North Coventry rental ordinance tabled
North Coventry Township has tabled a rental inspection ordinance until the March 14 meeting. The current draft ordinance would require that all rental properties be registered with the township with municipal inspections performed at change of ownership, occupancy, or on a 5 year cycle. The ordinance will again be discussed at the regular supervisors meeting on March 14, at 7 p.m. at the North Coventry Township Building, 845 South Hanover St., Pottstown, PA 19465. Click here for the North Coventry Township website.
Affordable housing resources available in Chester County
The Daily Local newspaper has provided a comprehensive list of housing resources available throughout Chester County that help low-to-moderate income homeowners and individuals in need of housing assistance. Click here for the full article, which provides additional details and eligibility requirements for each program.
Source: Daily Local; 3/1/2011
East Caln public visioning meeting
East Caln Township wants to hear from residents during a public visioning meeting on Tuesday, March 22, 2011 at 7:00 PM in the Township’s Municipal Building located at 110 Bell Tavern Road, Downingtown, PA 19335. The public meeting has been scheduled in order to gain public input for a new Township comprehensive plan. The Township’s current comprehensive plan was adopted in 1999 and needs to be updated. Everyone attending will be given an opportunity to provide their views. Visit the township website for more details.
Spring-Ford residents turn out for town hall on budget
Concerned with how a 7.6 percent tax increase will affect their finances, residents filled the Spring-Ford Ninth-Grade Center auditorium, offering opinions and insight regarding how the district can reduce costs, while offering the same level of education. With a $10.4 million deficit in its $131.6 million 2011-12 budget, Spring-Ford is facing a “perfect storm,” which includes reductions in federal and state funds, corporations applying for tax reassessment, and increased operating costs, school board President Joseph P. Ciresi said. Because of the past eight years of commercial and residential growth in Spring-Ford, the district has the lowest millage rate in the area, but that pushed companies to applying to Montgomery County for tax re-examination. About 30 companies are applying for reassessment. Residents addressing the board warned that large corporations may not be the only ones prompted to go for reassessment.
Source: Pottstown Mercury; 2/28/2011
Click to Enlarge
The flood has started – the flood of inventory that is. For the last 4 months we have been predicting that the local market will be flooded with inventory – sellers who came off the market for the holiday, sellers who have been waiting, and a variety of others. This flood will create downward pressure on local home prices. Luckily, it’s not all bad news this month. Let’s take a look. . .
PENDINGS:
Click to enlarge
Pending home sales in Chester County were down from last month which is not inline with the 5 year trend. As predicted the activity is looking like it will still be off, but some other numbers, as you will read in a minute, are indicating possible increase in overall demand. What this means is that it is an incredible time to buy real estate, GREAT for buyers, but not so good for sellers who are tight on equity.
CLOSED SALES (DEMAND):
Click to enlarge
Closed home sales were slightly down from last month, but the good news is that it is not following the pattern of last year. This is a good overall sign. In fact NAR has said that existing home sales, nationally, were up over their prediction at 5.36 million. If it stays on this trend, we could see an increase in the number of sales of up to 8% over 2010. More demand is good.
ACTIVE LISTINGS (SUPPLY):
Click to enlarge
The number of homes for sale in Chester County are following seasonal trends, but we believe next month we will see a very large increase in supply. We are already seeing it in our business as we have listed 7 homes in the last 3 weeks and have about 18 more that will be coming on in the next 4 weeks or so. This kind of flood of inventory will put downward pressure on prices unless an uptick in demand is seen.
AVERAGE SOLD PRICE:
Clcik to enlarge
The average sold price took a dip last month which was a month earlier than it usually comes. This appears to be due to seller fatigue, the lack of demand and investors getting in.
LIST TO SALE PRICE RATIO:
Click to enlarge
Last month was a miserable month for this figure. It came in at just above 88%. That’s the lowest I’ve seen since starting in real estate in 2006. Seller’s are tired and many of them just want out. In addition short sales and foreclosures are having a big effect on this as well. In the end, buyers are getting incredible deals. This is another factor that is putting downward pressure on prices.
OVERALL: What an incredible time to buy. We fully believe now is when you are going to get the best deal for a long time to come. Seller’s are willing to deal, there is a lot of downward pressure on pricing, there are a lot of short sales and foreclosures and interest rates are extremely low still. Have you thought about investing? If so, jump in, the water is amazing. With some of the good news from NAR, we fully believe prices may bottom out this year but there is still a lot of question marks. Watch Job Creation, that’s going to be a huge factor in how things go.
SELLERS: For sellers, this is not good news, especially if you do not have a lot of equity. But on the same token, you will probably get as much for your home between now and July as you will for another 18 – 24 months to come. In addition, if you are looking to “buy up”, you can get some amazing deals that you didn’t exist 4 months ago and that you won’t see for a long time to come. If you must sell, you MUST price it right. If you price it too high, you will chase the market down and stand to lose a lot of money. Please call us to talk to the experts in Chester County real estate. We’ve sold 7x’s more homes than the average agent and we did it in almost half the time and got our clients almost 4% more than the average agent. If you want the best, call us at 484-696-4833.
BUYERS: Stop thinking about it and take action! Now is the best time as you are going to see to buy a home. Period. But, just as sellers do, you need an incredible agent too. One that knows the market. There are plenty of issues out there that can really get you into trouble and if your agent has not sold many homes in the last 12 months, then you are putting yourself at risk. Please call us and let us interview for the job of representing you in the purchase of your next home. 484-696-4833.
BTW, We do have very specific data for every price range and area of town. Want specific data pertaining to your neighborhood or your own home? We have it! Please let me know if you would like a neighborhood-specific analysis by contacting me!
