Buyer Information

Where Is The Wallingford Inventory?

March 23, 2012 by admin

Wallingford Real Estate - Listing Inventory By Price Range - Wallingford, PA

Wallingford PA Listing Inventory

Heading into what is hopefully a busy Spring weekend in Wallingford real estate there are 118 listings currently available for sale in our local market. A quick look at the distribution of local listings finds the majority of the homes are for sale in two price ranges – $100,000 to $200,000, and the $300,000 to $400,000 range.

The lower range is dominated by 14 listings in the Wallingford Valley complex consisting of Putnam Village, Weston Village, Danbury Village, and Saybrook Village. These homes represent both two bedroom condominiums and townhouses.

The heart of the Wallingford single family home market is represented in the $300,000 to $400,000 range with 34 listings. Not dominated by any one development, but largely comprised of 19 listings with 4 bedrooms, 12 three bedroom homes, with a few 5 bedroom homes in the mix as well. This is the traditional heart of our local market, with the average asking price today coming in at $306,997. There are 4 townhouses located in the Mills At Rose Valley in this group, but it consists of mostly detached homes.

Atypically there are not a lot of homes available in the $500,000 plus range at this time, only 12 out of the 118 homes listed.

For a detailed look at the Wallingford homes that are you could tour this weekend, browse the single family and townhouse/condominium listings available.

Wallingford Real Estate – Wallingford, PA 19086

Not All Home Remodeling Projects Are Created Equal

March 11, 2012 by admin

Remodeling Magazine has released it’s 2010 vs 2011 Cost vs Value index that evaluates the cost of 35 popular home remodeling projects against the projected value at resale. To no surprise not all home remodeling projects are created equal, and not all home remodeling projects return is the same at resale.

An oft hear comment by sellers could not be further from the truth:

I put in over $50,000 in improvements, I want to get it all back

The four highest value add improvements cited are:

– Steel Exterior Door Replacement – 102.1%

– Garage Door Replacement – 83.9%

– Minor Kitchen Remodel – 72.8%

– Wood Deck Addition – 72.8%

The four projects that yielded the lowest return:

– Home Office Remodel – 45.8%

– Backup Power Generator – 48.5%

– Sunroom Addition – 48.6%

– Bathroom Addition – 53.3%

Check out the return for the 35 projects in the Middle Atlantic region.

When choosing a remodeling project for your home there are two important things to remember. Keep the project in line with other homes in your neighborhood. If you want to recoup the highest amount of your project investment do not over improve for your area. Secondly, regardless of the home improvements you make, do not expect to get your investment back dollar for dollar at resale.

Wallingford Real Estate – Wallingford, PA 19086

FHA Mortgage Premiums Set To Rise Again

March 11, 2012 by admin

Mortgage insurance premiums for FHA loans will increase for the fifth straight year, commencing with loans registered after April 1, 2012.

This increase is deemed necessary by the FHA to cover projected future losses due to mortgage defaults. The FHA – Federal Housing Administration does not make mortgages, rather it insures mortgages for qualified lenders.

The term FHA Insured would be more appropriate to describe the relationship between the FHA and the lending institutions that underwrite such loans.

FHA mortgage insurance consists of two parts – an Upfront Mortgage Insurance Premium, also known as UFMIP and the Annual Mortgage Insurance Premium. UFMIP rates will rise from the current 1.0% of the loan amount to 1.75% of the loan amount.

The annual premium will be rise to 1.20% of the loan amount compared to the current 1.10%. Monthly mortgage insurance is determined by the formula: (Loan Size) * 1.20 / 12. This annual increase cited is for Loan To Value ratios LTV – the ratio of your down payment to the loan size – under 95% or less.

FHA loans are popular with buyers who do not have sufficient down payment funds to qualify for a conventional loan. A FHA loan down payments can be as little as 3.5%. This mortgage is also available to buyers with less than perfect credit. Lenders will consider a buyer with FICO credit scores of 640.

On average this upcoming increase will add an approximately $30 a month to the monthly cost of a a borrower’s monthly payment.

Wallingford Real Estate – Wallingford, PA 19086

Wallingford PA Real Estate – February 2012

March 2, 2012 by admin

Wallingford Real Estate - Wallingford, PA - Strath Haven High School - Boys Track Team - 2012 Indoor Track State Champions

WALLINGFORD PA REAL ESTATE – FEBRUARY 2012

Februrary Wallingford PA sales bested February 2011 by 5 units – 9 homes sold versus 4 in February 2011. The average price registered a 5 percent increase over last year, but the percentage of selling price to original price fell a little over 9% to 9.12%. This indicates that overall the initial asking prices of these homes sold was high relative to the selling price. On average these listings needed multiple price reductions before bringing the asking price in line with the market. One listing had 8 price reductions before selling, the average was 4 price reductions – only two of this group sold without reducing their initial asking price. This ultimately translates into more time on the market – it took longer to sell this year than last year – 30 days longer on average.

There were 9 Wallingford PA homes sold in February 2012.

WALLINGFORD PA HOMES SOLD – FEBRUARY 2012

Address	Bed	Bath	Price	Settled
511 Avondale Road	3	2.0	$230,000	02/10/2012
214 Fairfield Drive	3	2.5	$275,000	02/14/2012
704 Hartford Court	3	1.0	$99,500	02/15/2012
444 Washington Avenue	2	1.0	$83,500	02/15/2012
722 Beechwood Road	3	2.0	$243,000	02/17/2012
404 East Country Club Lane	4	2.0	$358,900	02/23/2012
103 Stratford Lane	4	2.5	$545,000	02/28/2012
104 Beatty Road	3	2.5	$305,000	02/29/2012
306 Denver Court	2	1.0	$45,100	02/29/2012

These 9 Wallingford PA homes were on the market an average of 190 days, with the average sold price representing 84.088% of the original asking price, and 96.52% of the last asking price.

