Market Trends May 2008 ~ Months Supply of Inventory*

The Months Supply of Inventory (MSI), Tredyffrin Township, comparison from May 2006 to May 2008 shows a drop in the number of days on the market beginning in January 2008 and an overall MSI of 7.5 Months. This is a significant increase over May of 2007 at 3.0 months. However, May of 2007 was very low and as we now know, not sustainable. If you take a look at the Average Days On The market for sold properties in the period, you can see that while there are many choices for Buyers, homes that are well priced, in good condition and desirable locations are selling in a reasonable number of days.

Buyers Market? Sellers Market? ~ read more at Main Line Pa Today

Homes For Sale Tredyffrin - Months Supply of Inventory

Wilson Farm Park In Tredyffrin Township -Free Summer 2008 Concert Series

Beginning Thursday, June 19th from 7pm to 9pm, the Summer in the Park Concert Series is the place to be in Tredyffrin Township. The series opens with Blackthorn, the popular Irish Rock Band. All of the concerts in the series will be held at the Shire Pavilion.

Blackthorn performs throughout the area and they have been a popular draw for previous concerts in the Park.

The Wilson Farm Park Summer Concert Series offers a rousing Summer evening treat for good family fun with friends and neighbors.

Daisy likes it too She never gets tired of being charming and hearing, “she’s so cuuuute”!

More about all upcoming concerts at Main Line Pa Today!

Blackthorn Performs At Wilson Farm Park In Tredyffrin

Bus Routes in Tredyffrin Township

Will First Time Buyer’s Necessity Meet The Mother of Invention?

We’re very fortunate on the Philadelphia Main Line and Tredyffrin Township when it comes to transportation. At least, that’s what we tell ourselves. After all, don’t we have the fabulous convenience of the R5 Train Paoli/Thorndale to Philadelphia? But how many train stations can you actually walk to and from? You know, just in case you wanted to go “green” and leave the gas guzzler home?

Where can you really go in Tredyffrin Township if your car’s in for service? Or if you don’t have a car at all? Or Gas prices get even more crazed than they already are?

A recent call from a First Time Home Buyer got me thinking that maybe our public transportation system is not as “public” friendly as it could be.

Read more about the 5 Bus Routes in Tredyffrin Township and First Time Home Buyers Condos in Chesterbrook and Luxury Townhomes in Tredyffrin Easttown at MainLinePaToday.com

Tredyffrin Township - Planes ~ Trains ~ Buses

Tredyffrin Township - Average Sold Price March 2008

A two year comparison of the Average Real Estate Sold Price for a home in Tredyffrin Township, Pa between March of 2006 and March of 2008 shows a decline of 5.64% over March of 2006 where the Average Sold Price of a home was $415,112.

In March of 2008 the Average Sold Price for a Home in Tredyffrin Township was $391,679.

Average Sold Price/Median Sold Price/Average Days On Market:

Data courtesy of Trend MLS and Terradatum is deemed accurate but not guaranteed.

For More Average Sold Price, Median Sold Price Comparisons Visit

Tredyffrin Township - Average Sold Price March 2008

The Free WiFi Yellow Brick Road

As a Real Estate Agent, I’ve been in search of Oz or the Holy Grail of Real Estate, the Paperless Transaction, and the Wizard of the Free WiFi connection.

The truth is, it’s not easy to find the yellow brick road of a Free WiFi connection along the Philadelphia Main Line and Western Suburbs. And we still kill a lot of trees in real estate. I now have all of my records stored in my computer AND on paper. Now that we’re mostly wired in real estate, we might be tempted to look back with some disdain for the old MLS Books, 3X5 cards and “runners” to deliver contracts. But not so fast, we still have one foot in, and one foot out, of the technology revolution.

“BL” ( before laptop), I often lugged around 3 or 4 trade show canvas bags filled with lock boxes and MLS Map Books, etc stashed in the trunk of my car.

Today, my Garmin GPS gets me there without too many Realtor U Turns and my IBM Think Pad dreams of replacing stacks of paper………….when I can get connected. Stay tuned. I’ve got some “hot” Hot Spots for you right here on the Main Line and Western Suburbs.

If you live on the West Coast and you’re reading this, you’re probably thinking, “What’s she talking about, when I can get connected?”

My Dream Free WiFi Real Estate Cafe

The last time I visited family in California, we had lunch in a cute little cafe. It was no bigger than the famous Hymie’s in Bala Cynwyd, Nudy’s in Berwyn or Our Deli in Paoli. But, they were wired. You know, like Free WiFi Wired. Several people, one looked like a Realtor with a client, just lounged about on a sunny California day, multi-tasking, enjoying a smoothie and a “crunchy lunch”. It was awesome.

One can only dream! So, for my Main Line Pa Today friends here’s my right coast Philadelphia Main Line Western Suburbs list of some potential Free WiFi Hotspots. They do come and go, however so best to check ahead. Ahh, can’t you just taste the smoothies and feel the magic warmth of the California sun?

Read more of my list of free WiFi Hotspots...

