I saw a headline in the newspaper today that the "Sale of Existing Single Family Homes in 2007 Sees Largest Drop Since 1982". It was an Associate Press article in our local paper. http://www.centredaily.com/business/story/354536.html While I agree that MAY be the case in an average across the country or perhaps just in pockets, it is certainly NOT the case here in Centre County. In addition, while we may not be at the BOOM level seen in 2005, we are now at what most of us call back to "normal" levels seen earlier in this new century, not back to the level of sales seen back in 1982!
As you will see below, we here in Centre County have stayed fairly level. I'll get into the reason for this later. While I am not normally a "stat" kind of girl, let me share some numbers with you. Plus I've provided a couple of graphs below. (All numbers are provided by the multiple listing service of the Centre County Association of REALTORS). Our MLS is broken down into school districts all within Centre County. They are State College (SC), Bellefonte (BF), Bald Eagle (BE), Penns Valley (PV) and Philipsburg-Osceola (PO).
The difference between our total residential markets in 2006 versus 2007 is a sale of 2 units less in '07. TWO! Whew! A crash to the market two units does NOT make! While SC area was down from 955 to 906, the rest of the county was up. BF from 269 to 283; BE from 69 to 83; PV from 71 to 79; and PO from 88 to 99.
The truly interesting thing to note is that the average listing AND selling prices have risen in ALL areas of Centre County. I know some like to talk Median versus Average. So I'll tell you that while the median price dropped in the PV area, all other areas are up.
The other two stats agents and consumers like to take a view to see what the real estate market is doing are Days on the Market (DOM) and average list to sales price percentage. While the DOM is longer in all areas, not one is by more than 19 days. The list to sales price ratio is UP in BE and BF and DOWN in SC and PO by less than a percentage point in each. PV is down by just a tad bit more.
The reason for this phenomenon: Mainly, it's because State College is also the home of University Park and Penn State University's (PSU) main campus. Because of PSU being located here, we also have a good number of corporations and industry which feeds off them. While over the years we have seen some of them (some small, some big) close their doors and/or move out of town and people in the area lost jobs because of it, there is enough other industry either growing or moving into town which mostly absorb those numbers over time. Plus, (and I may be a little biased here) I think Centre County is just a nice place to live and work!! I'll come back later and offer some additional reasons you should be checking out Centre County for your next home or investment!
In closing, while the national news will continue to state how bad the housing market is - and I know it is bad in some places around the country - I urge you to contact a REALTOR/Agent in the area where you plan to buy/sell to find out exactly what is happening in that local market. It may surprise you!
Area | Units Closed | % Total Market | Dollar Volume | Average List Price | Average Sale Price | Avg % List Price Received | Median Sale Price | Average DOM |
Bald Eagle | 69 | 4.30% | $7,836,829 | $116,906 | $113,577 | 97% | $115,500 | 61 |
Bellefonte | 269 | 16.80% | $46,701,194 | $176,820 | $173,610 | 98% | $165,000 | 72 |
Philipsburg Oceola | 88 | 5.50% | $7,629,759 | $90,676 | $86,702 | 96% | $74,925 | 80 |
Penns Valley | 71 | 4.40% | $11,926,941 | $172,277 | $167,985 | 98% | $146,000 | 68 |
State College | 955 | 59.50% | $227,186,964 | $242,421 | $237,892 | 98% | $201,200 | 48 |
All | 1,452 | . | $301,281,687 | $159,820 | $155,953.20 | 98% | . | 65.8 |
Area | Units Closed | % Total Market | Dollar Volume | Average List Price | Average Sale Price | Avg % List Price Received | Median Sale Price | Average DOM |
Bald Eagle | 83 | 5.2% | $10,516,420 | $130,204 | $126,704 | 97.3% | $128,000 | 68 |
Bellefonte | 283 | 17.6% | $52,922,666 | $190,009 | $187,006 | 98.4% | $173,000 | 86 |
Philipsburg Oceola | 99 | 6.2% | $8,791,694 | $92,900 | $88,805 | 95.6% | $75,000 | 99 |
Penns Valley | 79 | 4.9% | $13,221,830 | $173,820 | $167,365 | 96.3% | $142,000 | 72 |
State College | 906 | 56.5% | $220,128,935 | $248,943 | $242,968 | 97.6% | $210,000 | 69 |
All | 1,450 | . | $305,581,545 | $167,175 | $162,570 | 97.25% | . | 79 |
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