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.

New real estate market update, Yardley, Lower Makefield Township, Bucks County

mmillner — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 19:15:02 +0000

Lower Makefield Township, Bucks County, real estate closed sale pace, 2006-2009

Sitting in my house, watching the snow fall, realizing that this could be the largest snowfall in December that we have ever had in Bucks County, I thought it would be an interesting exersise to look at some real estate statistics in various Bucks County markets.

I started this exercise, by looking at how many single family homes are selling, in Lower Makefield Township, on a monthly basis, from 2006 through November of this year.

Here is what the statistics show. At the height of the sellers market, which was basically 2006 & 2007, there 49 closed sales in June of 2006, and 40 in July that year. In 2007, there were 46 closed sales in June, and 56 in July. In most years, June and July are the most active months for closings.

Contrast that with the past 2 years. This past June, there were 31 closed sales, and in July there were 34. June of 2008 saw 39 houses close, and July of 2008, 30.

For the year, in 2006 there were 355 closed sales in Lower Makefield Township. In 2007 there were 379. Talk about an abrupt change, in 2008, there were only 252 closed sales. Thus far, in 2009, there have been 238. Depending on the pace of closings in December, we will be either just above or just below the total for 2009.

In another post, I will track some inventory statistics for the same market. In general, until recently, inventory has been trending higher and higher. This all substantiates the challenge for sellers. There just are not as many buyers, so it has taken longer to sell, and as you can clearly see, there are far fewer sales.

If you are interested in a specific neighborhood, or other area, please contact me, and I can provide you with very detailed statistics for your neighborhood, and market.

Units sold in Lower Makefield Township 2006-2009

Bucks County area real estate update » Lower Makefield Township

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

New real estate market update, Yardley, Lower Makefield Township, Bucks County

Lower Makefield Township, Bucks County, real estate closed sale pace, 2006-2009