FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

By Ruth Briggs King

Let me start out by saying that, financially, times are tough right now - you know it, I know it and all of us here at the Sussex County Association of REALTORS^® know it. I'm not going to try and convince you otherwise.

But it's not as bad as some would make it seem. Specifically, we take issue with reports in recent weeks displaying the housing market as "tumbling from coast to coast" - particularly since we're on one of those coasts.

Yes, the market may not be what it was a couple of years ago - truthfully, we may not see that kind of market enthusiasm in our area again for quite some time. But our market certainly bears no resemblance to the recent Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home price index of 20 cities that shows home prices down more than 15 percent across the board.

Why? For one thing, we don't live in a single one of those 20 cities. To compare the environment in Sussex County to even the one in New Castle County doesn't work - Sussex County always has been and always will be a unique market, one that defies any type of standard classification.

That being said, we recognize that the housing market nationally has been in a downward trend for several months now. But we have been a bit isolated from that downturn, for a number of reasons.

A big one is our location, coupled with our low tax rates. People still want to move here - they can live close to the beach while paying just a fraction of what their tax bill was back home.

And it's partly because of those relocations that other housing markets are slipping a bit more than ours here in Sussex County.

But, don't believe me. Let's look at the numbers.

Between Jan. 1 and June 15 of this year, there have been more than 600 three bedroom homes sold in Sussex County. That averages out to a little over three-and-a-half homes per day, every day this year. And that's only three bedroom homes. Add in the two and four bedroom homes and that number jumps to nearly 1,100, almost double.

"There are still people buying; they're just being more cautious and deliberate about their search for a home," says Judy Dean, a REALTOR^® with Long & Foster in Rehoboth Beach. "And there has definitely been more activity in the last couple of weeks than there has been in the last couple of months."

During the same January to mid-June time period, the average price of homes sold has been nearly $360,000 with an average time on the market of 186 days.

While we realize this is not what people became accustomed to a few years ago, the fact remains that homes are still moving in our area. And they're far from selling at rock bottom prices.

"There are a lot of people looking at homes right now because they're beginning to realize that interest rates could go up on them at any time," says Dean. "Now is really the time to buy. Even if prices go down, if interest rates go up, it could cost you even more on your monthly payment."

There's another important point to make in response to the gloomy report issued recently - that data was compiled in April.

Though we still contend that it doesn't pertain to our area, May numbers are up nationally compared to those from the month before.

According to data compiled by the National Association of REALTORS^®, our parent organization, existing home sales around the country increased in May with buyers responding to lower home prices. Existing home sales - including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and cooperatives - increased 2 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.99 million units in May from a level of 4.89 million in April.

REALTORS^® report seeing a renewed interest in the housing market as buyers begin to see value in current prices.

The same could be said for our area of the world here in Sussex County. Homes, particularly reasonably-priced homes, are still moving relatively quickly.

Some buyers are even purchasing homes closer to where they work or where their children go to school as a way to offset escalating gasoline prices.

"With gas prices at more than $4 a gallon, I just thought it made more sense to buy a home closer to my child's school rather than burning through several hundred dollars a month in gasoline," one buyer reported recently. Whatever the reason for buying a home, the important thing to remember is that people - contrary to what some may think - are still buying homes in Sussex County.

Don't take what all the naysayers report as gospel - it's not all gloom and doom out there.