Several Indicators Reveal Pittsburgh Falling Behind Economically (Philadelphia, State College: condo, townhomes)

[okaydorothy]

I have noticed that home sales seem to be slowing also. Maybe its just me, and I know the spring is the best time for house sales, but I have seen signs up now for a few months and nothing biting.

[Moby Hick]

Originally Posted by Craziaskowboi

Shame on Pittsburgh for shedding lots of media and telecommunications jobs, though, I guess.

That's because of Wendy Bell.

[eschaton]

In terms of new jobs development, there's really nothing much right now in the outlying counties besides Cranberry and Southpointe. And I'm pretty sure with low energy prices I'm pretty sure Southpointe isn't doing very well at all. Presumably there will be a new exurban job concentration coming off of the cracker plant in Monaca when it's finished, but that's a year or two away. In the shorter-term, I expect the employment demand from construction of the plant to place a chilling effect on Pittsburgh-area construction. Every other project is going to have to compete for workers with the cracker plant, meaning a lot of projects will have to be delayed until key contractors have free time in their schedule.

Pittsburgh has long had pretty weak exurban residential growth too. As an example, Butler County is generally considered the healthiest exurban county, and is certainly the richest. Yet from 2000-2010 all net growth was due to Cranberry, Adams Township, and the small boroughs like Seven Fields which are in that general area. Areas immediately adjacent to this area actually shrunk in population. Exurban growth was actually more geographically spread out in Washington and Westmoreland counties, but in those cases there were also big portions of the counties in steep decline.

[WhoIsStanwix?]

Originally Posted by okaydorothy

I have noticed that home sales seem to be slowing also. Maybe its just me, and I know the spring is the best time for house sales, but I have seen signs up now for a few months and nothing biting.

Not to rain on the "it isn't impacting the city" parade, but I have noticed a cooling off here in Lawrenceville, too. Homes are sitting longer and prices are coming down. I will say that many of the list prices this summer were unrealistic, though.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by WhoIsStanwix?

Not to rain on the "it isn't impacting the city" parade, but I have noticed a cooling off here in Lawrenceville, too. Homes are sitting longer and prices are coming down. I will say that many of the list prices this summer were unrealistic, though.

Lawrenceville has suffered from big oversupply issues for the last two years or so, which I think are entirely separate from the region as a whole. Too many people thought flipping a house was printing cash, and priced them at unwarranted prices considering how many other options potential residents have.

From what I have read, the rental market is still very strong in Lawrenceville. Which makes perfect sense - lots of millennials don't have interest in buying, and Lawrenceville is a neighborhood with a whole lot of houses but (up until very recently) very few rental units. Particularly because it's not allowable under zoning to subdivide any additional houses in Lawrenceville into multi-units.

[bradjl2009]

Originally Posted by WhoIsStanwix?

Not to rain on the "it isn't impacting the city" parade, but I have noticed a cooling off here in Lawrenceville, too. Homes are sitting longer and prices are coming down. I will say that many of the list prices this summer were unrealistic, though.

Prices were getting way out of hand in the neighborhood. Sure it may seem like a deal to people not from the area and I love the neighborhood myself, but very few people who grew up in this area would pay what they were asking.

[gladhands]

Originally Posted by WhoIsStanwix?

Not to rain on the "it isn't impacting the city" parade, but I have noticed a cooling off here in Lawrenceville, too. Homes are sitting longer and prices are coming down. I will say that many of the list prices this summer were unrealistic, though.

I firmly believe we're experiencing a minor housing bubble in the city. We're due for a correction. There was a 1 BR condo, DIRECTLY across the street from UMPC Shadyside's ER listed for 375k. I've seen homes that sold in 2012-2015 listed for 100k more in 2016 with no remodeling/renovation. It was frankly, kinda silly.

[stburr91]

Eight years after the recession hit, and there is still no real recovery for the average American.

How long until people begin to realize that this is the new normal?

If you think things don't look good now, wait until the TPP is passed.

What are things going to look like in 10-20 years?

We're already seeing people hunkered down in the city say, F**K those people outside the city, I don't care about them.

[MountainDewGuy]

I would say that the minor housing bubble applies to specific areas of the city. Those locations that were deemed hip and cool have reached their peak price points. There are plenty of people with average incomes who don't want to pay $300k+ for a small home or condo in Lville or elsewhere in the 'hipper' parts of the East End. They are buying homes in other neighborhoods where the cost is still reasonable, and I think the values of homes in those other areas are good buys, like homes in Lawrenceville 10 years ago.

[Moby Hick]

Originally Posted by stburr91

We're already seeing people hunkered down in the city say, F**K those people outside the city, I don't care about them.

I'm not saying that. But I think that people not in the city need some understanding of what makes the job centers of the city function. That is, education, density, and global interconnectedness. Pittsburgh would be able to provide much more job growth, growth that would benefit the whole region, if it had higher levels of public investment and, while I think TPP is a bridge too far, the jobs in eds and meds would suffer greatly from any large-scale cutbacks in U.S. ties with other countries.