Bucks County area real estate update » Doylestown Boro

A detailed look at the Real Estate market in Yardley, Newtown, and all of Bucks County

mmillner — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 17:21:20 +0000

It’s time to take a detailed look at how the real estate market is performing, in Yardley, Newtown, and all other Bucks County areas, that I cover.
It is interesting to look at the Bucks County real estate update, and realize that we now have information for the first half of 2010.

Some observations, Bucks County wide real estate, first.

Through June, sold/closed units is positive, compared with last year, in 7 of 8 of our principal markets, as well as for all of Bucks County.
County wide the increase was 22.9%
Real estate prices were actually up by 5.2%, through the first half of the year, for the entire County. Refer to the chart, to see how each municipality did.
For all of Bucks County, the pricing momentum actually declined from May. It went from a 6.8% increase in May to June’s 5.2%
The best forward looking indicator we have, is pending sales. Probably due to the expiring tax credit this June, pending sales for Bucks County, was down 32%, compared with June of last year. Surprisingly, it was 4 % higher than at the end of May.
Inventory of homes, is higher now, than it was at the end of May, County wide. However, compared with June, last year, inventory levels are down, County wide.
Bucks County wide, there remains a 10.5 month supply of homes on the market, which is better than it was last year, at the same time, but still indicating a strong, buyers market.
Average days on the market, remains higher in most markets, than last year.
Average list price of homes in inventory, at the end of June, for the County, was down just slightly from last year. (-0.8%)
Discounts off of the asking price, are actually showing an improving trend. Overall, buyers are achieving approximately a 7% discount from the opening list price of the current listing contract.

Each of the real estate markets that I cover, performs differently. Lets look at real estate in Lower Makefield & Yardley, for now. I will review Upper Makefield Township, Newtown, Northampton, and others, in furture posts.

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Lower Makefield Township, Yardley real estate observations.

Inventory of homes for sale in June 2010 was 238
Inventory of homes for sale in May 2010 was 223
Inventory of homes for sale in June, 2009 was 253.
Average price of a home for sale in June 2010 was $514,000.
Average price of a home for sale in June 2009 was $526,000.
163 Homes sold through June of 2010, at 93% of the asking price.
97 Homes sold through June of 2009, at 91% of the asking price.

There remains an 8.9 month supply of homes on the market, in Lower Makefield Township. Since we consider a balanced market to exist, when there is about a 6 month supply of houses, conditions still favor buyers.

Average days on the market are now 79 compared with 70 last year at this time. Competition remains a challenge to sellers. Now, more than ever, it is critical to price homes correctly and market aggressively, if you are to sell.

As always, I welcome your thoughts and comments, and I will post additional details on other communities, in future posts.

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Look at the real estate market update, for Bucks County & Yardley, through April

mmillner — Tue, 18 May 2010 21:57:28 +0000

Although a dry subject, I do like to take a continuous look at market statistics, for our real estate market, in the Bucks County areas I primarily cover. We get our market statistical update, around the 12th or so, of every month.

Lets see where things stand, from a real estate perspective, after the first third of the year, for Bucks County. We will also review the Lower Makefield Township/Yardley area in this post.

For most of the markets in Bucks County, (12 of 18 markets I track) volume of sold units was positive compared with last year, at this time.
The county-wide growth rate increased by 21%, which is pretty impressive.
Pricing was positive in most of the principal markets we monitor regularly, and there was positive appreciation for Bucks County. In fact, average sold pricing for the entire county, was up by 7.1%.
Total unit sales in Bucks County through April, was 21% higher than last year.
Probably the best forwarding looking indicator we have in real estate is the pending sale. Those are homes where the seller has accepted an offer, but that have not yet gone to closing.
Most of our markets, as well as for Bucks County as a whole, saw higher levels of pending sales, than last year at the same time. Bucks County wide, shows a very strong increase of pending sales of 43.5%, over last year at the same time. In some of our markets the pending sale increase is huge, when compared with last year. For exampley, Buckingham Township is up by 113$, Upper Makefield is 100% higher, Lower Makefield is up 70%, Northampton is up 69%, Solebury is up by 63%, and Doylestown is up by 25%. These are actually impressive numbers.
Inventory levels are higher than they were at the end of March, whish is to be expected, in most markets. However, when compared with the end of April, last year, inventory levels are down County-wide, and in most markets. With somewhat improving inventory levels, the number of months of inventory, has declined. Most markets are still above 6 months, which means conditions still favor buyers, but the trend has shown improvement.
Average list pricing is down a bit, from last year.
Sold/list ratios in most markets, have shown some improvement. We need to keep our eye on this statistic as we go through the spring market.

