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Your Guide to the Suburban Philadelphia Real Estate Market
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Main Line Real Estate News

August 2017
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Our newsletter is focused on keeping you current with national, regional, and local real estate news. We read hundreds of articles each month and strive to share the most relevant, impactful information with you.  We hope you find value in the content and we appreciate you taking the time to read it.  If you, or anyone you know, is looking to buy or sell real estate we would welcome the opportunity to discuss our qualifications to assist.  

MARKET ACTIVITY
 
YTD SETTLED TRANSACTIONS BY COUNTY
 JULY 16             JULY 17         %Change
Chester County                                        3,657                 3,870                  5.8%                                                
Delaware County                                     3,695                 3,877                  4.9%      
Montgomery County                                5,673                 5,900                  4.0%       

PENDING TRANSACTIONS BY COUNTY 
    JULY 16            JULY 17          %Change 
Chester County                                          579                    630                    8.8%     
Delaware County                                       506                    562                  11.1%    
Montgomery County                                  841                    867                    3.1%  
    

REAL ESTATE NEWS

Inventory still declining and home prices are on the rise.  Listings in July typically went under contract in under 30 days for the fourth consecutive month because of high buyer demand.  However, existing home sales ultimately pulled back as large declines in the northeast and midwest outweighed sales increases in the south and west.  Total existing-home sales slipped 1.3 percent to a rate of 5.44 million in July from 5.51 million in June. July’s sales pace is still 2.1 percent above a year ago, but is the lowest of 2017.
 
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, says the second half of the year got off on a somewhat sour note as existing sales in July inched backward. “Buyer interest in most of the country has held up strongly this summer and homes are selling fast, but the negative effect of not enough inventory to choose from and its pressure on overall affordability put the brakes on what should’ve been a higher sales pace,” he said. “Contract activity has mostly trended downward since February and ultimately put a large dent on closings last month.” 
 
The median existing-home price for all housing types in July was up 6.2 percent from July 2016. July’s price increase marks the 65th straight month of year-over-year gains. Total housing inventory at the end of July declined 1.0 percent to 1.92 million existing homes available for sale, and is now 9.0 percent lower than a year ago and has fallen year-over-year for 26 consecutive months. Unsold inventory is at a 4.2-month supply at the current sales pace, which is down from 4.8 months a year ago.  “Home prices are still rising above incomes and way too fast in many markets,” said Yun. Properties typically stayed on the market for 30 days in July, which is up from 28 days in June but down from 36 days a year ago. Fifty-one percent of homes sold in July were on the market for less than a month. Source:  National Association of Realtors

