Front page of the Sunday News Journal featured an article by Eric Ruth on Housing market gains in Delaware. Some of the statistics are still tentative but one fact is clear – Delaware weathered the housing turmoil better than many other parts of the country. Prices have begun to inch up again and builders are pulling permits. Sales of all homes – existing and new are up 34% in Sussex County, the southernmost part of Delaware.

“The coastal Sussex County market is still driven by retirees,” as Ruth quoted Chris Schell, president of Schell Brothers. “Even if it’s not a retirement community or an active adult community, you’re still selling almost all your homes to retirees. That was not true in the housing boom – it was mostly investors and second-home buyers.”

Read the full article!

In a companion article, Wade Malcolm reports that the recovery of lost home equity will take many years for those who bought at the peak. Again, Delawareans are doing better than the national statistics. Only 14.3% of Delawareans have negative equity vs. the Nationwide rate of 23.8% .

It’s always nice to get a compliment and it feels great to be recognized by your own industry for the work that you do. Recently, ActiveAdultsDelaware was recognized for outstanding niche marketing in the real estate industry! We spent much of the past year revising this blog site and providing information for our target market – Baby Boomers who live in Delaware or wish they did. Read the comments at Agent Applause. Both Bill and I are Baby Boomers and we decided that it made sense to focus on working with people we understood and could relate to. It makes business enjoyable for us and, we hope, for our clients as well.

When I opened this email, it made my day!
“Hello”, it began, ”I have a tattered article from Time Magazine  that features you and talks about your SRES designation. When it appeared in 2006 it made me ponder a career in real estate with a service aspect I felt was needed (I was, and still am, dealing with aging parents and neighbors on a daily basis.) I quit my corporate job and obtained my real estate license in July 2009…today I rediscovered your article. I was wondering if the SRES designation is still serving you well and if you feel it would be beneficial to someone just getting started in the industry? Any thoughts you could offer would be most welcome.”

Sincerely, Claire-Anne Aikman, Indianapolis, IN

“Yes Claire”, I responded,” the SRES (Seniors Real Estate Specialist) designation has been very helpful and you sound to me like the perfect candidate!” I encouraged her to focus her real estate practice on the 55+ client and to please stay in touch. I did a search and found that this article is still available online – Special Agents – TIME.

Governor Markell Gives State of the State Address:  Governor Markell delivered the State of the State address on Thursday in the House Chamber.  He quoted Thomas Paine, “These are the times … that try men’s souls” and stated that his focus is on creating more and better jobs and building a stronger economy.  He said that his plan will encourage economic growth, demand a leaner more efficient government and provide Delaware’s children with a world-class education.  Of particular note to the real estate and development industry, he mentioned consolidating the county row offices of Recorder of Deeds into State government and provide bond bill funding for the Housing Development Fund.  Look for Governor Markell’s FY 2011 budget to be unveiled next Thursday.

January 19, 2010, the new  Sussex County Profile 2010 was unveiled at a luncheon at The Brick Hotel in Georgetown, Delaware. Representatives from the Chambers of Commerce from Lewes, Milton, Georgetown, Seaford and many others joined with the Sussex County Council members and business leaders to network and celebrate the progress business is making in the county. The cover photo says it all!

I was pleased to be invited as a member of the board of the Milton Chamber of Commerce.