Marty Millner

Archive for the 'Market Statistics' Category

Upper Makefield real estate, July, 2010

Whats happening in the real estate market, specific to Upper Makefield Township, in Bucks County, through the end of July, 2010.

Lets look at some numbers.

Inventory of homes on the market in Upper Makefield Township.

• Homes for sale, end of July, 2010                  141
• Homes for sale, end of July, 2009                 134
• Homes for sale, end of June, 2010                138

Inventory of homes on the market, is up by 5.2% from last year at the same time, and up just slightly from the end of June.

Average price of homes on the market in Upper Makefield Township

• The average price of a house for sale in Upper Makefield Township, at the end of July, 2010 was $1.27 million.
• The average price of a house for sale in Upper Makefield Township, at the end of July, 2009 was $1.39 million.
• This represents a reduction in the average price of a home on the market of 1.9%. 

What is amazing about that statistic, is that the average price of a house that has sold in Upper Makefield, as of the end of July this year, was $849,000.  This represents an enormous difference.  Think about that.  The average asking price is $1.27 million, but the average selling price is $849,000.  The reason for this, is that there are a great number of houses on the market in Upper Makefield, that are more than a million dollars.  Relative to the number of homes that actually sell, the inventory of houses on the market that are above a million, actually skew the average asking price.  Those homes, tend to remain on the market, which also skews the average days on the market, and are much more difficult to sell, than more modestly priced homes.  The same is essentially true in every community, in that the most expensive range of homes in any community, tend to be the most challenging to sell.

Real estate sales volume in Upper Makefield Township.

• Homes sold in Upper Makefield Township as of the end of July, 2010          61  at 90% of the asking price.
• Homes sold in Upper Makefield Township as of the end of July, 2009          38 at 87% of the asking price.

This represents an incredible 60.5% increase in unit volume over a year ago.  In addition, although buyers are still achieving, on average 10% off the asking price, that number compared with 13% last year at the same time.

Summary of real estate market through the end of July, 2010 in Upper Makefield Township, Bucks County, Pa.

So, what does all of this mean?  Inventory levels are up a bit, from last year, but unit sales are up tremendously.  However, at the current sales pace, there is a 17.8 month supply of homes on the market.  This compared with 22.3 months last year, at the same time, so conditions would appear to be improving a bit.  However, please keep in mind, that we consider the market to be balanced between buyers and sellers, when the inventory level approaches 6 months.  Clearly there is a long way to go, before we get back to balanced market conditions.

In addition, almost half of the homes currently on the market (67 of 141 to be exact) are priced about $1 million.  That represents a whopping 37 month supply of houses above a million, at the current sales pace.  It should be pretty clear, especially in the higher priced market, that homes absolutely must be priced correctly, based on current market conditions, in order to sell.  It has never been more important, if you are selling, to price correctly, and market as aggressively as possible.

If you would like to know what homes in your neighborhood are selling for, please ask me for my neighborhood sales report.  You can email me, and I will forward the report immediately.

A detailed look at the Bucks County real estate market for July 2010

I Wanted to provide a detailed look at the Bucks County real estate market, in general, and some specifics for local markets that I cover. These statistics are taken directly from Coldwell Banker Hearthside Realtors market research derived from Trend MLS data.

Average For all of Bucks County,

note the following for units that have sold as of the end of July, 2010

2009                                  2010

2554                                  2845                +11.4%

Houses in Inventory for Bucks County as of end of July, 2010

4593                                  4634                  Up less than 1%

Average price of a house in inventory for Bucks County:

$495,000                           487,000            -1.7%

Average sold price:

$329,000                            342,000             +3.9%

Countywide discount from the asking price is 8%

For the entire County, the average days on the market for a home, is 86.

   
It is interesting to note, the huge difference between the average price of a home in inventory, and the average price of a house that actually sells.  Currently in Bucks County, the difference is 487,000, which is the average price of a home in inventory, compared with 342,000 which is the average price of a house that has sold.

The reason for this, and it is true within individual communities, is that the houses that are the most expensive in any area, skew the average price of homes on the market, and are typically the most difficult to sell.  

We see examples of this in individual municipalities as well.

Lets look at real estate specifics for Lower Makefield Township and Yardley, for now.  Keep in mind the Bucks County wide statistics, as we look at individual markets.  In future posts, I will review  statistics from Newtown, Upper Makefield and other areas in which I work.

Inventory of Homes in Yardley/Lower Makefield

July 2010             223
June 2010           238
July 2009            251.

