by Jay Goldstein

The Philadelphia Business Journal wrote an interesting article, “Greater Philadelphia home prices are dropping as inventory rises, report says” detailing the current housing market. Let’s look at some of the details.

  • The latest monthly housing report from Realtor.com shows that the median listing price in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metro area was $321,000 in August — a decrease of 6.4% year over year and down about 1% from July. Total new listings increased 13% year over year. Hesitant sellers, fearful of an economic turndown, are now confident of selling in this environment making the market more competitive and lowering prices.
  • About 20% of homes listed for sale in the Philadelphia metro had reduced asking prices in August. A senior economist with Realtor.com described Philadelphia as “migrating toward normalization.”
  • In addition, smaller. affordable “starter homes” are hitting the market. This is attractive to first time homebuyers who were sidelined in the overheated market. Here again, this burst of activity is bringing down the median listing prices – in Philly, as well.

This realtor.com report is encouraging. All indicators are pointing to more stable pricing in the Philadelphia region for a brisk fall season increasing my confidence in the regional real estate market. Through our sweet spot — faster than a bank and less expensive than a hard money lender — we are proud of the role that we have played in “growing our neighborhoods” by providing over $500 million in loans to build or renovate more than $750 million in investment real estate in the last five years.”