I want to welcome readers to ONmy first blog entry ... BEACH NOTES. I'm new to "Active Rain," but not new to real estate. I also write an "every Friday morning newsletter" entitled BEACH NOTES that goes to an extensive list of clients, both owners and buyers. I generally complete about 40+ newsletters per year ... now for about the last seven or eight years. Did 50 of them in 2007 when we were finishing our renovation and not taking vacations. I also do a monthly BEACH NOTES for rental tenants as well.
It's difficult to reflect on the Ocean City real estate market right now. Historically, we have been a seasonal market ... the "Spring Buying Period" running from late May through early June, the "Fall Buying Period" running from Labor Day through Thanksgiving ... with the other two sections being the "Summer Rental Period" again from Memorial Day through Labor Day plus a few weeks on either side as the shoulder rental times and the "December Holiday Month" and the "Long Winter Nap" in January and February.
Often the off-buying periods represent great times to be out there checking; and I certainly encourage Buyers to do that ... but the reality has been that the seasonal markets have dominated our real estate during most of my time here. Obviously, that changed in the four or five year "boom period" where you could see something while picking up your sandwich at the local deli. But that was then, and this is now.
I would to "post the positive" for my first blog entry ... and quite possibly my last one for 2008. Ocean City had its "off-boom" year in 2006 when things slowed down ... but the sky did not fall down. The next four half-year cycles (two in 2007 and the first one in 2008 and start of the second up to about October 15th) were all much stronger in the Ocean City (NJ) real estate market. In fact, we were headed toward another improved half year when indeed "the sky did fall in" based on consumer fears and outlook and follow-up (at least in our little corner of the world). Our real estate market didn't change; it's the same way it was on October 14th. But the rest of the world reached a somewhat new reality.
We are continuing to hold on as compared to many other parts of the country. Our inventory has gone down to a level not seen since mid-2005. The mortgage rates, which were looking good, appear ready to become even better. I suspect that many of us will look back on this time wondering where the buyers were ... they might later be wondering about that as well. I know all is not well throughout the country, and even the world in terms of economic issues. And we can certainly again be impacted by the outside issues as in October of this year. But if at the national level things improve, the Ocean City real estate market is getting ready for a real improvement as well. Don't be a sideline observer. As one of our French Real Estate logos indicated: "GET ON THE WAVE
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