Days On Market

-511 Avondale Road – 222 days

– 214 Fairfield Drive – 290 days

– 704 Hartford Court – 296 days

– 444 Washington Avenue – 173 days

– 722 Beechwood Road – 266 days

– 404 East Country Club Drive – 221 days

– 103 Stratford Lane – 193 days

– 104 Beatty Road – 42 days

– 306 Denver Court – 3 days

Financing Methods

– Conventional Mortgage -6 transactions

– Cash – 2 transactions

– FHA Mortgage – 1 transaction

A Seller Assist was utilized in 5 of the 9 Wallingford PA homes sold.

– 511 Avondale Road – $250

– 214 Fairfield Drive – $8,000

– 722 Beechwood Road – $7,290

– 404 East Country Club Drive – $18,000

– 104 Beatty Road – $16,000

No distressed sales – Short Sales or Bank Owned Foreclosures were reported.

Wallingford February 2012 Activity vs February 2011

	*SALES*	*AVERAGE*	*DOM*	*STL TO ORIG*	*STL TO LAST*
2011	4	$231,200	160	93.20%	95.49%
2012	9	$242,778	190	84.08%	96.52%
	125.0%	5.0%	18.6%	-9.12%	1.03%

In March 11 of the currently 19 Pending listings are scheduled to settle, with 6 scheduled to settle in April.

SWARTHMORE REAL ESTATE – FEBRUARY 2012

Wallingford Real Estate - Swarthmore College - Cunningham House - Swarthmore, PA

Late Winter Color At Scott Arboretum's Cunningham House

3 Swarthmore homes sold during the month of February 2012.

SWARTHMORE HOMES SOLD – FEBRUARY 2012

Address	Bed	Bath	Price	Settled
624 Magill Road	3	2.5	$333,000	02/03/2012
801 Yale Avenue – Unit 1030	2	2.0	$150,000	02/21/2012
200 Bowdin Avenue	3	1.5	$128,000	02/28/2012

February 2012 Swarthmore home sales increased by 2 units over February 2011. Three Swarthmore homes sold for an average price of $203,667, and were on the market an average of 94 days, fetching 86.28%% of original asking price.

When compared with February 2011, Days On Market decreased by just over 9%, about 10 days on average.

Days On Market

– 624 Magill Road – 40 days

– 801 Yale Avenue – Unit 1030 – 95 days

– 200 Bowdin Avenue – 147 days

Financing Methods

– Conventional Mortgage – 2 transactions

– Cash – 1 transaction

No distressed sales – Short Sales or Bank Owned Foreclosures were reported.

Swarthmore February 2012 Activity vs February 2011

	*SALES*	*AVERAGE*	*DOM*	*STL TO ORIG*	*STL TO LAST*
2011	1	$295,000	104	86.76%	90.77%
2012	3	$203,667	94	86.28%	86.28%
	200.0%	-30.9%	-9.6%	-0.48%	-4.49%

Looking ahead, 5 of 9 currently Pending listings are slated to settle in March, 4 in April, and 2 in May.

Wallingford Real Estate – Wallingford, PA 19086

Completed Foreclosures Drop Nationwide In 2011

February 9, 2012 by admin

National real estate news, while many times more dire than our local situation, does have a bearing on the psyche and mindset of local of buyers and sellers. Positive real estate news on at a national level is seldom heard these days. A large decrease in the number of nationwide foreclosures reported yesterday may signal that the worst of the foreclosure mess is behind us.

830,000 completed foreclosures for the year 2011 were reported this week by CoreLogic, a leading real estate information provider. This represents a 24% drop in completed foreclosures from the 1.1 million reported in 2010. While this is a positive trend, the report cited that there are still 1.4 million homes in foreclosure nationwide – a number that represents 3.4% of all homes with a mortgage. Approximately one third of all homeowners own their homes outright with no mortgage.

Specifically Florida has the dubious distinction of leading the county with the highest foreclosure inventory of 11.9% – Wyoming is at the bottom of the pack with a 0.7% foreclosure inventory. Pennsylvania has a 2.6% foreclosure inventory. Figures are as of December 2011.

Nationwide there have been 3.2 million completed foreclosures since the “financial crisis” started in September 2008.

In the local Wallingford PA market 9 of 136 homes, representing 6.6% of sales reported for the year 2011 in the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), were completed Bank Owned Foreclosures. In 2010 the percentage was slightly lower at 6.4% – 8 out of 125 reported sales.

The foreclosure problem affects all homeowners, simply due to the fact that completed foreclosures can sell for as much as 12% to 17% less than a comparable non-foreclosure sale.

The foreclosure crisis is not going away anytime soon, but any positive news regarding this critical segment of the market is a good sign, even if it is at a national level.

Wallingford Real Estate – Wallingford, PA 19086

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WALLINGFORD PA REAL ESTATE – FEBRUARY 2012

WALLINGFORD PA HOMES SOLD – FEBRUARY 2012

SWARTHMORE REAL ESTATE – FEBRUARY 2012

SWARTHMORE HOMES SOLD – FEBRUARY 2012

S. Clark Kendus