Located in southern Delaware County along the New Castle County DE border curve, Bethel Township is a convenient, popular, mostly residential community. It is bordered by Concord Township to the west and Aston and Upper Chichester to the north and east.
Bethel Township was incorporated from Concord Township in 1683. Founded as a largely agricultural community, it has been a traveling crossroads for years as the region has developed. Foulk Road (Rt 261) travels generally north-south through Bethel Township while Naamans Creek Rd runs east-west
along the southern edge and the Conchester Highway (Rt 322) crosses the township to the north. With this easy access, Bethel has also become home to businesses such as the Booth's Corner Farmers Market originally founded in the 1930s.
More recently, the area has seen tremendous residential growth with multiple new home developments and several age restricted communities. As in any area impacted by new construction and growth, the real estate statistics are a bit more difficult to interpret here than in more stable areas. It is difficult at best to get a feel for the underlying sales pace 
as new communities are built. Pricing is also affected as the final recorded sales price on new homes can often be higher than the initial advertised asking prices reflecting additions and upgrades during construction. Both of these issues appear in the numbers for Bethel.
Going back to 2002, Bethel Township experienced 91 sales with an average final sales price of $259,000. This quickly rose over the next few years with 91 sales in 2003 at $322,000, 134 sales in 2004 at $399,000,
122 sales in 2005 at $424,000, and finally 109 sales in 2006 at an average final sales price of $476,000. From 2003 though 2006, the average final sales price ranged from 99.8-102.6% of the average asking price.
In 2007, the average sales price pulled back to $428,000 with 118 sales and then fell to $403,000 with 87 sales in 2008. So far this year, the average sales price has risen a bit to $434,000. Today, there are also an additional 54 homes on the market with an average asking price of $433,000 and 15 properties are under contract averaging $383,000.
Due to its great location, Bethel Township should continue to see additional growth, but with the market downturn, this should be accompanied by reduced new home construction in the short term. Due to the demand, pricing should remain fairly stable in the area, although the mix of sales could change quite a bit with reduced construction activity.
As always, please feel free to contact me anytime with questions or if you are considering moving in the area. (Also note: effective July 1, 2009, the US Postal Service has changed the Zip Code for the area from Marcus Hook 19061 to Garnet Valley 19060 so you may find businesses and properties listed under various addresses.)
(All statistics per the TrendMLS System and believed accurate but not guaranteed.)
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