Ocean City Condos:
WOW! What a drastic improvement from only a year ago! Since following the Ocean City MD market over the last couple of months I am safe to say that the “Ocean City condo market has hit bottom”. Over 65% new contracts from a year ago goes to show that prices are where they need to be! Ocean City MD was hit hard by the foreclosures. Fastest to fall, but fastest to rise. New buyers can realize over 40 to 50 cents on the dollar in this market. The buyers who have always sought Ocean City for a second home or investment property are showing up in numbers. I personally have 2 pending deals in this market had 2 settlements in Ocean City in November - all the buyers are from out of town. Settlements this month were up 50%! And year to date over 14%! Thinking of staying on the fence much longer? Not in this market…you better get off before prices start to climb. Its going to be a long winter for real estate but buy now because when the weather turns, so will the Ocean City real estate market!
OCEAN CITY CONDO REPORT
Wicomico County Single Family Homes:
Wicomico County is still behind in sales as sellers are coming to terms and face price reductions to sell. The Roop Group Rentals is seeing an increase in Salisbury MD executive rentals in the area because buyers are waiting longer to purchase and would rather rent than buy because of the volatility in the market. There was a big rush in October settlements – over 80 in a month! This was due to buyers wanting to cash in on the $8,500 first time home buyer credit (its been extended!!)! It stirred up the market but Wicomico County still didn’t see the returns we hoped for. 2009 figures were down across the board but compared to the first and second quarter of the year, the third and fourth are showing positive signs. Inventory is coming off the market but foreclosures and short sales are still clogging up the system. Positive news is that the government just passed a new short sale program under the Making Home Affordable Act that will streamline the process, helping sellers, and offering forgiveness on their first mortgages. This will help the market along but it will not come into effect until April 5, 2010. Settlements were down only 2.3% in the month of November to about 35. A big difference since October – and down 21% for the year. New business and job creation will need to happen in Wicomico county before larger gains are realized. For buyers with no contingencies, the market couldn’t be better!
WICOMICO COUNTY SINGLE FAMILY REPORT
If you have any questions or comments please contact Adam Roop of EXIT Shore Realty at 410-912-0310 or TheRoops@TheRoopGroup.com