Where has the summer gone? In two weeks, school starts up again. In July, a sudden increase in mortgage rates caught the real estate world by surprise. Other than that, the homes market in Franklin County, Pennsylvania continued its march forward, with unit sales up nearly 10% from July 2012. Average and median sold prices also were up, at 2.9% and 4.6% respectively. The number of new listings in July was a healthy 209, up 18.8% from a year ago, but this was more than offset by stronger demand so that the active listing count, at 843, was down 2.8% from last July’s level. That’s a six-month supply at the current sales level, which is considered to be a balanced market (in which neither buyers nor sellers have an advantage.)
Detached homes generally have been more in demand this year than attached ones (town houses and duplexes.) Seventeen attached homes sold in July 2013 out of 120 for sale, down from 27 sales of such homes last year. Meanwhile, 127 detached homes sold, up 22.1% from July 2012. Prices of attached homes remain attractive (or miserable, depending on one’s point of view.)
On the high side of the price spectrum, just ten houses have sold above $400,000 in the first seven months of 2013. At the end of July, 47 properties were for sale in the ‘upper brackets’.
As increasing mortgage insurance premiums have made FHA-backed loans more expensive, the number of such loans has decreased. About ten percent of July 2013 home sales in the county were financed via FHA loans, down from 23.4% of sales two years ago. Nearly a quarter of all homes sold for cash in July, a share that has grown steadily over the last four years.
Wondering what your home is worth in the current real estate market? Contact us for a thorough, obligation-free valuation: peter@GoGibaud.com.
Data courtesy of RealEstate Business Intelligence LLC, an MRIS company
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