It’s always surprising for me to know that Kent County, at 19,800, is the smallest county in Maryland.
You wouldn’t know that from the number of press releases announcing activities and events received by the Spy on a daily basis. Kent is far from a static enclave of Agri-biz and retirement, and though it is challenged with employment limitations that discourage young career-oriented families, I wondered how the real estate market was responding to our national and local economy as it continues to inch its way out of the long recession. Are people staying put? Is anyone moving to Kent? Are we the last to experience the confidence that seems to be fueling the real estate market elsewhere?
Because Kent County is so geographically unique, and is not a bedroom hub for a major city, there are few measures we can use to compare Kent County real estate activity to other counties in Maryland. In fact, to lump them together with a bar-graph, would misrepresent the activity in our local market.
As one realtor said, “We’re never going to be as hot a market as exists in Annapolis or Montgomery County, and that’s a good thing. We’ve strived to protect our more relaxed lifestyle.”
Keep in mind that typical month-to-month inventories stay under 400 homes, with median sales prices of about $189,000 (according to Long and Foster analysis).
Also real estate companies, at least to the media, like to put their best foot forward, even in gloomy times. “Trending positive,” “a bright future,” and “it’s better than four years ago” are often euphemisms that echo out of their offices.
But I was hearing more than those lackluster phrases when I visited real estate office in Chestertown this week. There was something bright and shiny embedded in the conversations I had—relief from the economy that decimated much of the market from 2008-2013? Or more?
Liddy Campbell, an agent at Cross Street Realtors, remarked that there has been a strong and continuing flow of traffic visiting both the office and their online presence. And that has translated into sales.
Offered by Cross Street Realtors
“There has been a steady influx this summer, with sales for the $200-$500k properties doing well. In downtown Chestertown I’m seeing people making “upgrade” purchases and staying within the community, and I just sold a house to young couple which I find encouraging. Weekenders from DC and people looking for the right retirement spot are also finding our services,” she says.
“Mortgage loan rates are still low and that makes it attractive for people who want to move here or consider a second home,” she added.
Currently, rates are 3.89% for 30-Year and 3.08% for 15-Year loans. Although the rates have whipsawed in the last few weeks in light of the global Chinese stock market disruption, they remain lower than a year ago.
At Coldwell-Banker Chesapeake Real Estate, Mike Stanley, points to their company’s newly engineered online interface as helping to attract customers.
“The auto-response feature and our commitment to personally answer an inquiry within an hour has become a hallmark of our service,” he says. “That has translated into strong sales.”
Offered by Coldwell BankerChesapeake Real Estate Company
The current eight-month period starting in January 2015 shows Coldwell Banker led the market share of listings and sales of residential real estate in Kent County.
Kent County real estate is the story of multiple markets. Outside of the lower and mid-range values, waterfront, residential with land, and historic homes their share of shoppers.
Nancy McGuire at Maryland Heritage Properties points out, shoppers for historic homes are outliers from the usual regional snapshot of home-buyer definitions. “They have different expectations, usually find us by referral or are even previous clients.”
Geddes-Piper House offered by Maryland Heritage Properties
McGuire notes that people come to Kent County for its laid-back lifestyle and rare formula of river, college and historic district. “It’s phenomenal that we can have a county of only 18,000 and offer so much. From Rock Hall to Chestertown, through constant efforts like the Downtown Chestertown Initiative and the new Arts and Entertainment District status, and many others volunteer efforts, Kent County continues to attract.
Doug Ashley at Doug Ashley Realtors sees Kent County going in the right direction. “We had a great summer with most of our sales were for the less expensive properties (under 300k) purchased primarily by in-county residents.”
Ashley touches on a critical ingredient to defining the Kent real estate market. Employment. A quick search of “help wanted” for the county show less than five listings, two for UM Shore Regional Health and one for Verizon. Online employment sites are notoriously under utilized but it does serve as warning to young families who might consider relocating here.
Gerry Cataldo, an agent with Wyble Real Estate also sees the inability for the county to attract young professionals as a defining characteristic of the region. “At this point we’re characterized more by the second-home and retirement buyer,” he says.
Matt Hogan at Hogan’s Insurance and Real Estate considers the wide-angle
Offered by Hogan’s Insurance and Real Estate
perspective of the last 7-8 years. “The 2008 collapse lingered into 2013, there’s still a lot of inventory on the books, and not a lot of people are building houses in the county at this point. Still, things this year are up a few percentage points, but certainly not multiples of 10s,” he says.
While the recent market successes continue to trend positively, Kent’s micro-market—approximately 389 units available in July, according to a Long and Foster analysis—defies a simple snapshot of comparison with other areas of the Eastern Shore.
Geography, (the ‘one bridge too far’ theme) and slim employment opportunities, braided with the extraordinary lifestyle elements available to us (think Washington College and its almost daily lectures and events open to the public, the Chester River, The Chesapeake Bay, History, the Arts) it becomes impossible to come up with a well-defined composite of the real estate market.
But one thing’s for sure as we struggle to define it—it’s good, and holding. But that’s today in a financially volatile world.
Front image: Offered by Doug Ashley
MARY WOOD says
I keep saying this every chance I get – A young family will not move to an area that does not offer maternity and pediatric services at the hospital.
Marty Stetson says
Well written article, not just a commercial for the real state business but gives a real insight in to what is happening in Kent in the housing business. I think those interviewed gave s true picture of what is going on and what drives the market here in Kent and in particular here in Chestertown. Nothing wrong with steady, slow growth.