For as long as this blog has been written for Capstone Homes, I have talked about the idea that there is no national real estate market.

As I strongly believe that this nation is suffering from a Confidence Crisis as much as it is feeling a Financial Crisis, I offer the following article as evidence that all Real Estate Markets are local-

Bucking decline nationally, home sales are up across Delaware

Here at Capstone Homes, we have been a leader in growing our Delaware new homes business by providing great Delaware beach homes at great prices.  At the Capstone Homes’ Holland Mills community, we have seen over 20 new homes be built and occupied in the last year.  We are growing, and the buying opportunities are amazing right now for people with the vision to see this buyer’s market.

Nationally- the Washington Post says that new home sales were the worst on record- going to back to 1963.  Yikes.  The annual sales rate was 374,000 homes for 2009.  The historical average is 900,000 to 1,000,000 per year.

Nationally, that means new home sales are a complete disaster.

Capstone Homes, however, does not complete in the national new homes market.  We sell Delaware Beach Homes.  I don’t really have to wonder what the real estate market is doing “nationally”.

There is no market for new homes nationally- new homes are usually attached to a piece of ground, and people who purchase new homes are usually more selective about where that piece of ground is located.  I have never heard of any one who was looking “anywhere in the USA.”  By contrast- people want to come to Delaware because life is good at the beach, and a Delaware retirement community offers low-tax, coastal living.

I have been saying all along that there is no national real estate market.  There is a local real estate market, and I will tell you that the market for Delaware new homes is a whole lot better than it was one year ago.  Our December 2009 sales were up 300% over December 2008. Capstone Homes sold more homes in Holland Mills, Cannery Village, Bay Pointe, and Pemberton in 2009 than ever before- Capstone Homes‘ sales rose 100% in 2009.  Our sales are on track to have us grow another 100% in 2010.  How can this be?

Prices are low- interest rates are low, and new home inventory is dropping.  Capstone offers a great product that we are continuing to improve all the time.  Capstone Homes is looking to offer more quality and more value in its homes each day.

The Delaware Beach Homes market is picking up.  Some of the other builders are raising their prices in the market.  Now is an amazing time to purchase a new Capstone Home.

At Capstone Homes, this blog has argued that Delaware Beach Homes are a great value for people looking to purchase a new home, a retirement home, or a second home at the Delaware Beaches.

I will continue to drive home the notion that there is no National Real Estate Market.

Let’s take a national headline- something like the fact that Foreclosures are rising nationally…  Now. allow Capstone Homes to localize that news story:

Delaware Foreclosure Rate in June 2009: .088%

Delaware Foreclosure Rate in September 2009: .055%

It’s lower folks.  This is from a great interactive map on CNN.

According to Realtytrac, the foreclosure rate in Delaware in October 2009 is 1 in 885 homes.  In Nevada, the rate is 1 in 79 homes.  California is 1 in 155.  Florida is 1 in 167.  Arizona is 1 in 199.

I’m no math wiz, but the Delaware numbers are much better than other areas of the nation.  When you compile those statistics into national numbers, it makes the Delaware Real Estate market look worse than it is.

I’m not saying the market is great or even good- but I am saying that this is a historic opportunity to purchase a new home in a Capstone Homes community like Cannery Village, Holland Mills, Pemberton, or Estates at Carriage Springs.