Cape Region will never have enough workforce housing
The Rehoboth Beach-Dewey Beach Chamber of Commerce continued to focus on workforce housing at its Feb. 15 membership luncheon, hosting Sean O’Neill, a policy scientist from the University of Delaware’s Institute for Public Administration.
The reality is that demand will likely never be met, said O’Neill. However, if nothing is done, the problem is only going to get worse, he said.
In January, the chamber hosted Sussex County Councilman John Reiley. He said the county isn’t in the position to build workforce housing. He said the county’s job is to make necessary changes and get out of the way.
Speed to market is critical, said Rieley.
According to O’Neill, Delaware is more than 18,000 rental units short of where it should be to keep up with demand. There hasn’t been enough building variety in 40 years, with people under the age of 40 the most affected, he said.
O’Neill said a report by the institute shows it would cost $96 million to meet owner-occupied needs in Delaware. It would be much more than that on the rental side, he said.
One of the challenges the resort area of Sussex County faces is that a lot of the needs are seasonal, said O’Neill. He recommended looking at other seasonal resort towns for examples of what they’re doing successfully.
There is no magic bullet that’s going to solve the housing shortage overnight, said O’Neill. He offered a few ideas that could lead to change – allow more multifamily development, allow accessory dwelling units, provide workforce housing in large developments, join the Yes In My Back Yard group or form a 501(c)(3) housing partnership.
Delaware real estate markets for Jan. 2023
The Delaware Association of Realtors released its month-to-month comparison of January 2022 to January 2023 for the real estate market in Delaware.
The report shows there was a 31% decrease in units sold, but there was an increase in median listed prices – 10.43% – and median sold price – 6.14%.
The report also showed, when comparing January 2023 to January 2022, there was a 21% decrease in pending units, a 29% increase in active inventory and an 8% decrease in new listings. The average days on the market increased 33%, while the average months of inventory more than doubled from 1.1 to 2.3.
