Wilmington appreciation rates and housing market information

Wilmington housing market information

With a population of 72,664, 32,138 total housing units (homes and apartments), and a median house value of $193,500, Wilmington real estate values are some of the lowest in Delaware, although compared to real estate around the nation, Wilmington homes are still considered rather expensive.

row houses and other attached homes are the single most common housing type in Wilmington, accounting for 54.01% of the city's housing units. Other types of housing that are prevalent in Wilmington include large apartment complexes or high rise apartments (22.22%), duplexes, homes converted to apartments, or other small apartment buildings (13.64%), and a few single-family detached homes (10.00%). Cities that are predominantly high-density buildings are relatively uncommon in the US. Because of the density, these types of cities are often walkable and compact, and often have a lively downtown.

The most prevalent building size and type in Wilmington are three and four bedroom row houses and other attached homes. The city has a mixture of owners and renters, with 44.64% owning, and 44.40% renting.

The housing in Wilmington was primarily built before 1939 (42.31%), making the housing stock in Wilmington some of the older overall in America, although there is a range of ages of homes in Wilmington. The next most important Wilmington housing age is 1940-1969 (39.96%), followed by 1970-1994 (16.21%). There's also some housing in Wilmington built between 1995 and later (1.52%).

Vacant housing appears to be an issue in Wilmington. Fully 10.96% of the housing stock is classified as vacant. Left unchecked, vacant Wilmington homes and apartments can be a drag on the real estate market, holding Wilmington real estate prices below levels they could achieve if vacant housing was absorbed into the market and became occupied. Housing vacancy rates are a useful measure to consider, along with other things, if you are a home buyer or a real estate investor.

Wilmington home appreciation rates

Appreciation rates for homes in Wilmington have been tracking above average for the last ten years, according to NeighborhoodScout data. The cumulative appreciation rate over the ten years has been 101.30%, which ranks in the top 30% nationwide. This equates to an annual average Wilmington house appreciation rate of 10.13%.

Over the last year, Wilmington appreciation rates have trailed the rest of the nation. In the last twelve months, Wilmington's appreciation rate has been -1.77%, which is lower than appreciation rates in most communities in America. In the latest quarter, NeighborhoodScout's data show that house appreciation rates in Wilmington were at -1.38%, which equates to an annual appreciation rate of -5.52%.

Relative to Delaware, our data show that Wilmington's latest annual appreciation rate is higher than 20% of the other cities and towns in Delaware.

One very important thing to keep in mind is that these are average appreciation rates for the city. Individual neighborhoods within Wilmington differ in their investment potential, sometimes by a great deal. Fortunately, you can use NeighborhoodScout to pinpoint the exact neighborhoods in Wilmington - or in any city or town - that have the best track record of real estate appreciation, by the latest quarter, the last year, 2 years, 5 years, 10 years, or even since 1990, to assist you in making the best Wilmington real estate investment or home purchase decisions.