Number of homes in inventory, is down 11.2% from the previous year, and down 6.3% from June, 2010.

Average Pricing in Yardley/Lower Makefield for homes on the market.

Average price of a home for sale in July, 2010 was $520,000.
Average price of a home for sale in July 2009 was $522,000.

Asking price of homes in inventory is flat, down just 0,2% from last year.

Average Pricing in Yardley/Lower Makefield for homes sold

Average price of a house that has actually sold in Yardley/Lower Makefield Township is 414,000, as of the end of July, 2010.

The average price of a house that sold last year, was 462,000.

This is an interesting observation.  The average price of a house for sale in Lower Makefield Township and Yardley, is 520,000, but the average price of what actually sells, is 414,000.  This represents a large difference, and I believe what we are seeing is that the more expensive homes on the market, skew the average price of inventory, and since they don’t sell as often, they don’t have the same affect on the average price of what sells.

Unit Sales of homes in Yardley/Lower Makefield Township.

131 homes sold through the end of July, 2009 at 91% of the asking price.
188 homes sold through the end of July, 2010 at 93% of the asking price.

This represents a very impressive increase in unit sales volume of 43.5% over the previous year to date.  In 2009, sales volume increased by 1.6% overe the previous year.

Please note that buyers are still achieving an average of 7% off of the asking price.

Summary

So what does all of this mean for buyers and sellers as well as home owners, in Yardley and Lower Makefield Township?  Since there is still an 8.6 month inventory of homes on the market, and since buyers are still seeing pretty significant discounts from the asking prices, it is clear that factors still favor buyers in the Yardley, Lower Makefield Township area.  In addition, average days on the market are up slightly, from 73 days last year, to 78 this year.  Competition remains challenging.  Be sure to check out the graphs and charts, that show what all of these numbers mean.  The table that shows yearly appreciation is particularly intersting.

All things considered, the real estate market in Yardley , and Lower Makefield , continues to perform better than in many other parts of the country.  As I mentioned, in future posts, I will look at the real estate market in Newtown, and Upper Makefield, as well as in other parts of Bucks County.

I always welcome your thoughts, comments and questions.  You can reach me at 215-510-1399.

Yardley, Newtown, Bucks County Real Estate update

We are definitely in the dog days of summer, here in Bucks County.

I just got back from a very nice, long weekend in Chicago. 

For today’s post, lets look at a couple of charts that show inventory and average days on the market for homes in Yardley and Newtown.

What do the charts show?

Basically, in both Newtown and Yardley, the average days on the market has been trending lower, for the past 90 days.

In Yardley, the number of houses on the market seems to have peaked in early July, and is now trending lower.  It will be interesting to see what happens in the fall, which contrary to what a lot of people think, is actually the second busiest real estate time of the year, after the spring market.

In Newtown, inventory appears to still be on the upward trend. 

I suspect, in both Yardley and Newtown, we are seeing homes coming on the market, but there are still not a great deal of buyers.  Becuase of the new listings, the average days on the market, is a bit lower.  This all translates to market dynamics that still favor buyers.

Although interest rates are at unbelievably low rates, and show no signs of increasing in the near future,  in my view, the pace of sales has slowed down since the spring, which is normal, for this time of the year.

So, if you are looking to sell, price your home realistically.  Houses are selling, but only those that are priced competitively.

Buyers, lots of choices, and lots of competition for your dollars.

If you need an evaluation of the value of your home, please call me at 215-519-1399.

Upper Makefield, Washington Crossing and Bucks County Market Statistics for June 2010

For today’s post, lets look at what has happened through June, in Upper Makefield Township  & Washington Crossing , Bucks County  real estate.

Upper Makefield Township is interesting, because it represents one of the more expensive real estate communities in Bucks County, and also, in general has the fewest number of transactions. As a result, sometimes the numbers can be skewed.

Upper Makefield Real Estate update, June 30, 2010

Inventory of homes for sale, as of the end of June, 2010 was 138
Inventory of homes for sale, as of the end of May, 2010 was 141
Inventory of homes for sale, as of the end of June, 2009 was 132.

Inventory is fairly stable, both month to month, as well as compared with the same time last year.

Average price of a home for sale at the end of June, 2010 was 1.24 million.
Average price of a home for sale at the end of June, 2009 was 1.32 million.

List price in inventory is down by 5.5%. However, this is where the numbers can get a bit skewed by the number of houses that are for sale above 1.3 million.

