Monday, February 25, 2008

Area housing prices continue their downward trend
ACCORDING TO REPORT, EVEN THOUGH SALES CONTINUE TO FALL, LOCAL REGION FINDS ITSELF NOT AS BAD OFF AS OTHER PARTS OF THE COUNTRY

By BRIAN McCULLOUGH, Special to The Phoenix

Trend, the multiple listing service for more than 32,000 real estate agents in the Philadelphia region, on Tuesday released its fourth-quarter report that found house prices and sales volume continue to fall in the region, albeit not as dramatically as in other areas of the country.

In Chester County, the average price for a house sold in the fourth quarter of 2007 was $361,300, down 6.3 percent from the $385,700 average sales price in the third quarter.

The number of houses sold also was down 31.6 percent, from 1,715 in the third quarter to 1,172 in the fourth quarter.

Even with the declines, the Philadelphia market is faring well as compared to what is going on in the rest of the country, said Vernon Jones of Trend.

The findings indicate homeowners in the region aren't losing the equity in their houses that homeowners in other regions are. The softening market, meanwhile, is good news for buyers, Jones noted.

On a scale from one to five, the report tabs the market a three - neutral for buyers and sellers.

It also notes that in the first two months of the fourth quarter, 872 jobs were added to payrolls in Chester County, bringing down the unemployment rate for November to 3 percent.

The strong employment climate may help to create demand for home prices, the report says. Favorable mortgage rates should augment this trend.

In other counties within the five-county Southeastern Pennsylvania region, average prices:

In Delaware County declined from $273,200 in the third quarter to $261,300 in the fourth;

In Montgomery County declined from $349,200 in the third quarter to $333,800 in the fourth;

In Philadelphia declined from $196,200 in the third quarter to $184,200 in the fourth;

And in Bucks County, slid from $378,000 in the third quarter to $350,000 in the fourth.

In his forecast for the region, Lawrence Yun, a vice president of research with the National Association of Realtors, predicted the national housing market will remain weak but said there could be a quick turnaround in the regional market.

In the region, he said, home sales fell 10 percent in 2007 even though the region added 47,000 jobs in the past two years.

With the stimulative packages of tax cuts and lower interest rates under way, the economy will avoid a recession, he said. The higher loan limit on FHA and GSE loans will further permit more people to access low interest loans.

It is possible there could be a quick turnaround to the housing market.

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By and large, there have been fair assessments made in articles that have appeared in the Daily Local and the Daily Times since the market has shifted. Just this week, the Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Magazine both featured prominent articles on the state of the area's housing market.