SALISBURY – Inventory is down and activity is up in the Wicomico real estate market, according to the Coastal Association of Realtors.
In a Wicomico County Council meeting last Tuesday, representatives from the Coastal Association of Realtors (CAR) presented the most recent trends in Wicomico County’s real estate market.
“New contracts and homes sold are not only up from 2013 to 2017, but it’s actually higher now than in 2007 before the recession,” CAR board member Austin Whitehead said. “We think it’s great that people are out buying again and have confidence in the market.”
Whitehead added that the dollar volume in real estate sold has also increased in the tri-county area.
“In 2007, we were at $860 million in real estate sold in the tri-county area,” he said. “In 2017, we are now over $870 million in real estate sold. A large portion of that is coming from Worcester County.”
Councilman Larry Dodd asked if low inventory was affecting home prices.
“With the inventory being down, does that affect the prices of homes?” he said.
Whitehead said low inventory was driving the number of offers on available homes and increasing home prices.
“People are getting more than the list price for their homes because of low inventory,” he said.
Council President John Cannon questioned why inventory was down.
“Are we finding there is a shortage of contractors?” he said.
Sarah Rayne, government and public affairs director for CAR, noted that other factors, including higher building costs, competition from neighboring states and the threat of another recession, could deter new development. She added that while Wicomico County was making efforts to provide incentives for new home construction, Delaware was seeing more development.
“Delaware is seeing a lot of new development, so it’s important to keep those incentives coming,” she said.
Whitehead said real estate market trends in Wicomico County were similar to those in the tri-county region. He noted that the average sale price of $161,000 had increased from 2013, but had not yet exceeded the average sale price prior to the recession.
“This is definitely down from 2007, about a 26 percent decrease,” he said.
In Salisbury, the number of new contracts and homes sold were up, as well as average sale prices.
“Average sale prices are a little bit higher than the county at $163,000,” he said.
In Fruitland, the number of active listings were down from 2007, but up from 2013. Whitehead added that average sale prices were significantly lower at $140,000.
