Condo Boom Is A Rental Bust
As a follow up to this post, DelmarvaNow has a story on the renters market in that booming area. "In Ocean City, Md., which measures visitation by sewer usage, visitation has been flat for the past four years at 8 million visitors, said Deborah Travers, of the Greater Ocean City Chamber of Commerce."
"Most consumers are aware of the record building activity in recent years from Lewes to Fenwick Island. "'It grew so fast, it just blew up,' said Kitty Harmon, manager of the Coffee Mill in Rehoboth Beach. 'Every day, I ride up and down [Del. 1], and if I blink I miss a new condo. Prices are going to come down.'"
Remeber the million dollar parking lot? "Because parking is at a premium in the summer, vacationers also are selective about looking for properties with parking. 'Parking is a huge bonus. If you don't get down there before 9 in the morning, you're driving around forever.'"
"Carol Everhart, chief executive of the Rehoboth Beach-Dewey Beach Chamber of Commerce. She maintains the soft rental market results from the supply of homes, not a falloff in demand."
4 Comments:
Measuring visitation by sewer usage? That's pretty gross. And how do they know tourism is flat by that... could it be that in fact more people are visiting but they're constipated?
Very interesting. I live in this area, having bought a house three years ago, moved in last year after renting it out for two years -- house's value has supposedly doubled and a bit in those years. Sure. Whatever. Meanwhile, everyone tells me "just wait until summer" meaning no one drives anywhere here because the roads are simply gridlocked.
As for the sewer and water treatment. It's a huge problem here. The fluctuation in population over a 12 month span really makes handling sewage safely very hard. Plus, of course, Delaware is determined to be one of those no-taxes states. Infrastructure?!? We don't need no stinkin' infrastructure!!
Aunt Deb
Aunt Deb, the whole state is gridlocked in the summer. And everyone is heading your way! Hope you have off-street parking, or you'll need to get out that old lawnchair to save yourself a space.
I rented beach houses in Rehobeth and Dewey Beaches for five years - 2003 was my last summer there. Rental costs almost doubled during that time. The point here is that because Aunt Deb's house has doubled (good for you, Deb!) in just a few years, everybody and his brother is building to climb aboard the gravy train. There is now oversupply of rentals, thus rents are coming down. But people still buy, and still build, because purchase prices are still rising. That is the disconnect, the biggest bubble indicator of all.
And if (when) it pops, I will be the first to show up in Rehobeth to buy a foreclosure good and cheap - it is a wonderful community!
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