them, at least in the market I expected.

104 Edgewood - Wilmington DE

For the last 5 months of 2009 I was seeing an incredible rush to buy real estate at what I consider my markets first time Buyer price point (between $175-325,000), but as of January 1, 2010 I noticed something different… the properties with the higher number of showings seem to be the move-up properties ($350,000+), especially in the $400,000 price range.   We have discussed the mythical rush at my office in our sales meetings, with my regional VP and with my GM, I have been advising my clients to get their properties on the market, to not miss the current market - the three-feet of snow may have put a kaboosh on the activities of late but that should resolve by March 1.

Watching the sales board at my office, and from conversations with a few of my friends, we have one question… where is the First Time Buyer Rush? My listings in the $200,000 price point are getting few to no showings, and low ball offers, or no offers.  My listings in the $400,000+ range are flying off the market.  So I guess I am seeing the move-up Buyers. Great for them. Maybe I will take a peek at market stats this week. Pendings were up in the Q4 of 2009, but I have a feeling the same won’t be true in Q1 2010.

So what are you seeing in your market? Love to hear your comments!

On Wednesday February 3, 2010, the DelTweet “committee” held the 3rd Delaware Tweetup at Kildares on Main Street in Newark, with 175 people in attendence, Governor Jack Markell became the third Governor in the United States to become part of the Social Media Community (or as my pal Whitney Hoffman is now calling it, “New Media”).  The event began shortly before I departed for Philadelphia International Airport to head to Pittsburgh to provide Twitter break-out sessions to the Coldwell Banker Pittsburgh’s annual Tech Talk, so I was unable to attend.  It was a difficult decision as I really wanted to attend DelTweet 3.0 and be there while the Governor made history.

The highlight of my trip to the airport - this video that was uploaded to YouTube, showing the Governor’s first, as well as second, tweets.  The second tweet was to me (and I think his first @ reply, as it is called was to me as well!).  Here is the video, and I must say, Delaware has the COOLEST Governor!!

Thanks to Rodney Jordan at Armor Graphics for taking this video.

As a new year dawns people are apt to make predictions, so I have decided I would write what I have been thinking and voicing to clients over the last year.  My personal predictions for the Northern Delaware Real Estate market.

I believe that Real Estate has an 11/12 year cycle, as we note when looking at the market in the late 1990’s we were coming out of cycle then, I think we will see an increase in values in Northern New Castle County (North of the Canal, I won’t make predictions about the MOTS – Middletown, Odessa, Townsend and Smyrna for those not initiated, area).  The increase for 2010 will be gradual and small, considering that some areas have seen 20% declines in value since 2006 (peak feeding frenzy market), I expect to see between 5-7% increase in value, depending on where in the market you are.  I think that higher priced properties will be the slowest to recover due to the difficulty in obtaining Jumbo loans, but a great opportunity for move-up Buyers coming out of the $275-400,000 price point who have equity from purchases prior to 2004.  That in turn will also make available more great deals on properties for prepared First-time purchasers, as I have not seen a lot of nice property options in the low $200,000 price point in this marketplace since 2003, this is certainly a great opportunity.  

Homes that in 1999 were selling for $150,000 are selling in today’s market at $225,000-275,000, when in the 2006 market some of these homes were $275,000-325,000.  Please note that that still is an increase in value and helps demonstrate my theory of the 11/12 year cycle.  This is certainly the time to buy, and I am not sure why any interested and qualified Buyer would not be considering it, or a Seller.  My advice to my clients is consistently that if you have the equity and the desire, and a realistic expectation, the market is good – it is not a Buyers or Sellers market, it is a balanced market, and a normal market, so make that move.  Rates are predicted to be rising in the near future, and with an increase in value coming, there really is no time like the present.  Another strong factor is the First-Time Buyer and Move-Up tax credit, which will be expiring soon, so to take advantage you want to be under contract by April 30, or even sooner, as the back-log in refunds builds.

Buying at the low end of the cycle affords you the ROI in the long run.  Real Estate is NOT a short term investment, and proves decade after decade that it is the surest way to build wealth, through real estate ownership, and investment in properties, and good timing (as well as advice from a qualified Real Estate Professional) anyone can grow their own empire.  Carpe Real Property today!

And for 2011, I think we will see a 5% growth, followed by 2012 with a 7% growth in value. (Assuming no drastic changes to the economy and no major natural disasters).

View of the Western Family YMCA Kids Pool

Coming soon… local information and places of interest, as well as upcoming events.