Real Estate
APRIL 2019
THE COASTAL REAL ESTATE RESOURCE Coastal Association of Realtors/Ocean City Today
Local home prices up as inventory stays low
Among the Realtors to achieve National Realtor Emeritus Status are Bill Martin, left, of ERA Martin & Associates in Salisbury, and Bob Martin of Beach Real Estate in Berlin. With them is Coastal President Bernie Flax.
Four CAR members achieve Nat’l Realtor Emeritus Status Berlin, Md. – Four members of the Coastal Association of Realtors recently achieved National Realtor Emeritus status. Edie Brennan of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices PenFed Realty in Ocean Pines, Bill Martin of ERA Martin & Associates in Salisbury, Bob Martin of Beach Real Estate in Berlin, and Linda Moran of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices PenFed Realty in West Ocean City were approved as National Realtor Emeritus during the 2018 National Association of Realtors (NAR) convention. A Realtor is eligible for emeritus status after holding membership in NAR and the coastal association for a cumulative period of 40 years. Emeritus members also must complete at least one year of volun-
teer service for an NAR committee. Other Emeritus Realtor members of CAR are Randall Bendler of Bendler Realty Corp in Ocean City, Lester Chandler of Coldwell Banker Residential on 64th Street in Ocean City, James “Bud” Church of Coldwell Banker/Bud Church Realty in Ocean City, Paul Faulstich of Century 21 New Horizon in Ocean City, Frederick Nicoll of Frederick Nicoll and Associates in Ocean City, Dean Richardson of Richardson Enterprises in Ocean City, Chuck Shorley of Shore-Lea Realty in Ocean City, and Michael Weisner of Weisner Real Estate in Salisbury. “We congratulate our new National Realtor Emeritus members on this impressive achievement,” said Coastal President Bernie Flax.
CONTEST WINNERS: The Coastal Association of Realtors has chosen three finalists in this year’s Fair Housing Art Contest: Harper Hertrich, third grade, Cora Lee Conway, fourth grade, and Ansh Batra, fifth grade, all of Worcester Preparatory School. The three finalists have been forwarded to the Maryland Realtors, who will pick one for inclusion in the statewide 2020 Fair Housing Brochure. Pictured, from left, are Coastal President-Elect Joe Wilson, Hertrich, Batra, Conway and Coastal President Bernie Flax.
Lower Eastern Shore, Md. – Home sale prices continue to rise on the lower Eastern Shore, according to the latest numbers from the Coastal Association of Realtors. Sale prices reached an average of $200,273 in all three counties in March, a 17.2 percent increase over the same time last year. Individually, the average sale price was $293,367 in Worcester County, $186,308 in Wicomico County, and $121,144 in Somerset County. List prices reached an average of $227,796 in all three counties, a decline of 0.5 percent from the same time last year. New listings that went on the market in March were up 2.5 percent as compared to the same time last year in all three counties. That translates to 532 new listings. Individually, new available units were up by 15.2 percent in Somerset, and were down by 0.7 percent in Wicomico and by 2.6 percent in Worcester. However, active inventory is still lower than it was a year ago. In all three counties, there were 1,789 active listings, which is 27 percent lower than it was in March 2018. Active listings were down
by 24.1 percent in Worcester, by 37.1 percent in Wicomico, and by 17.3 percent in Somerset. New residential settlements in March were down by 16.3 percent overall as compared to the same time last year in all three counties. Individually, settlements were down by 37 percent in Wicomico, by 0.5 percent in Worcester, and by 10 percent in Somerset. Year-todate settlements across the Tri-County area totaled 700, which is 12.1 percent lower than the same time last year. “The last week of March saw the biggest one-week drop in mortgage interest rates in a decade,” said Coastal President Bernie Flax. “That rate is still hovering around 4 percent and it’s not expected to increase very much this year. If you’re thinking about buying, now is a good time to start the process so you can take advantage of these low rates.” Coastal’s monthly local housing statistics are pulled from the Bright Multiple Listing Service, which represents the activity of over 1,000 local Realtors in Somerset, Wicomico and Worcester counties, as well as 85,000 real estate professionals across the Mid-Atlantic.