Marty Millner

Archive for the 'Yardley Boro' Category

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.

 

New Listing slideshow! Yardley, PA 3 bedroom home on over an acre!

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.

 

Top 5 things that devalue your house, when selling real estate in Bucks County

I have written a number of posts in the past, about various ways to improve the value of your house, if you are considering selling real estate in Yardley, Newtown or anywhere in Bucks County.

In this post, I am going to take the opposite approach, and suggest 5 things that decrease a home’s value, when compred with other properties.

Clearly, there are a lot of factors that go into trying to decide what a house is worth, in a given area and market.  Things like location, overall condition, size, ammenities, etc, help to determine how one house compares with another.  Lets look at 5 things that will devalue your house:

1.  Location

This would seem obvious, but if you have a house that is in a weak position in a neighborhood, it can significantly decrease the value.  For example, a few years ago, I sold a house for a seller, that back to railroad tracks.  The house sold for approximately 15% less than it would have, had it been on the opposite side of the street. 

The same can occur is a house is on a main road. 

The other issue, in terms of the neighborhood, is how are the surrounding homes maintained?  If you are trying to sell a house, and it is next to a property that is an eyesore, it will afect a properties value.

2.  Curb Appeal

Again, this may seem obvious, but when I am showing real estate in Yardley or Newtown, I can often tell how a house will show inside, by what the exterior looks like.  If the gardens are full of weeds, and the exterior needs painting or other upkeep, it will absolutely affect how much the house is worth.  If your house makes a poor first impression, it will impact how much a prospective buyer is willing to pay.

3.  Paint

This sort of goes along with the observation above, which is that first impressions, are critically important.  If a buyer walks into a house, and finds peeling wall paper, or rooms that need to be painted, it often sends a signal of distress, that can translate into lower values.  The same can be true, if your house is painted with garish color schemes.  The lesson is, make sure that your house is freshly painted, if you want to maximize its value, and if you do need to paint, pick soft, neutral and warm colors, that will appeal to the widest audience.

4.  Kitchen

Once potential buyers get inside your home, the kitchen represents one of, if not the most critical space in the house.  Sinks, contertops and cabinets, are extremely worthwhile investments, when getting houses ready for sale.  If the kitchen is cluttered and disorganized, it will negatively effect the value of the house. 

If your counters and/or backsplash are stained, it will impact the perception of value that the buyer has. 

Even minor kitchen improvements, can make a big difference in the value of a house.  You really want your kitchen to sparkle, when you are selling a house.

5.  Baths

As with kitchens, old and tired bathrooms, will detract from the value of a house.  It is well documented, that the best investment that one can make in a house, is in kitchens and baths.  These are important spaces, and when a buyer looks at bathrooms with chipped or old tile,  or sees areas in need of new grout, etc, they will lower their sense of what a house is worth.  Again, these things send a message of distress, which reduces a homes value. 

These suggestions were taken from a wonderful website called, “How Stuff Works“.  Check it out for lots of other good ideas.

As always, I welcome your thoughts or comments.

Guess how long its taking to sell expensive homes, in Lower Makefield Township, Bucks County, Pa.

Selling houses in Yardley and Lower Makefield Township.

The single most important discussion I ever have with a seller, is the discussion about price. I always try and impress upon sellers, how absolutely critical it is, to price a home correctly.

I have also reported previously, that the market for higher priced homes, is more challenging than the market for homes priced more moderately. The reason for that, among other things, is becuase of the first time home buyer tax credit.

To drive home the point I have been making, I started with homes for sale in Lower Makefield Township, in Bucks County. I compiled a list of all homes for sale in Lower Makefield, priced from 600,000 to whatever the most expensive listings were. As you can see from the chart that follows, there are 29 homes for sale, priced between 600,000 & 1,495,000.

I charted the total number of days on the market for each home.

I eliminated any new construction, since they tend to skew the statistics because of how long new construction homes remain on the market.

