There is some good real estate news to report in the Harrisburg PA real estate. Really!! The number of homes sold in January increased slightly when compared to January 2011. And the number of homes that are under contract, but not sold, increased by approximately 10% over the end of 2011. Yes, when you review the selected numbers below you can see that not every area had an increase in the average sales price compared to 2011 and yes the days on market increased slightly in some areas. And I also know that one month is not a trend but I do see some improvement in our local market. When you see an increase in the monthly sales numbers, year over year and especially in January, you should take that as an indication of something good occurring. Also, since the beginning of February and totally unscientific I observed an impressive number of new listings go under contract within two weeks of being introduced to the market. Additionally, in conversation with Realtors® and mortgage lenders there appears an increase in buyer and seller activity.

Does this mean that we should have a party celebrating the return of the real estate market in our area? Not quite. There is much more to accomplish such as consumers having faith in the economy, homeowners believing that they can sell their homes, even with less than what they paid for it a few years ago, and believe that the next real estate purchase will be more equitable in the long run.  In my opinion we will experience some two steps forward and the one step back but in my 20 years we have had challenges before in real estate and we will see some more but if you look back ten years and what positives happened to real estate values we will see a much more positive market ahead. Examples I can point to are the historically low interest rate environment and the large inventory of homes to choose from.

The below examples of pricing encompass a large geographic area and if you are looking for some type of report that is more specific please let me know and I will initiate a Neighborhood Area Report for you which can be both more property and price specific. Please drop me a note at Don@DonRoth.com and request the report. Or you may search at your own convenience by logging on to, www.DonRoth.com and click on the search listings tab to see what is currently for sale in all neighborhoods of the Harrisburg area.

 

West Shore

School District

 

School                       2011                          2012              Days on Market

Camp Hill                    $149,850                     $225,733         56/61

Carlisle                        $195,349                     $148,285         124/142

Cumberland Valley    $242,919                     $248,766         97/110

East Pennsboro          $158,393                     $141,413         126/130

Mechanicsburg          $193,322                     $171,100         111/232

Northern York             $228,238                     $164,137         129/183                      

West Shore                $231,313                     $144,299         119/124

 

East Shore

School District

 

School                       2011                          2012              Days on Market

Central Dauphin        $178,259                     $165,859         132/129

Derry Township         $193,822                     $219,950         106/118

Harrisburg                  $ 44,505                      $ 46,022          115/141

Lower Dauphin          $230,865                     $186,973         154/112

Middletown               $143,675                     $186,973         112/166

Steel High                   $ 48,750                      $ 28,066          95/124

Susquehanna Twp     $158,634                     $142,427         115/104