LEWES, Del.- A new study ranks Sussex County as number three in the nation for the number of new homes in "risk zones"-- areas that Climate Central predicts will be subject to flooding and rising sea levels in the next few decades.

"Ocean at the Door: New Homes and the Rising Sea" was compiled by the group Climate Central and Zillow, factoring in projected environmental changes and home values. The study finds that from 2010-2017, Delaware had 771 new homes in "risk zones", totaling $526 million in property value. The report says 747 of those homes are in Sussex County, and all but six million of the corresponding property value are in Sussex County as well.

Marta Nammack lives in Lewes--an area rife with risk zones according to the report--and says she's concerned for her property as more development comes to her neighborhood.

"You can't support that many people," she says. "The wetlands are there to help absorb water and protect the coastline. The closer we build and encroach on the wetlands we just are going to do more damage."

Nammack says she's already seeing the impacts of coastal flooding.

"We are set back 100 feet from the road but that water will come up 75 feet into our property," she says. "Mostly on the swales but it's just getting worse over the years."

Others, like realtor John Kleinstuber say reports like this are too speculative to base decisions on.

"In the 70s were at risk of another ice age coming," he explains. "I remember as a young kid seeing TIME Magazine saying we were all going to be frozen in the next ten years and that didn't happen either."

Kleinstuber believes beachfront real estate will fare well despite any study.

"It's a niche market and it seems like those people are still going to buy as they want to," he says.

The study says in Sussex County, growth in alleged risk zones is 1.2 times higher than growth in other areas. To read the full report, click here.