107 Shelly Lane	$619,000	75
1505 Pownal	$619,900	104
837 Sandy Run	$625,000	11
1340 Jacob Dr.	$629,000	138
4 Houston	$639,900	208
704 Long Acre	$645,000	129
1023 Victory	$649,500	5
361 Twig	$649,900	271
2200 Yardley Rd.	$649,900	29
2117 Stackhouse	$649,900	751
1277 Clearview	$649,900	601
919 Hunt Drive	$658,000	263
621 Grindan	$669,000	19
1353 Heller	$679,500	22
660 Grindan	$694,900	18
1485 Brookfield	$695,000	131
1440 Windrow	$699,900	285
1241 Briddle Ests.	$715,000	477
1083 S. Kimbles	$717,000	247
778 Mill Road	$729,900	268
1743 Jockey’s Way	$759,900	152
1561 Quarry Rd.	$799,000	117
1623 Makefield Rd	$835,000	225
2014 Silverwood	$849,900	832
1644 Powderhorn	$899,900	240
2061 Silverwood	$974,900	638
175 Mt. Eyre Rd	$1,185,000	68
1995 Timber Lakes	$1,295,000	24
1509 Quarry Rd.	$1,495,000	299

What I found was, that the average days on the market of the 29 homes for sale, was 230! That is a sobering statistic, especially for a seller who is motivated, and really wants to move. If I eliminate the 3 houses that have been on the market the longest, the average days on the market, for houses priced above 600,000 in Lower Makefield Township, is 171. Still, quite a long time.

I can examine similar stats from other communities, like Upper Makefield Township and Newtown Township, but the results will be somewhat similar.

There have been a total of 46 homes that have closed, in the past 12 months, priced above 600,000 in Lower Makefield Township. This represents more than 8 months of inventory, based on the current rate of absorption.

So, the critical message to sellers, is to be as realistic as possible, in pricing your home. There are buyers, but as you can see, there are many homes that have been on the market for a long time. Price your house correctly, make sure it shows as well as possible, market it properly, and it will sell in a reasonable time frame.

I always welcome your thoughts and comments.

1458 Clinton Drive, Yardley, Pa. 19067 Yardley Hunt house for sale.

I wanted to share my recent slideshow of  this absolutely stunning, lovingly maintained and updated home in Yardley Hunt. Gleaming hardwood floors; fabulous, gourmet center island kitchen  with granite counters, sub-zero, stainless appliances, 42” cabinetry, truly a chefs delight. Glorious, large and bright, sun-room/Florida room, that can be enjoyed all year long! Warm and inviting family room, with wood burning fireplace. Master bedroom suite offers a comfortable sitting room, and sumptuous, expansive bath, with unique, custom shower. 2 huge, walk-in closets, including finished space above garage. Multi-tier deck overlooks the private, fenced rear yard. All major systems and mechanicals have been replaced and upgraded,including siding, hvac and roof. Large laundry/mud room.  Convenient location close to major highways, trains, township facilities and shopping.

Real Estate Inventory trends, Yardley, Newtown, Bucks County, Pa.

I am working with a lot of buyers who want to find a home, and take advantage of the tax credit, before it expires.  As I have posted, previously, in order to qualify, you must be under contract by April 30th, and close by June 30th, 2010.

What’s intersting right now, is that it appears as though the buyers are looking earlier than usual, for a spring market, but the sellers have not quite caught on.  Check the chart below, which clearly shows that for both Yardley (19067) and Newtown (18940), inventory has very clearly, trended lower, over the past 90 days.

As always, the real estate market in Yardley, Newtown, and all over Bucks County, is basically a function of suppy and demand.  As we know, over the past several years, there have been many more people who want to sell, than those who want to buy.  The result is a buyers market.  Lots of inventory,  all competing for a smaller buyer pool. 

As we approach the spring market, the question really becomes, are we still going to see a market where there are a lot more sellers than buyers.  The shift in inventory, at least offers the possibility that the dynamics in the market are shifting a bit, to a more balance market condition.  We saw clear evidence, late last year, that the tax credit did stimulate transactions.  From a units perspective, November 2009, was  surprisingly busy. 

It remains to be seen what the spring will bring.  It is clear, that inventory levels have trended lower.  Interest rates are incredibly low, and the tax credit is a wonderful incentive for those considering buying.  How the relationship between numbers of buyers and sellers plays out , in each local market, will determine whether the market becomes more balanced in the spring.

If you would like to know what your house is worth, in the current market, please feel free to contact me.

Real Estate spring market early start, Yardley, Newtown, Pa; Bucks County

So the spring market seems to be off to an early start.  How come?  Check out the video.