Get Your “Hot” Hot Spots Here - Main Line Pa Today

Rita’s Water Ice - Philadelphia Main Line Style “Yums”

Rita’s Water Ice In The Chesterbrook Shopping Center, Wayne Pa is on my Yums List of places to stop and relax with a client or with my favorite little people. As the days get longer and the temperatures rise, a refreshing “raspberry” or “lemon” Italian Water Ice cools the spirits. Rita’s is made with fresh fruit juice daily in a multitude of flavors and it’s fat free! Outside tables, the signature green, red and white stripes, charming umbrellas and the occasional local band will get your foot tapping. If you have some “little people” in tow, you might take a quick stroll over to Wilson Park and let them climb the jungle gym.

Rita’s also has Frozen Custard, with sprinkles or try a decadent “Blendini” with Frozen Custard and Oreo Cookie Chips. Can’t make up your mind, try the Misto a smooth blend of fruit ice and frozen custard. Get your card stamped. You’ll want to come back for sure. After 10 visits, you get a “freebie”.

Chesterbrook

The Community of Chesterbrook is a delightful, mostly town home community of over 4,600 residents located in the 19087 Wayne Zip Code. Chesterbrook, known as a Planned Unit Development, or PUD, in real estate terms, is an excellent real estate investment. There will always be a need for town homes and condos in a great school district.

Chesterbrook is located just off of the Route 202/Devon Interchange and features Twenty-six Villages and two Single Family Communities with it’s own shopping center and Chesterbrook Corporate Center.

It would make my life easier if Chesterbrook had it’s own distinct zip code and Post Office, then I wouldn’t get questions from relocating clients like, “can I walk to Wayne from Chesterbrook?”. Only if you’re fifteen or a world class sprinter!

Yums In Chesterbrook, Wayne Pa! Read more about how The Zip Code always wins at MainLinePaToday

For the 30 days ending April 28, 2008 in the 3 nearest townships, there were 68 single family and twin homes that settled. The average discount off the original asking price rose slightly to 93.6%, staying close to the discounts seen over this spring selling season. Four homes sold for 100% or more of their asking prices. Sixteen sold for 98% or more of asking price. There was no clear reason for the few homes selling with the largest discount this month-they varied by price and age. The tendency to offer seller concessions continued, with four paying in the $10,000 range and one paying $15,000. These could include amounts for repairs of payment of some of the buyers' closing costs.

Days on the market varied significantly from 1 to 548, with 15 homes selling in less than 11 days. The average of 68 days is down from last month.

*This report is based on the Trend Multiple Listing statistics reported by the selling agents under an agreement that requires compliance. The statistics can therefore be deemed as accurate as available. (Days on the market can be skewed if the listing is taken off the MLS and re-listed with a new date.)

The chart below gives a broader view of all residential home sales (including townhouses and condos) in the 3 surrounding counties for March of this year compared to one year ago. Totals are off but the discounts are not significantly deeper. Days on the market statistics demonstrate that we are not at the point that we were last year when a third to a half of homes sold within 30 days.

Chesterbrook is a 28 year old development that is well liked in our area, for more information go to Homes in Chesterbrook on our website for information about developments, shops, restaurants, the Valley Forge Suites Hotel and offices that all make up Chesterbrook.

Chesterbrook has for a while tried to obtain it's own zip code. I don't know what is happening with that right now. Currently it is part of Wayne, which is weird as Wayne is in Delaware County and Chesterbrook is in Chester County, Wayne is Radnor Township and Chesterbrook is Tredyffrin, even the school district is different. Having a new zip code would help solve the confusion in my opinion, what do you think?

Real Estate is Local!

As much as you read and hear in the media about the crashing real estate market you must always remember real estate is local. As we do not have a national weather forecast so the real estate market varies from area to area. What is happening in Boston, San Francisco, Miami, Detroit is not the same as is happening in Philadelphia. And what is happening in Philadelphia is not the same as is happening in Chester, Delaware or Montgomery Counties. And what is happening in the counties is not necessarily the same as is happening at township level in Tredyffrin. On top of this the market also varies by price bracket as well.

So let's look at some comparisons for 2006 and 2007 for the different townships locally using information provided by Trend our local MLS. As you can see this information is split by price brackets and into home sales and condos.

In 2007 one home more sold in Tredyffrin than 2006 in total, how these sales were made up is also interesting, 5 more million or million plus dollar homes sold than 2006, the lower price ranges saw less sales up to $350,000 with 16 less homes selling in 2007 than 2006, there was a jump in the $800-850,000 bracket with an extra five homes selling, but in all other price ranges sales were pretty similar year on year.

Where there was a big difference was in condo sales with a big drop of 40 less condos being sold in 2007 than 2006. I know in Old forge Crossing there was a drop of about 23 sales less in 2007 than 2006 and the other sales were probably in Chesterbrook. The price range most affected here was $150-250,000.

Another interesting point is that sellers are getting just a little less than they were in 2006 in relation to their asking price, this number falling by about only 1%. Days on market did seem to increase for houses, not so much for condos; there also are fewer homes on the market, by about 10% for houses and 20% for condos which may account for the lesser increase in days on market for condos.