Ocean City, Md., a hot market for vacation homes, study shows
Jul. 15, 2013 |
Written by Brian Shane
Gannett/The (Salisbury, Md.) Daily Times
OCEAN CITY, Md. — Ocean City is one of the more popular destinations for people looking for a vacation home, according to one real estate website.
The real estate listing site Trulia.com reports Ocean City is the No. 4 most searched-for location for prospective buyers on its site. The No. 1 town on the list for demand was the resort’s namesake to the north, Ocean City, N.J.
For the report, website searches for property in vacation areas between April 2012 and March 2013 were analyzed. This information was compiled by a financial website, 24/7 Wall Street, based on data provided by Trulia.
Sheila Dodson, executive director of Coastal Association of Realtors, said what’s different lately is the increased levels of activity among prospective buyers.
“They haven’t returned to the 2006 level, but they are greatly improved from several years, so we know the interest is there,” she said. “It’s not just about the complete sales. It’s about the inquiries from visitors that come into the area.”
Dodson said Ocean City is unique for the many types of buyers who come here. Sometimes it’s people buying a second home at the beach, which they can rent out when they’re not using it. Sometimes it’s pre-retirement investors who put their money into a second home five or 10 years before they’re really ready to retire.
Others are simply investors waiting to turn the house over.
Interest rates are beginning to rise slightly but “are still extraordinarily low,” Dodson said. “The combination of prices coming back up a little bit, and interest rates coming up a bit, are causing people to really get off the fence and make decisions.”
Home listings in the $200,000 to $300,000 range have increased 14 percent over last year, and contracts in that range are up 26 percent, according to June 2013 data from the association. Settlements overall for single-family homes in the resort are up about 23 percent.
Condo sales also are up in Ocean City from a year ago, by about 2.5 percent overall. Condo listings have fallen by about 13 percent in that time.
The Top 10 list also includes the median asking price in each of the vacation markets. Ocean City’s median asking price comes in at $275,000, a decline of 6.5 percent from a year ago.
Most popular places (Median Asking Price)
Vacation homes
1. Ocean City, N.J. ($525,000)
2. North Wildwood, N.J. ($289,000)
3. Kissimmee, Fla. ($298,800)
4. Ocean City, Md. ($275,000)
5. Marco Island, Fla. ($499,000)
6. Big Bear Lake, Calif. ($335,000)
7. Lake Arrowhead, Calif. ($399,000)
8. Panama City Beach, Fla. ($284,245)
9. Gatlinburg, Tenn. ($179,600)
10. Cherry Grove Beach, S.C. ($219,900)
— Source: Trulia.com
Visit: https://www.facebook.com/ShoreFun4U Real Estate facebook page for Ocean City, MD
Susan Antigone REALTOR, Long & Foster Real Estate - Ocean City, MD (c) 202-805-2696 | (o) 410-524-1700 Susan.Antigone@longandfoster.com SusanAntigone@ShoreFun4U.com
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