AUGUST 2015
Lower Shore stats show rising demand and brisker sales Settlements increase for single-family homes in three-county region
Colleen Deptula, left, of Coldwell Banker Residential of Ocean City and Susan Megargee of RE/MAX Crossroads in Fruitland volunteer for Habitat for Humanity.
Realtors lend hand building for Habitat Salisbury house heading for August finish, making it 61st project in area
SALISBURY – In their continuing support of Habitat for Humanity, members of the Coastal Association of Realtors (CAR) volunteered their time on Thursday, July 23 to help build a home on Naylor Street in Salisbury. Construction of this year’s Habitat Realtors Build started in March and is expected to wrap up in the coming month. The one-story, three-bedroom, and one-and-a-half-bathroom home in Salisbury’s Church Street neighborhood will be owned by Wayne and Susie Zickafoos, currently of Crisfield. Volunteering from the coastal association were Jeff Chapman, Colleen Deptula, Erik Dowell, Ann Hammond, Chris Jett, Grace Masten, Susan Megargee, Sarah Rayne, and Courtney Wright. They were assigned a number of jobs, including installation of siding, caulking, and general cleanup, among others. Megargee, owner and broker of RE/MAX Crossroads in Fruitland and immediate past president of the CAR Board of Directors, is a major
sponsor of this project and has coordinated the Realtor Build. Other CAR members who are major sponsors of the build are ERA Martin & Associates and Ginnie Malone. In addition to the build day, CAR has worked this year to raise money for both the Wicomico and Worcester County chapters of Habitat through 50/50 raffles at some of the association’s after-hour Business Card Exchanges. CAR also held a "Paint Nite" fundraiser at Brew River Restaurant in Salisbury. “We are so proud of our members for banding together this year to support Habitat’s mission of helping local families realize the dream of homeownership,” said Vicki Harmon, president of the CAR Board of Directors. The Zickafoos Family first applied for a Habitat home in 2007. Since then, the couple has managed to save more than $1,800 to cover their closing costs and have logged over 350 hours of sweat equity towards getting their new home. The Naylor Street home will be Habitat’s 61st home built in Wicomico County and 14th home built in the Church Street Neighborhood. For more information about CAR, visit www.coastalrealtors.org.
BERLIN– CAR’s local housing statistics for June 2015 show settlements of existing homes in the Tri-County area were up 14.5 percent compared to the same month last year.Of particular note is a 55.7 percent increase in single-family home settlements in Wicomico County. Worcester County’s single-family homes saw a 4.3 percent increase in settlements and Somerset County saw a 12.5 percent increase. Contracts, or pending sales, were also up, showing an overall 21.1 percent increase compared to the same month last year. Worcester County contracts for single-family homes were up 52.6 percent, pointing toward a future increase of settlements. “More than likely, the nice
weather is attracting homebuyers to the beach area and people are finding second homes and vacation homes,” said Vicki Harmon, president of the CAR Board of Directors. “They’ve started the buying process by completing their contracts and are working towards settlement.” Listings for existing homes were down 1.7 percent, showing a continued and national trend of decreasing inventory numbers. However the number of days that homes are spending on the market was down considerably – 14.5 percent – which shows that demand is escalating. List prices and sales prices were down 6.2 percent and 6.5 percent, respectively, indicating stable prices on the Lower Shore. CAR’s monthly local housing statistics are pulled from the association’s Multiple Listing Service, which represents the activity of more than 1,000 local Realtors.