Jim Weeks

A couple of years ago we got a call from a friend, like so many other folks, his daughter and son-in-law had gotten themselves in some financial trouble and were losing their home. Being proud, they had not told anyone until the wheels had been turning for a while. Our friend asked us if we could help, but unfortunately it was too late...foreclosure and bankruptcy were imminent.

We were able to get them into a nice rental home, nothing fancy, but it served the needs of their fairly large family very well.

Since the financial difficluties had stemmed from a layoff, the affected couple took whatever work they could find and managed to make ends meet.

Fast-forward: after working his butt off, starting his own business, paying off their old debts, this hard-working family just purchased a new home. Not that this isn't enough, the new home is at least twice as large as the old one, has a great vaulted ceiling in the family room, a large finished lower level, etc...etc...etc. Best of all was the tears of joy from her and the look on his face as she thanked him for all he did.

Sometimes I really love this business.........

Ok.....statistics and numbers can be quite boring, but they do serve a purpose. So let's see if we can present the latest stats in a useful way.

Chester County first:

January 2011 January 2010

Homes available for Sale 3300 3263

Homes that went pending 304 310

Absorption Rate 9.5 mos 9 mos

(Inventory Accumulation)

Homes that settled (sold) 236 218

Median Settled Price $300,000 $322,000

And now for Delaware County

Homes available for Sale 3335 3028

Homes that went pending 247 323

Absorption Rate 9.6 mos 7.7 mos

(Inventory Accumulation)

Homes that settled (sold) 199 224

Median Settled Price $215,000 $187,000

Please remember that these are just numbers, intended to give a high-level overview of market conditions. Also, they were compiled by our local MLS provider, I would personally calculate things a bit differently, but for consistency I thought it best to follow their lead.

In future posts, we will take a closer look at some of these and delve into what (we think) they actually mean.

Until then.....feel free to send any and all questions.....