Although price declines are moderating overall, Gillen maintained, Shore sales remain well below average even for the winter months. If there aren't enough houses in the sample of sales used to measure price changes, the result may be values that seem more volatile than they really are.
The second quarter has just ended, and it won't be known for a few weeks what Shore sales were like in that all-important springtime market.
Still, if you're renting at the Shore for a week, or planning a day trip to the beach, you might want to take a look at what's for sale.
How do you buy at the Shore in today's market?
Realtor Allan Domb is a denizen of Center City and its high-rise condo buildings, but he not only has a getaway in Longport, he also owns several rental properties there, too. How would he recommend shopping for a Shore house?
Choose a price range, he said, such as $500,000 to $550,000, and look at all the available listings between those parameters.
"I would isolate five or 10 homes and make lower offers on each," Domb said. "If the first seller rejects the offer, just move on to the next, and to the next again, until someone finally accepts it."
These days, "there is a small percentage of people who must sell, so if you offer $400,000 for a $500,000 listing and come back a week later and offer $425,000, they may take it," he said.
John Duffy, president of Duffy Real Estate on the Main Line and owner of a house in Ocean City, said, "Obviously, one can now go online and find most, if not all, of the current listings.
"What I have found out about the market 'down there' is you should first determine your preferred location, such as Ocean City, Strathmere, Avalon, and the like, because many Shore agents don't stray from their immediate location."