Sales data:

47 Homes have sold, through June, 2010 at 90% of original asking price.
30 Homes sold through the end of June, 2009 at 87% of original asking price.

This really represents a large increase in the activity level, for Upper Makefield Township real estate. Sales volume is up by more than 56% from last year, at the same time.

Additional observations: At the current sale pace, there still remains an 18.6 month supply of homes in inventory. This compares with 22 months a year ago, so factors have improved, although we still remain in a strong, buyers market in Upper Township and Washington Crossing.

The other interesting observation is that during 2009, most (82%) of the homes sold in Upper Makefield Township, sold for less than a million. Currently, 49% of the homes (68 of 138) on the market are priced above 1 million. This represents a 38 month supply at current sales pace for homes priced above a million. As bad as that sounds, it actually represents a significant improvement for more expensive homes in Upper Makefield.

As always, it is critical to price your home realistically, if you want to sell.

I can offer a very detailed report, that will show you homes that are active, pending and sold, within about a 5 mile radius of your home, in any area I serve. It is an extremely detailed report. If you would like to receive the report, please email me. Marty@martinmillner.com

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

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.

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.

Yardley, Lower Makefield Township Real Estate update.

Time to take a look at our market statistical update, for Lower Makefield Township & Yardley, in Bucks County.

These are statistics that are taken directly from MLS data, and provide a detailed look at the market, through the end of May, 2010.

This provides us with an interesting perspective, because it gives us some hint, as to what is happening, following the expiration of the tax credit, which ended April 30th, 2010.

Here is what things look like in Lower Makefield Township:

• Inventory of homes for sale in May 2010, was 223
  Inventory of homes for sale in Apri 2010, was 236
  Inventory of homes for sale in May 2009, was 247

Unit Inventory is down 9.7% when comparing what was on the market at the end of May this year, with what was on the market at the end of May, last year.

Inventory dropped by 13 homes, (5.5%) from the end of April of 2010, to the end of May 2010.

• The average price of a home for sale at the end of May 2010 was $510,000.
  The average price of a home for sale at the end of May 2009 was $536,000.

List price of homes in inventory fell by 4.9%.

• 106 homes closed this year, through May, at 93% of asking price.
  66 homes closed through the end of May, 2009 at 90% of asking price.

This represents a very large unit increase in sales, of more than 60% from last years pace.  Buyers are achieving about a 7% discount from the asking price.

What does it all mean to buyers and sellers. No big surprise, in my opinion, that factors still favor buyers.  There is still an inventory of more that 9 months.  We consider a market balanced, when there is a 6 month supply of inventory.  Buyers still have lots of choices, but it appears as though sellers are gradually becomming more realistic with their asking prices.  

We are also fortunate, that our market is not being dominated by distressed property sales, although there are more of those, in every neighborhood, than I ever remember. Bottom line is that for sellers who are serious about selling, price your house properly, given current market conditions, and it will sell.  For buyers, there are many choices, and with interest rates still hovering at or near all time lows, it is a great time to buy.

I have a wonderful marketing update report that is available by email, that will provide very detailed information about recent sales activity in any neighborhood in our general area.  It will show you what has sold, was is active, and how long homes have been on the market.  If you are interested in receiving the report, just send me an emai and you will receive the report automatically, every month.

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

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

 

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.

 

Yardley, Lower Makefield Township, real estate market update

In today’s  post, I wanted to take a look at where the real estate market is, in Lower Makefield Township & Yardley, in Bucks County.

The end of April, represented a pretty important milestone, with regards to how real estate will perform, in the coming months.  As everyone probably knows, the tax credit expired at the end of April.  I also mentioned, in a previous post, that April for myself and my team, was extremely busy. 

In my own personal experience, of the 10 or 11 transactions that we were invloved with in April, there was really  only 1 that was particularly driven by the tax credit.  Having said that, all of the national real estate statistics, are showing that April, like November last year, was extremely busy. 

So where is the market heading, as we move into May, and into what is traditionally the height of the spring selling market in real estate?

My feeling about the real estate market in Bucks County, and specifically for the purpose of today’s post, in Yardley & Lower Makefield Township, is that we will continue to see relatively strong activity, at least in terms of the number of units that are sold.  If you look at the charts that I have created, for the single family home market in Yardley & Lower Makefield, you can see how the buyer activity of the past couple of months, has impacted the average days on the market.

It appears from the charts, that median pricing is remaining stable, but there has been a very clear, downward trend in the amount of time that it is taking homes to sell. 

