LEWES, Del. - Real estate is booming on Delmarva. CEO at the Maryland & Delaware Group of Long & Foster Real Estate, Brandon Brittingham, says the popularity of real estate on the Eastern Shore and Delaware was high before COVID-19, but now it is even busier especially in Wicomico County and Sussex County.
Brittingham calls Salisbury The Capital of the Eastern Shore. "A lot of people move here for work, the university, and Perdue,” said Brittingham.
He also says the proximity to water is also appealing to buyers.
"You can own waterfront property down here if you're coming from somewhere else for a lot less than people in the Northeast, and different parts of the country,” said Brittingham.
"Sussex county you have the huge draw from everyone from the Northeast plus everybody that is retiring, and tax rates being low,” he said.
So what’s causing the boom? Realtors Carrie Lingo and Brandon Brittingham say there is not a lot of home inventory, "so the demand from buyers never stopped and rates continued to go down, so it kind of created the perfect storm nationwide where it's inexpensive to borrow money,” said Brittingham.
Carrie Lingo says they couldn't be doing better at Jack Lingo Realtor.
“Our second home sales have increased about 3 times which is incredible ... All of the agents here locally have done an incredible job just being creative with accommodating clients, in what is very challenging to not actually physically tour a house and trust an agent to take you through on a phone tour, and make a move to purchase it,” she said.
Lingo tells me the rental market is just as busy as the housing market.
The Long and Foster Group has sold 745 homes this past year, substantially up from the year before, adding that the market is great for both buyers and sellers.
"What's great is if you’re a seller, we are showing up and telling people what their house is worth, and they are absolutely shocked, prices have appreciated really fast in a short amount of time,” said Brittingham.
Realtors believe now is a great time to purchase in Delaware and Maryland's Eastern Shore.