Lower Makefield Township Real Estate update

Here are some observations, through the end of April, for real estate, in Lower Makefield Township, and Yardley.

Iventory of homes for sale at the end of April, 2010 was 236
Inventory of homes for sale at the end of March, 2010 was 220.
Inventory of homes for sale at the end of April, 2009 was 231.
Unit inventory was up slightly, from last year, in Lower Makefield, and up by 7% from March.
Average price of a home for sale at the end of April, 2010 was $500,000.
Average price of a home for sale at the end of April, 2009 was $543,000.
List price was down by 8%.
77 houses closed through the end of April, 2010.
48 houses closed through the end of April, 2009.
This was a really impressive increase of 60.4% from last year. Unit sales for 2009, were up by 1.6% oover the previous year.
Buyers are still achieving approximately 8% off the original asking price.

Charts

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Summary

For your reference, there was 6.5% unit growth in 2007, 33.5% decline in 2008, and an increase in 2009 of 1.6%. So far, 2010, has shown an increase of more than 60%. Lets see how the rest of the year plays out.

Inventory is still at 10 months. Inventory is said to be balanced, when it is 6 months, so conditions in Lower Makefield, still favor the buyers.

Thus far, sale pricing is down by 2.4%. Please refer to the pricing appreciation chart, to see how things have changed in many parts of Bucks County, and in Lower Makefield Township, in particular.

Average days on the market, is actually higher this year, than last. I suspect that this is because there are still many overpriced homes on the market. I have been involved in many recent transactions, where homes have sold extremely quickly. It is more important than ever, to price a home correctly.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions about any of the charts or statistics.

I will review additional specific markets, in upcoming posts.

Real estate statistics in Yardley, Newtown, Upper Makefield Township, Lower Makefield Township & Bucks County

mmillner — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 14:20:38 +0000

I have not done this in a number of posts, but I wanted to take a very detailed look at market statistics, through the end of November, in some of the markets that I serve.
In virtually all of the markets in which I work in Bucks County, the pace of 2009 year to date units has continued to improve. For example, in all of Bucks County, the number of single family homes this November, was 79% higher than November of 2008.

Some specific examples of that are pretty impressive. Sales in Lower Makefield Township, were 257% this November than a year ago; Newtown was up 171%; Upper Makefield was up 100%; Solebury was up 200%; Buckingham up by 111%; Northampton up 61%; Middletown up 65%. I don’t think that it was a coincidence, that the original, first time home buyer tax credit, expired on November 30th, and we saw such an increase in the number of transactions this November. Clearly the tax credit had an effect.

In virtually all of our markets, the year to date units closed, has improved over the past 6 or 7 months. Please see the accompanying graphs, which plot the general improvement.

Inventory of homes for sale as of the end of November 2009, is down sequentially from October 2009, in virtually every market in Bucks County. Compared with November of 2008, inventory unit levels are down in all of Bucks County, by 17%. Newtown is down 6%, Upper Makefield down 18%, Northampton is flat, while inventory in Lower Makefield Township, is actually 5% higher at the end of November 2009, as compared with November 2008. In terms of months of inventory, most markets are still considered, “buyers markets”. There are a few exceptions. In Falls Township, there is a 4.7 month inventory supply, and in Newtown, 5.7 months. Basically, if inventory is between 4 to 6 months, we consider that a balanced market. In most of our markets, there is a supply of inventory of 9 months, or more.

In most of our Bucks County markets, the average asking price of homes, is still trending lower. Lower Makefield Township is 11% lower for the year; Newtown is 4% lower; Upper Makefield is 8% lower and Solebury is 7% lower than a year ago.

How about discounts from the asking price? That is a question virtually every seller and buyer asks me. The answer is, that overall, buyers are now achieving approximately 8 to 9% discounts from the asking price. This is measured from the opening asking price of the most current listing contract.

So what do all of these stats mean? To me, it means that through November of 2009, there has been more real estate activity, in terms of units. I think that the first time home buyer tax credit, clearly encouraged some people to buy, and some of those sellers, became buyers, as well. Beccause of the economy, I believe we are still in a buyers market, but I do see signs that we may have reached the bottom. Inventory is generally lower, and I know that with buyers I am working with, we don’t find as many choices, as we saw several months ago. That may change, as we move into the year, as I believe that people will be getting homes on the market earlier this year, to take advantage of the new tax credit, which requires that a contract be in place by April 30th, and closing occur by June 30th.

