Delaware rental market data

Sussex County recorded 5.3% annual FHFA appreciation and 56.9% over five years, ahead of New Castle County at 2.8% and 49.7% and Kent County at 2.5% and 48.9%. Sussex also had the highest measured county rent at $2,208, but its $490,904 value produced the lowest gross yield of the three at 5.4%. New Castle’s measured gross yield was 6.2%, while Kent’s was 5.5%.

The resale indicators reinforce the trade-off. Sussex listings had a 66-day median marketing time and a 44.4% pending ratio, compared with 36 days and 81.5% in New Castle. Kent was between them at 50 days and a 60.2% pending ratio. For screening, Sussex’s appreciation record should be evaluated separately from current income and exit liquidity; none of these county aggregates establishes the discount, rent or resale time available for a specific property.

Sussex County’s total housing vacancy rate was 29.9%, far above Kent County’s 6.4% and New Castle County’s 5.0%. Sussex also had the smallest renter share at 18.4%, versus 27.5% in Kent and 31.0% in New Castle. Yet 53.5% of Sussex renters were burdened at the 30%-plus threshold, compared with 52.5% in Kent and 47.8% in New Castle.

Housing stock is predominantly single-family in all three counties, with measured shares from 74.2% to 75.3%. The vacancy measure covers total housing rather than available rental units, and the packet does not identify why units were vacant. Sussex’s figure therefore cannot establish a rental glut. It instead flags the need to verify rental-specific vacancy and occupancy at the property’s submarket, while New Castle’s lower vacancy must be weighed against its older county median year built of 1975.

Aggregating the three counties with migration data, 25,606 people moved in and 21,552 moved out. The resulting net inflow was 4,054, or 4.0 per 1,000 residents. That is a demand-supportive measured signal, but the supplied totals do not show which county received the inflow.

Employment does not provide uniform confirmation. Philadelphia, PA recorded 0.3% year-over-year job growth, while Dover, DE declined 0.9%; the median across the two measured metros was negative 0.3%. Screening should therefore avoid treating aggregate migration as proof of county-level rental demand. The packet also lacks the movers’ county allocation, household formation and renter tenure.

Philadelphia, PA rent growth was 3.8%, compared with 2.5% home-value growth. Its measured rent was $1,928 against a $394,762 value, producing a 5.9% gross yield. Dover, DE rents increased 2.7% while values rose 2.3%; its $1,725 rent and $374,943 value produced a 5.5% gross yield.

Across the two metros, the supplied median rent-growth advantage was 0.8 percentage point. This is a genuine rent-side counter-signal to the mixed employment data, but it does not establish that an acquired unit can achieve the indexed rent. Gross yield also excludes vacancy, maintenance, financing, taxes and insurance, so faster rent growth is not equivalent to expanding net cash flow.

New Castle County had 519 investor purchases among 5,755 measured purchase originations, a 9.0% share. Sussex County recorded 305 among 5,361, or 5.7%, while Kent County recorded 122 among 2,490, or 4.9%. As a calculation from the supplied totals, 946 investor purchases divided by 13,606 measured purchases equals 7.0% overall.

New Castle combines the highest investor share with the highest measured county gross yield, 6.2%. That makes acquisition competition a relevant part of its screening case, but the occupancy-based mortgage data do not measure every purchase and cannot prove that non-occupant buyers raised prices or displaced owner-occupants.

New Castle County had the highest measured property-tax rate at 0.71%, a $2,499 median tax and a 0.135% climate-loss ratio. Sussex County’s corresponding figures were 0.32%, $1,222 and 0.126%. Kent County measured 0.43%, $1,363 and 0.105%.

Inland flood was the mutually exclusive leading-hazard label for all three counties. That label does not mean every parcel has inland-flood exposure, and the county loss ratios are not insurance quotes. Because the packet contains no parcel flood zone, premium, deductible or claim history, its gross-yield comparison cannot establish risk-adjusted net returns.