Chester County government administrative offices are on schedule to relocate offices now in the Historic Courthouse complex and at another office building in the borough to the new building at 313 West Market Street. The building will house all non-court-related government offices that are not located at the county’s Government Services Center on Westtown Road in West Goshen, including the commissioners, the county controller, the county treasurer, the finance department, the county Recorder of Deeds, the Tax Assessment Bureau, the county solicitor’s office, and the purchasing, facilities, and computer and information services departments. The move to the new building will begin March 18 with the county Recorder of Deeds and Tax Assessment offices. The county will likely be able to move the offices without closing them to the public. The plan is to set up a temporary station for land records and tax assessment on Friday, March 18, and begin the move that evening. The offices would be open for business in the West Market Street building on Monday, March 21. Other offices will be moved into the building on the weekend of April 1, with the exception of the commissioners, which will be moved the next week.
Source: Daily Local; 2/23/2011
The Spring-Ford Area School District community is invited to attend a Town Hall meeting at 7 PM on Monday, February 28, in the auditorium of the 9th Grade Center to learn about the district’s $10.4 million budgetary shortfall and the efforts being made to balance the budget. Spring-Ford Area School District could potentially owe GlaxoSmithKline $5.5 million in tax reimbursements in the latest round of property reassessments plaguing the financially strapped district. If GlaxoSmithKline is successful in its appeal against the district, Spring-Ford would have to repay the company $5.5 million for the taxes collected for 2008, 2009, 2010 and potentially this year. An additional problem Spring-Ford faces is it stands to lose more than $1 million in tax revenue from the company each year, he said. Superintendent Marsha R. Hurda noted that assessments have been an ongoing issue for the past two years, something that could cost the district a “significant” amount of money. Click here for more information regarding the upcoming Town Hall meeting.
Source: Daily Local; 2/25/2011
The Coatesville Redevelopment Authority on Tuesday night extended its purchase option agreement with the Velodrome Group for another month. This is the second extension the authority has placed on the agreement and will give the authority until March 22 to have a redevelopment and sales agreement for approval. The Velodrome Group, which is proposing to build an indoor cycling facility on property known as the Flats, made an initial offer to purchase the property in December. That offer was reportedly close to the $1.7 million the authority had paid for the property in 2006. The Velodrome Group is proposing to construct a 200-meter banked track inside a 100,000-square-foot arena at Route 82 and Lincoln Highway with a parking lot trailing up the Flats toward routes 30 and 82. The only other indoor velodrome in the country is in Los Angeles.
Source: Daily Local; 2/23/2011
London Grove Township has made the draft of their updated comprehensive plan available here. London Grove Township’s previous comprehensive plan was adopted in 1992. The draft comprehensive plan evaluates the current state of the township and provides updated goals and policies for growth management in the township to the year 2030. In addition, the land use plan graphic map illustrates future land uses and development patterns that the Township hopes to achieve by the year 2030. For more information about the Future Land Use Plan or anything regarding the Comprehensive Plan please contact the Township.
SWest Chester stadium plan strikes out
West Chester Borough Council voted to request that the Redevelopment Authority (RDA) look into alternative development options for the 28-acre site in the southeast portion of the borough with the assistance of the Chester County Economic Development Authority. The latter has pledged to provide counsel to the RDA free of charge, according to authority member Ray Ott, who said the RDA would take into account a range of factors in devising a use for the former Wyeth Laboratories site. The RDA presented its findings to Borough Council, and said in no uncertain terms that the stadium project was not financially viable without the aid of a $14 million state grant from the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (R-Cap) to cover construction costs, but that program was frozen by Gov. Tom Corbett to address the state budget deficit. Turks Head Stadium Alliance architect Alan Adler said Tuesday that his group might pursue alternative sites for the stadium proposal.
Source: Daily Local; 2/17/2011
Preliminary budget hikes taxes 3.85 percent in Kennett Consolidated
Kennett Consolidated school officials say they want to lower the proposed 2011-12 property tax rates with additional state funding and spending cuts before the budget’s June deadline. The board unanimously accepted a preliminary 2011-12 budget that calls for a 3.85 percent property tax increase. The plan would hike the tax rate by 0.95 mills, with a mill equal to a tax of $1 for every $1,000 of assessed real estate value. That means a homeowner with a property assessed for tax purposes at $198,000 would pay $5,094 in real estate taxes next year. The preliminary budget is available here.
Source: Daily Local; 2/18/2011
Avon Grove may raise taxes for second time in two years
Avon Grove School Board approved the preliminary budget in the amount of $78.6 million. Avon Grove School District officials continue to work on the 2011-2012 general fund budget, which the School Board plans to balance through additional expenditure reductions, using a portion of the fund balance, as well as a real estate tax increase. Superintendent Dr. Gus Massaro announced that the board and administrators will be working to develop $3.6 million in reductions for the budget. Click here to view the preliminary budget. AGSD is soliciting suggestions/ideas from the school community for generating revenue and cost savings here.
Source: Chester County Press; 2/16/2011
Town hall meeting scheduled to discuss school budget in Spring-Ford
The Spring-Ford Area School District has invited residents of the district to a Town Hall meeting on Feb. 28, 2011, at 7 p.m. in the auditorium of the 9th Grade Center. The purpose of the meeting is to educate the public on the $10.4 million budget shortfall the district is facing and the efforts being made to balance the budget. The 9th Grade Center is located at 400 S. Lewis Rd. in Royersford. Click here for the school district website.
Source: Times Herald; 2/11/2011
 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