We track these statistics every month, so if you would like more detailed information, please contact me.

Doylestown, Pa – Bucks County – The Great Toy Exchange

mmillner — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 19:30:17 +0000

The Great Toy Exchange will be held Saturday, January 9, 2010 at 8am to 10am. Located at Superior Woodcraft’s Showroom, 160 North Hamilton Street, Doylestown, PA.

Every parent knows how quickly children develop and move on to new toys. Every parent also knows that the older toys develop into clutter and new toys are costly. This is where The Great Toy Exchange can help. The Great Toy Exchange is a way for parents to exchange their children’s toys that are no longer age appropriate or played with by their child for other toys that are age appropriate and will interest their child. The Great Toy Exchange will help you reduce clutter, save money and provide your child with new and different experiences to help with their development and interests.

How – Simply bring your clean, unbroken and generally good conditioned toys to The Great Toy Exchange. Place them in the area of estimated value. Then review the other toys at The Exchange and select toys that are of the approximate value to what you contributed. Parents will be using the honor system and The Great Toy Exchange is free a program open to the community; so please always apply the golden rule.

Specifics – The Great Toy Exchange will only accept clean, unbroken, reasonably used toys that have not been subject to any recalls. Stuffed toys will not be accepted. Toys with fabric might not be accepted. Toys that are dropped off and have not been chosen can be picked up at 10 am at The Great Toy Exchange during the day of the exchange. Any toys remaining after 10 am on the day of the exchange will be donated to charity. Neither The Great Toy Exchange nor Superior Woodcraft, Inc. provide any claims, warranties, or guaranties concerning the quality or safety of the toys that are part of the exchange. Parents should contact the toy manufacturer directly concerning any quality, safety or other concerns pertaining to a toy. The Great Toy Exchange is a non-profit community service program provided & administered by Superior Woodcraft, Inc. for the benefit of the families and children in our community. Neither The Great Toy Exchange nor Superior Woodcraft receives any monetary, financial or other similar benefit from The Great Toy Exchange.

If possible please leave children at home. For more information visit, http://www.superiorwoodcraft.com/ or email me for information.

Doylestown, Pa. Bucks County, Doylestown Holiday Celebration – Friday, November 27th, 2009.

mmillner — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 18:21:11 +0000

Doylestown, Pa. Bucks County, Doylestown Holiday Celebration – Friday, November 27th, 2009.

The holidays are beginning in Doylestown! Come join the fun with the lighting of the Dreidel and tree. Enjoy the sounds of carolers, free cookies and cider and Santa!

The festivities begin at 6pm on Friday, November 27th and Santa will arrive at 6:30pm. The location if you don’t already know is in the Town Center at State and Main Streets.

You can meet Santa at his house at Hamilton Street (free of charge) once he arrives. There will also be storytelling from 6:45-7:15pm across the street from Santa.

For more information visit the Doylestown Business and Community Alliance site or email me.

Come out and start the holiday season off right! I hope to see you out and about, as it is a great family event!

Doylestown, Pa., Bucks County – Jim Henson’s Fantastic World – Through November 29, 2009

mmillner — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 21:50:12 +0000

Jim Henson’s Fantastic World – Through November 29, 2009.

Jim Henson

I know there are fans of Jim Henson all around, so why don’t you visit Jim Henson’s Fantastic World exhibit at the James A. Michener Art Museum here in Doylestown, Pa.
This limited time engagement exhibition features 100 original artworks, including drawings, cartoons and storyboards that illustrate Henson’s talent as a storyteller and visionary. Among the variety of exhibition objects are puppets and television and movie props, photographs of Henson and his collaborators at work and original video productions, including excerpts from Henson’s early career and experimental films. The exhibition installation will include a resource room, which will feature hands-on activities for children of all ages, including a puppet theater.

Tickets just cost $10.00 per Adult, $9.00 for Seniors, $7.50 for Students (with ID), $5.00 for Children 6 to 18 years old and Free for Children under 6 years.
Call me if you have any questions or visit the museum website where you can purchase tickets online.

Warrington, Pa., Bucks County – Winding Brook Farm Autumn Family Fun Activities – Through October 31st, 2009

mmillner — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 17:12:37 +0000

Corn Maze

I feel like since the weather is about to get colder out, that I need to visit every outdoor event this fall.

