Whats Going on in the Real Estate World of Bucks County?

Bucks County Real Estate Podcast with Martin Millner, REALTOR®

The real estate world of Bucks County has been very interesting. Today, we compare the countywide market figures to some of the individual markets within the county. Buying a Bucks County area home? Perform a full home search Selling your Bucks County home? Get a free Home Price Evaluation It’s an interesting year in the real estate world of Bucks County. The number of homes for sale is down 14% at the end of the third quarter compared to last year. That’s a pretty significant change in terms of how many houses there are on the market. We’ve seen more significant price appreciation throughout the county this year than we have in any year since the real estate decline of 2007 to 2009. The average price of a house sold in Bucks County has increased 4.5%. The other dynamic that’s interesting is that we’ve actually seen fewer homes on the market, and the number of transactions closed is actually higher—about 3.2% more homes settled. To put that in perspective, that number represents about 5,644 houses that have actually closed in the county. The average days on market is 58 days. This is a countywide figure, and some of the individual markets within Bucks County were a little bit different. What’s going on in Lower Makefield Township compared with the county? Well, the inventory level in the township is actually down over 24%, which is a really significant decrease in the number of houses that are on the market. The average sale price as of the end of the third quarter is up 5.8%, a little more than what we see in the countywide figure. “WE’VE SEEN MORE SIGNIFICANT PRICE APPRECIATION THROUGHOUT THE COUNTY THIS YEAR THAN WE HAVE IN ANY YEAR SINCE THE REAL ESTATE DECLINE OF 2007 TO 2009.” The big takeaway for Lower Makefield is that there’s only 4.9 months of inventory on the market right now. We consider the market to be balanced when there are only six months of inventory, so it means it’s a seller’s market if you’re looking for a house in Lower Makefield. The difference between the days on market for Newtown Township and the countywide figure is really pronounced. Believe it or not, the inventory is down 40% compared to this time last year. There were 112 houses on the market in Newtown last year, and this year there were 67. There’s only a 2.9-month supply of inventory, which wouldn’t indicate that the dynamics are favoring sellers. Another interesting dynamic in Newtown is the average sold price as of the end of the third quarter is only up about 1.2%. The average days on market is 39 days. For Upper Makefield, the dynamic is similar but skewed by the number of houses that are on the market for over $1 million. Inventory is down about 7%. However, there’s about a 10.7-month supply of inventory due to the number of high-priced homes there. In fact, there’s an almost 19-month backlog of inventory specifically for houses priced over a million dollars. The takeaway is pretty similar to what we’ve seen through the year: low inventory with prices somewhat appreciating at a level we haven’t seen in awhile. It can be challenging for buyers, but anecdotally, I would say I’ve seen activity drop over the past several weeks with my listings. It will be interesting to see how that plays out statistically. If you have questions, shoot me a text or an email. I’d be happy to speak with you.