I think that buyers today, are motivated by concern over the potential of rising interest rates.  For those buyers who are on the fence, there is very real worry, that if they wait until next year, interest rates could be higher than where they are, currently.  In the Lower Makefield and Yardley market, we are still seeing an inventory backlog of significantly more than 6 months, which means that conditions still favor buyers.  I have seen neighborhoods where a couple of months ago there were 3 and 4 homes for sale, and now they are all sold.  One of those neighborhoods, is Arborlea, in Lower Makefield.  We had a couple of listings in Arborlea that sold in just days. 

I think what the chart is showing, since inventory levels seem to be rising, is that there are a number of homes that are on the market, that are overpriced.  They remain on the market for months and months and months, in many cases.  Those sellers who are realistic, and want to sell, price their homes competitively, given current market conditions, and they often get strong offers, very quickly.

Check out the charts, and let me know what  you think.

 

Lower Makefield Township, Bucks County, Pa., real estate update

Time to take another close look at statistics for the real estate market, in Bucks County, through the first quarter of 2010.  If you follow my blog, you know that I keep very close track, of a variety of statistics, every month, for various communities in Bucks County, that I serve.

Today, we will review the real estate market for Lower Makefield Township.

Bucks County real estate saw an overall increase of 13.3%, for the number of units closed through the first quarter of 2010, compared with the first quarter of 2009.

Here is a quick breakdown of Lower Makefield through the first quarter:

• 49 homes sold through March of 2010, at an average of 92% of asking price.
• 34 homes through the same period, last year, at 91% of asking price.
• There were 220 homes on the market in Lower Makefield Township, at the end of March 2010.
• There were 222 homes on the market in Lower Makefield Township, at the end of March, 2009.
• There were 191 homes on the market in Lower Makefield Township at the end of February, 2010.

Inventory remains stable, compared with last year, although up from the end of February.  The increase in inventory from February, is to be expected, based on the time of the year.  More people generally put their home on the market, in the spring.  There are generally more buyers in the spring, as well.

• The average price of a home for sale at the end of March, 2010, was $499,000.
• The average price of a home for sale at the end of March, last year was $542,000.

This suggest to me, that as we continue with the buyers market trend, sellers may be getting more realistic with their asking prices.  The asking price of homes, is down 8%, in Lower Makefield Township, this year, compared with last year.

What does all of this mean to buyers and sellers of real estate, in Lower Makefield Township?   There is still almost a 10 month supply of homes on the market.  We consider a market to be balanced, when there is about a 6 month supply.  Based on inventory, market still favors buyers. 

The average days on the market is higher than last year at the same time.  Currently average days on the market is 88 compared with 66 last year.  

In terms of average sale price, keep in mind that the average sold price for 2006 was 3.6% higher than the previous year, 2007 saw a 6.4% decrease, 2008 saw an increas of 3.1% and 2009 saw a decrease of 6.7%.  See the chart showing average sale prices for a 10 year period, to put all of this in perspective.

It is critically important that seller be realistic when setting a price.   If you price homes appropriately, there are buyers.  I have recently had listings that have received more than one offer, and I had a recent listing sell for more than the asking price!  For buyers, there are lots of choices, although it is important to distinguish between homes that are unrealistically priced, and those that are priced correctly.  Homes correctly priced, will sell relatively quickly. 

Pleaese feel free to share your thoughts and comments with me, about anything you agree or disagree with.

In the next few posts, I will take a look at other communities.

Yardley, Newtown, Bucks County real estate review

We read all the time, statistics about real estate from all  over the country.

Real estate is, and always has been, local.  It is local, sometimes even down to neighborhood by neighborhood.

I always track statistical information about real estate in Yardley, Newtown, Lower Makefield Township, Upper Makefield Township, and many of the communities that I serve. 

People ask me every single day, how is the market?  I can answer that question, based on how carefully I track statistics, as well as from my own personal experiences in representing buyers and sellers.

So, here is a brief look at a couple of interesting real estate charts, for Yardley and Newtown.

If you look at the charts, you will see that after falling a bit, during the 90 day review period, inventory levels are increasing in both Yardley and Newtown.  As you would expect, with more houses on the market, it is taking longer to sell.  Average days on the market is also increasing. 

Houses can and do sell.  It is all about the price.  These charts make a compelling case for wanting to be sure that if you are interested in selling, you must price your house correctly. 

If you have questions, please feel free to contact me.