Well, here is another great event being held by Winding Brook Farms in Warrington, Pa. The “Amazing” Corn Maize, Hay Maze, Li’l Peepers Hayride, Pumpkin Patch, weekly entertainment, concerts and more.

CORN MAiZE: A 5 acre maze to test your skill! Come see our design this year, created by Brett Herbst, founder of The Maize, LLC. These guys are the leading corn maze design/consulting company in the world. Expect 30 minutes or more to complete the maize. A trivia question “passport” can help guide you through the maze, if answered correctly. In the event of defeat, they have “corn cops” to show you the way out. How fun!

HAY MAZE: A labyrinth of hay bales towering above your head. It will take a few minutes to wind your way through this puzzle. Kids will love to enter numerous times, at no additional charge.

LI´L PEEPERS HAYRIDE: This is an evening hayride with Family Friendly Halloween Scenes. The hayride lasts approximately 30 minutes and is suitable for all ages.

PUMPKIN PATCH: A walk-to-patch, free of charge, is available. Or take a hayride to the pumpkin patch where each person can pick their perfect

They have also launched a Haunted Hayride this year called “Night Chills” and have a combo ticket for that with their Corn Walk of Horror for $25. This is for the family members who prefers their Autumn entertainment of the “spine-chilling” variety. The Haunted Hayride runs through 10/30. The duration is approximately 30 minutes.

See their website for ticket prices and combination deals. Some events are free with purchase. Tickets are also available at the farm on event dates.

Call me if you have question or just come out and enjoy the fall weather.

Yardley, Newtown, Pa, Bucks County. Many Halloween Events around the Area– October 1, 2009 to November 1, 2009

mmillner — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:46:17 +0000

Bucks County. Many Halloween Events around the Area– October 1, 2009 to November 1, 2009

It is that time of year again! Halloween Hayrides, some very scary, some not as scary, you can take your pick.

Shady Brook Farms has something for everyone. Come early in the day to take a hayride to the pumpkin patch and then stay around in the evening for the Shady Brook Farm’s “Horrorfest”. Horrorfest has four thrilling attractions such as the Hayride of Horror, Barn of Horror, Alien Encounter and Deadtime Stories Corn Maze. You can check times and buy tickets online at Shady Brook Farms.

A great hayride for the family is at Active Acres. Here you can ride to the pumpkin patch to pick your own pumpkins. Enjoy pony rides, the corn maze, farm animals and more. It is open every Saturday and Sunday from 11am to 3:30pm through October 26^th.

We have all heard of and hopefully have toured the Eastern State Penitentiary. The Halloween attraction, “Terror Behind the Walls” is back with the New Infirmary now open. Voted #1 Haunted House in America, don’t miss the chance to be inside the 11 acres abandoned prison. Visit the Easter State Penitentiary “Terror Behind the Walls” for more information.

Come out to the Grand Opening weekend of the Valley of Fear and The Original Haunted Hayride here in Feasterville, PA. Or if you can’t make it this weekend, you have plenty of opportunities as they will be open every Thursday through Sunday from October 1 to October 25 and then daily from October 27^th to November 1^st. There are three main attractions for you to see. First is the Original Haunted Hayride. Second are the Miles Manor and One Eyes Willy. Third is the Valley of Fear. Visit the Valley of Fear website and print off an opening weekend coupon for 3 attractions for the price of two. You can also purchase the Fear Pass or VIP Fear Pass only which will let you skip to the front of the line on all three attractions.

What a great way to spend time outside before the weather turns cold. If you need more information, please call me.

Bucks County, Yardley, Newtown Pa, tax appeals

mmillner — Fri, 08 May 2009 15:10:02 +0000

As a follow up to my post yesterday, regarding the process of appealing property tax assessments, I saw that in the Bucks County Courier Times this morning, there was an interesting article about a large group of home owners in a specific neighborhood, who decided to appeal their property tax assessments.

The neighborhood is called, “Bluestone Creek“, and it is in Warrington Township. It is a newer developement, and many of the owners found, after moving in, that their tax assessments were based on values that were more than what they paid. As I pointed out in my post, yesterday, property taxes are unfavorably skewed against newer construction.

Home owners in this neighborhood, saved an average of 900.00 each, with their successful appeals.

As I observed yesterday, in my post, this article points out that it is not a complicated process to appeal your property taxes in Bucks County, if you feel that they are not fair, based on other homes of comparable value.