Page 5 - Main Line Today - Top Realtors 2021

“IT’S A TERRIBLE CONVERSATION
TO HAVE TO CALL SOMEONE AND TELL THEM THERE WERE 30 OTHER PEOPLE WHO WANTED A HOUSE AND THEY DIDN’T GET IT.”
—WEST CHESTER-BASED REALTOR DEREK DONATELLI
HOT ... AND NOT
Median Home Price
1-Year Change
Median Days on the Market
Chadds Ford Twp.
$617,500
129%
15
Downingtown
$355,000
30%
4
Tredyffrin Twp.
$550,000
24%
5
Conshohocken
$375,000
14%
7
Radnor Twp.
$752,500
11%
9
West Chester
$434,750
10%
6
Media
$362,500
5%
17
West Goshen Twp.
$459,450
5%
5
Thornbury Twp. (Chesco)
$532,450
2%
10
Easttown Twp.
$685,000
-1%
25
Thornbury Twp. (Delco)
$520,000
-2%
17
East Goshen Twp.
$361,000
-8%
5
Kennett Square
$280,000
-8%
8
within walking distance of an elementary school sold for $740,000. That’s $411 a square foot.
In Kennett Square, where median time on the market is a scant five days, home prices are up 19 percent over last year, according to statistics from Tri-County Suburban Realtors and Bright MLS.
In Tredyffrin Township, the median
price is now $540,500, up 18 percent. West Chester’s median price has spiked to 17 percent, with available homes lasting just a week on the market. Prices in Radnor and Media are up 11 percent.
Demand is sparked, in part, by low mortgage rates. The increased ability
to work remotely is also whetting buyers’ appetites for larger homes in suburban locations. “Many buyers who are telecommuting are seeking home features that could function as a space to use for working from home, such as a basement or a den,” says Keller Williams Montgomeryville’s Joshua McKnight, who’s also chairman of Tri-County Suburban Realtors.
Buyers from New York and Philadelphia are propelling a mini boom in the sale of $1 million-plus homes. Shirley Booth recently listed homes at $1.275 million and $1.35 million. Both were under contract within five days. “Two years ago, I would’ve told the seller to expect to be on the market up to
180 days,” says the agent with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Fox & Roach in Media. “Now I advise everyone, no matter what their price is, to clean up and pack everything up because they may have to be out in 45 days.”
Buyers are spending top dollar on homes owned by retirees intent on adding
Data courtesy of Connor Christie at Bright MLS (brightmls.com).
to their nest eggs. “One seller is building a cottage,” says Booth. “Some are moving to their beach houses or second homes.”
Some sellers who sold well above listing price are renting for the time being, betting prices will go down and their dollars will go further. But when will that be? Booth has been in real estate for 35 years and remembers the housing bubble bursting
in 2007-2008. “Right now, baby boomers don’t want people coming through their house because of COVID,” she says. “When everyone gets the vaccine, a lot of them will start listing and prices are bound to go down.”
Later in 2021, when businesses reopen and daily activities resume, another wave
of buyers will enter the market just as more sellers are listing their homes. At least that’s the prediction from Daryl Fairweather, chief economist at Redfin, the online
real estate firm. There should be a more balanced market, without sharp spikes in prices—although the volume of home sales will continue to boom.
BACK WITH MOM AND DAD
In the meantime, many would-be buyers— including those who’ve already sold their homes—are bunking with family. “I tell young couples to get their house sold and go live with Mom and Dad so they can compete,” says Booth.
Booth’s maternal instincts continued on page 85 www.mainlinetoday.com | May 2021 83
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