Home sales have dipped to the slowest pace

A new report is showing that home sales have dipped to the slowest pace in four years.

According to the National Association of Realtors, this is the 10th month in a row where there has been a drop in people buying homes. This has resulted in the highest surplus of existing homes in 16 years.

The statistics do not necessarily hold true for the whole country though. Sussex County is actually seeing a boom. What is the attraction? Taxes, or the lack thereof.

"Certainly, Delaware has a very positive position on taxes. Property taxes are very low," said Mitch Selbiger, a Rehoboth Beach real estate agent. "People are coming from New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Connecticut where they're paying $18-20,000 in property taxes, then come down here and get a very nice home and pay $1,000 a year in property taxes."

Nationwide, the average price of home sales dropped 2 percent from a year ago. Mitch said that should be a signal to get in the market.

"Because the market in general has been slightly depressed, prices are stagnant from where they were probably 2-and-a-half years ago. So it's a really good opportunity to buy," he said.

The bad news is that your home may have four walls and a roof but if it lacks a certain essence, then it could be a tough sell, especially with the increase of homes on the market. Therefore, realtors say you need to set your home apart from the rest.

"If you've got a single family home and there's nothing unique about it," Selbiger said. "It's maybe 15-20 years old, yes there's a lot of those around. So you need to have some unique features, either curb appeal or a first floor master bedroom or something that's going to be really appealing to the market."

Over the next couple of years, it is estimated that more than 79,000 new residential units will be coming to the greater Lewes, Milton and Rehoboth Beach area.

source: wboc.com