Current Fall 2020 Real Estate Situation in PA (Philadelphia, Pittsburgh: days on market, for sale)

[PBToast]

I'd like to get an overview of different areas and what people are seeing as far as selling homes. What area do you live in? What is selling and what is not? Is it really as "crazy" (sellers market) as people are saying?


I ask because I keep hearing stories about people getting offers over asking and selling their homes in less than 1 week. But I also see listings in my area that have been up for over 1 month or more and they are not moving. Some homes are still taking 6 months to sell. Even without wallpaper!


Do you all think these super fast sales the norm? Or the rarity?



In central bucks county I have seen both cases. I would not say it is Definite that "your home will go in a week". Is it just here?

[PAhippo]

haven't seen any noticeable difference around here (Tioga County) as far as what's selling. Prices seem to have gone up a bit more more than usual.

[trackstar13]

In Erie almost everything seems to be selling very fast and I have noticed several houses in my neighborhood get a for sale sign in the yard in the morning and when I come home from work in the evening the sign is updated to sale pending. In addition to the speed in which houses are selling, the prices seem to be the highest I have ever seen them in the decade I have lived in Erie. Almost all of my family lives in Pittsburgh and the pattern seems about the same, with the prices being much higher in Pittsburgh and multiple offers being the norm.

[trackstar13]

The Erie Times posted an article about this very issue today.
Link: https://www.goerie.com/story/lifesty...te/3621062001/

[PBToast]

Maybe more people are moving to Pittsburgh than to eastern PA suburbs? People are asking high prices here but it seems to me that it's only one house here or there that actually goes that fast. A lot more are just sitting.


Two listed in my neighborhood the same week and one went instantly and the other keeps lowering the price but no takers. And it's not over priced. We just don't seem to have that many buyers anxious to move here!

[Jessie Mitchell]

In Lancaster city it seems like houses sell very quickly... except for the ones that don't. Just like the OP said. I've been watching the market here closely for about 10 months (we purchased a house here mid-summer, but still watching the listings out of interest and habit) and I can tell just when the listings appears what's going to go quick. It's the usual algorithm of features/upgrades/price/location. There's flexibility in all those categories, but a certain balance has to be reached in combination. When they get overpriced regardless of the upgrades or the location, they can sit on the market for a long time. (Of course, "overpriced" is a subjective thing too.) If they're dingy looking, have no parking, need upgrades, but not rock bottom cheap enough for a flipper to buy, they'll sit for quite awhile.

But you can see them when they pop up: under $300K, good neighborhood, off-street parking, recently remodeled = GONE!

I don't know about the suburban areas around Lancaster as I haven't paid attention there. Not sure what the turnover is like.

[trackstar13]

Jessie Mitchell

I agree with your post completely and we are seeing similar things in Erie. For instance, there is one house down the street from me that has now been on the market for almost 5 years since it is way overpriced and needs to be completely renovated to be livable. The owners won't seem to budge on the price at all and they recently did a price increase and they have decreased the price zero times in 4 years. With that being said, there are also certain house characteristics that I'm noticing where the houses are selling even quicker, but some houses that need a ton of work are still selling as well. The threshold here in Erie seems to be less than $200k and renovated even a little bit and the house won't sit for more than a few weeks max. Obviously this varies by zip code, but I have been considering selling my house so I have been closely monitoring the real estate market for the past 3-4 years.

[PBToast]

I think Jesse hit the nail on the head. The house has to look a certain way or it gets passed by. It's a lot of work though for older people if your house is old too!

[MarketStEl]

Jessie is basically right about the Greater Philadelphia market too.

In the aggregate and on the whole, we are currently in the middle of a seller's market the likes of which we've never seen:

We've Entered a Historic Seller's Market. Now Agents Just Need Houses to Sell. | Real Estate & Home | Philadelphia Magazine

The median days on market for houses in this region has fallen to 14, the shortest ever recorded. The existing supply of houses for sale would be sold in 2 months, also a record low.

But I note that the fates of individual houses vary greatly. Houses that are overpriced, need fixing up, or are at the top of the market don't move as fast. Nor do houses outside the favored neighborhoods, though it's gotten to the point where houses in great shape at attractive prices also move quickly in the less trendy neighborhoods, like mine (Germantown).

I have a long backlog of houses agents have asked me to feature. Chances are, by the time I get around to most of them, they will have gone pending.

Then there's this one-of-a-kind house in Fort Washington, built at a cost of $80 million in the early 1990s and designed by noted starchitect Rafael Viñoly, the guy who designed the Kimmel Center. It's been on the market for 8 years, originally listed at $30m. For a two-year period in 2017-18, its price swung regularly between $22m and $10m. Its owner has decided to get rid of it once and for all at an online auction. Asking price: $12 million, but no reserve price has been set, which means the house will sell for whatever the highest bidder offers for it.

[KevinE]

Spoke to a realtor. In Lancaster and Lebanon counties the new builds/lots are selling within hours of availability. Renovated builds selling within hours of listing. Builds in need of renovation taking a couple of days to sell.

Interesting times. Seeing old homes that had been carved up into cheap rentals being renovated back into single family homes and selling for a premium.

Crazy market.