Real Estate Market Report for Worcester & Sussex County for September 28, 2022

Ryan Haley of Atlantic Shores Sotheby's International Realty is back with the final market report for September of 2022. 

Worcester County, Maryland Real Estate Market Update

Let’s start with Worcester County, Maryland. Over the course of the last seven days, we saw 41 new properties come on the market, while at the same time, 63 properties have gone under contract. This is the trend for the third week in a row. We are outselling the inventory that is coming on the market. 

When we look at total properties here in Worcester County, we currently have 276 active properties for sale, while in the last 30 days, our sales have been accelerating, and we sold or put under contract 223 properties. So, that gives us currently a 1.2-month supply of inventory here in Worcester County. 

It is interesting how this is unfolding as we enter into the fall market, but we are definitely seeing our sales accelerate to some extent. In fact, we've even seen some bidding wars and multiple-offer situations present in our local market. 

Sussex County, Delaware Real Estate Market Update

Moving over to Sussex County, Delaware, which is also a very popular county, a larger county compared to Worcester. 

In the last seven days, we saw 152 properties come on the market, and once again, we outsold that with 170 properties going under contract. 

When we look at the situation county-wide, currently 1,298 properties for sale, and then, in the last 30 days, we had 588 properties go pending. That’s a few more properties on the market, and that's at 2.2 months of supply, so about an extra month supply in Sussex County. 

Both counties are below the national average which is 3.3 months’ supply. So we can say that it is very active here at the beach. 

U.S. Real Estate Market Update

Nationally, the big headlines are around the fact that interest rates and mortgages continue to rise. The FED raised the federal funds rate by three-quarters of a point or 75 basis points. We have seen mortgage rates tick up as well. That has not squashed demand, and if anything, it actually might have accelerated demand. 

It’s an interesting dynamic happening. Most people would think that if you increase interest rates, demand would drop. But it seems to be the opposite. We're seeing increased interest rates, but people are wanting to get in and secure a property which has made our prices continue to rise. 

The big news nationally in the last week is equity. We are, as a country, sitting in a great equity standpoint where over the course of the last year, we've seen a 27.8 percent increase in total equity for the average homeowner. Then, when we look at that total amount, right now, it's at the highest level it's been. 

On average, a homeowner has $300,000 in equity in their home today. This is great news because if we do get into any kind of contraction or recession, most of our homeowners throughout the United States have great equity. If they needed to, they ultimately could sell their property, which ultimately would bring a little bit more inventory to the market.