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Delaware
Slowed by job losses in banking and more expected lay-offs in the auto industry, the Delaware housing market has hit a slump. There just aren’t many buyers in the real estate market and it doesn’t look as though there will be much activity through 2008.
Buyers looking to purchase homes and other property are viewing more places before they make a decision from a growing inventory. The Delaware real estate market is the slowest it’s been in decades, and it will be a long haul before sales improve, according to the Housing Predictor forecast.
Homes are sitting on the market longer and foreclosures are rising as the subprime crisis and increasing foreclosures of conventional mortgages effect the marketplace. Delaware never really saw double digit appreciation like other places, but it saw strong appreciation. An uncertain nervousness over the economy has taken hold and its real estate markets are troubled.
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| City |
Forecast |
| Wilmington |
− 6.8% |
| Dover |
− 7.4% |
| Smyrna |
− 5.9% |
| Dewey Beach |
− 10.7% |
Wilmington is this small state’s largest city, and sales have been slow for more than a year. It’s a scenic kind of community, which has attracted many newcomers, including new business during the real estate boom. But the growth seems to be waning. Fewer new homes are being constructed and builders are offering all sorts of incentives to rid themselves of their excess inventories.
The community will experience a slower housing market in 2008 and Housing Predictor forecasts Wilmington will net an average loss in home values of 6.8% for the year. The market should, however, see an increase or a spike in home sales in the summer as pent up buyer demand for housing begins to have an impact on the market.
Dover is the picturesque capitol of Delaware, and many state politicians and government workers make their home in Dover, triggering prices to rise to perhaps unrealistic levels during the housing boom. Faced with an uncertain future, a sort of nervous air hovers over the community.
The average home is projected to deflate 7.4% in Dover in 2008 before home sales increase, and that may not be for quite some time amid a series of issues surrounding real estate, including higher home owners’ insurance costs.
The town of Smyrna is outside of Dover and faces the same sluggish housing market that many places in the state have experienced. Despite comparatively slower sales, the market should experience slightly more sales activity in 2008, but by a marginal degree. It’s going to be a while before real estate sales begin to flow again in Smyrna.
The national real estate slow down has taken hold, and prices are deflating. The slide in home values will continue through the year, and Smyrna is forecast to deflate an average of 5.9% in 2008.
On the Atlantic Dewey Beach has seen its second home market drop by as much as 30% in average values already. The market is forecast to top the state in deflation during 2008 at 10.7%. It’s a buyers market in Dewey Beach.
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