Prices have gotten real, you just have to know where to look.
Chris Kavanagh
Coldwell Banker
Bethany Beach
302-829-9068

It is true that for several years buying speculation is Lewes impacted the market. Over the past year and a half, speculators have dropped from sight. They can no longer give it a coat of paint and make several thousand dollars. Individual speculators have been driven from the market by the largest speculators in the world, major developers. New home development in the area has now slowed and reality is returning to the market.

Both Lewes and Rehoboth have seen a drop of 10-12% in comparable existing homes. We do not anticipate a continuing major drop in homes because the low Delaware taxes and excellent lifestyle continues to attract retirees and professional people who select the area. Major developers become less competitive when they only build one or two homes at a time. The money drain for development infrastructure has tempered developers thurst for building.

The other reason we believe sanity is returning is that material prices have increased dramatically over the past two years. This works to the advantage of existing properties because the long term value is always in the land. The portion of a price that reflects existing construction is therefore declining relative to new construction. (Sorry for the economics lecture.) A quarter acre lot two miles from town and the beach will never be worth more than a quarter acre in town.

Jim Malloy

The comparables are all based on previous speculative buying and selling. Realtors seem to eb involved in much of that themselves. In Wiiliamsburg, Virginia the law states that no development have more than 5% investors to discourage Realtors and Investors from speculative buying. Some case 2 year ho,d period is required before flipping home or lot.

Ask your realtor to conduct a market analysis to pull comparables of current and recent sales