U.S. News & World Report released its annual rankings of the best hospitals in the country for 2017-18, assessing more than 4,500 medical centers in the U.S. in 25 specialties, procedures and conditions.  In Pennsylvania, Hospitals of the University of Pennsylvania-Penn Presbyterian was ranked as the number one hospital in the state.  Three hospitals in the state made the ranking's honor roll. Those hospitals are: Penn Presbyterian; UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside in Pittsburgh; and Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals in Philadelphia.  According to U.S News: "The Best Hospitals Honor Roll takes both the specialty rankings and the procedure and condition ratings into account. Hospitals received points if they were nationally ranked in one of the 16 specialties – the more specialties and the higher their rank, the more points they received – and also if they were rated "high performing" in the nine procedures and conditions. The top 20 scores made up the Honor Roll, which has a maximum total of 480 points."  The methodology used by U.S. News to come up with the best in state rankings is based largely on objective measures with more than 70 percent of the rankings relying on such data. The rankings also took into account survey answers from more than 125,000 physicians across the country about reputation.  According to the rankings, the best hospitals in our region are: 1 - Hospitals of the University of Pennsylvania-Penn Presbyterian, 3 - Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals, 7 - Lankenau Medical Center, 9 - Penn Medicine Chester County Hospital, 12 - Bryn Mawr Hospital, 15 - Paoli Hospital.  To view the complete list go to: http://health.usnews.com/best-hospitals.  Source: Radnor Patch 
Chester County retail center sells for $11M.  A fund affiliated with Crow Holdings Capital has acquired a retail center in the Chesterbrook Corporate Center for $11.45 million, according to Chester County property records. The 31,000-square-foot Chesterbrook Shopping Center was sold by a partnership involving RW Capital Partners Inc., a Plymouth Meeting real estate investment company that owns the property along with Valley Forge Investment Corp. and RLD Land Development. That partnership has been redeveloping the site, where a 123,000-square-foot center once stood, since buying it in foreclosure in 2013.  The team came up with a plan to create a mixed-use community on the property and that plan has been executed. It involved razing two sides of the original center, retaining 31,000 square feet of it, putting on a new façade and leasing the spaces.  In addition to the retail portion, a new 123-unit townhouse development called Parkview at Chesterbrook was also part of the plans and those units have been steadily going up and selling. Parkview is expected to be completed next year.  Constructed in 1981, the original center had once thrived when a Genuardi’s supermarket was its anchor but as time went on, competition ate into its sales and it eventually closed. The lack of pedestrian and vehicular traffic combined with poor visibility also hurt the center. The property was sold to its current developer at an auction for nearly $9 million.  Source: Philadelphia Business Journal 
Vanguard planning new building on Malvern campus.  Vanguard Group plans to construct another office building on the 87-acre plot of land it acquired five years ago from Pfizer. The proposed structure would be between 180,000 and 240,000 square feet. While Vanguard has initiated the process to obtain zoning and planning approval, its board of directors has yet to sign off on the plan.  In 2012, Vanguard agreed to pay an estimated $40 million to buy the 87 acres, which contained a three-building Pfizer complex, adjacent to its original campus. The massive property has allowed the investment management company to expand by another 390,000 square feet in two additional office buildings, but those buildings are “essentially full.”  Source: Philadelphia Business Journal
Lower Merion boards recommend approval of hotels at Pencoyd Iron Works site.  The Lower Merion Township Planning Commission and the Building and Planning Committee recommended approval of a plan to construct two hotels and other amenities on a portion of the former Pencoyd Iron Works site in Bala Cynwyd. Penn Real Estate Group plans to construct one hotel with 124 rooms and a second hotel with 138 rooms on a site between the new Royal Athena apartments and the Aquatic Fitness Center on Righters Ferry Road. The plan will also provide public access to a gathering space that will be called Pencoyd Square. There will be a café and a trail that township officials hope will one day reach the Falls Bridge in Philadelphia. The Board of Commissioners will review the plans for approval.  Source: Main Line Times
Repurpose Bishop Tube site.  State Rep. Duane D. Milne of Malvern would like to see the contaminated tract of land in East Whiteland Township, referred to as the Bishop Tube site, become the new Malvern Train Station. Milne issued the following statement to outline his vision: “In conjunction with achieving proper environmental remediation, I am calling for a creative repurposing strategy for the site centered on Transit Oriented Development (TOD). This economic and environmentally conscious dual approach will require relatively little footprint of the parcel’s total acreage for commercial application, while conserving considerable space to convert into a park and usable open space. This innovative approach will satisfy many competing demands and desires in our area.” He cited challenges with the current Malvern Train Station facilities and layout. He noted that a TOD, with partnership from a private commercial entity to assume some ownership and environmental cleanup, could allow for land preservation at the site.  Source: Daily Local 

Once again, according to Niche, some of the best school districts in Pennsylvania (and the U.S.) are in our region: 1- Tredyffrin-Easttown School District, 2- Radnor Township School District, 4-Lower Merion School District, 9-Great Valley School District.  In addition, TE School District was ranked the #2 school overall in the U.S. and Radnor School District was ranked #3.  To arrive at these rankings, Niche looked at data from the U.S. Department of Education as well as test scores, college data, and ratings collected from Niche users. The methodology for each category of ranking varied. (Click here for more information on how Niche calculates its rankings.)  Niche assigns a standardized score for each factor, which is then weighted before an overall score is calculated for each school district. The overall scores are again standardized and some districts are disqualified from receiving a final letter grade if there isn’t enough data. School districts are then ranked numerically and assigned grades.  Source: Radnor Patch

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Brendan Reilly
Crescent Real Estate LLC
101 E. Lancaster Avenue, Suite 304
Wayne, PA 19087
P: 215.510.2992 , F: 866.836.7013
E: brendan@crescentrealestate.net
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