By Clark Kendus
The Fall Fair – a Swarthmore Presbyterian Church tradition for over 30 years returns on Saturday October 4, 2014 from 9:30 AM To 2:30 PM. Come join the community in this annual gathering featuring a feast of food and an array of items for sale, including antiques, collectibles, and other treasures. There will be children’s activities such as games with prizes, and a moon bounce. The fair will be held rain or shine.
Swarthmore Real Estate – Swarthmore, PA 19081
In what may be a surprise to many people, residents in the Nether Providence Township do not pay the highest real estate taxes in the county. In fact their are 19 municipalities in Delaware County that have a higher tax rate then Nether Providence!
Colwyn has held the dubious distinction of having the highest millage rates in the County for several years, this year at 75.09 mills, and the bottom spot has been the honor of Thornbury Township for a number of years – their rate this year is a measly 19.25 mills.
The millage rate refers to the amount of tax that is paid per thousand dollars of the assessed value of a home. For example a home with an assessment of $100,000 would pay a total tax bill of $7,509 in Colwyn on the high end of the scale in the County, and a home in Thornbury Township assessed at the same value would pay a total tax bill of $1,925 on the opposite end of the spectrum. A Nether Providence Township home would have a tax obligation of $5,091.
Note: Millage rates shown only to the 100th place
2014 TOTAL MILLAGE RATES FOR LOCAL COMMUNITIES
Local 2014 Millage Rates – With County High And Low Rate
The total tax obligation is composed of three components:
– Delaware County Taxes – all Delaware County communities pay the same 5.60 mills
– School Taxes – the largest component of the tax structure
– Municipal Taxes – each community levies a local municipal tax
Wallingford Swarthmore School District does hold the distinction among surrounding local communities with the highest school taxes in the area. Nether Providence and Rose Valley residents have a slighty lower millage for school taxes than Swarthmore and Rutledge within WSSD. Swarthmore and Rutledge residents pay an additional amount for support of Delaware County Community College, bringing their millage up to 40.94.
At the high end, residents of the William Penn School District – the Boroughs of Colwyn, Aldan, Lansdowne, and Yeadon, shoulder a school tax millage rate of 42.90 mills.
Thornbury Township residents, where students attend the West Chester schools, have the lowest school in Delaware County at 13.65 mills.
2014/15 SCHOOL TAX MILLAGE RATES FOR LOCAL COMMUNITIES
2014 Local School Taxes – With County High And Low Rates
Ridley Township again takes the local top spot in the municipal tax category at 8.51 mills. Middletown Township has a very low muncipal millage of 1.6 due to the fact that they have no local police force to support.
Countywide Colwyn has the top spot again, this time literally off the charts with a municipal tax rate of 27.20 mills, and Thornbury Township residents are at the low end of the municipal tax spectrum – they pay no municipal taxes.
2014 MUNICIPAL TAX MILLAGE RATES FOR LOCAL COMMUNITIES
2014 Municipal Tax Millage Rates
If you would like a complete 2014 Delaware County tax rate table contact me and I will be glad to provide you with one.
Wallingford Real Estate – Wallingford, PA 19086
Philadelphia Inquirer 05/28/14
Splashed across the Business Section of the Inquirer last week was the headline “Analysis: Housing prices in region fell in 1st quarter“. Counter to the nationwide trend of increasing housing prices the suburban areas surrounding Philadelphia saw an average prices drop an average of 5.3% in the 1st quarter of 2014. Delaware County saw a steeper decline with a drop of 8.6%. The regional housing market is struggling to recover from the post recession blues.
Wallingford and Swarthmore saw increases in closed sales over the 1st Quarter 2013 – Wallingford units increased from 27 last year to 39 this year, and Swarthmore saw a net increase of 1 closed sale from 10 last year to 11 this year. The Media market saw sharp declines in closed units across the board.
Just how did our local markets – Wallingford, Swarthmore, and the Media area fare during the 1st quarter 2014:
|
AREA |
2013 AVG |
2014 AVG |
CHANGE |
| Wallingford |
$347,494 |
$240,010 |
-30.9% |
| Swarthmore |
$340,540 |
$320,036 |
-6.0% |
| Media Boro |
$283,638 |
$270,448 |
-4.7% |
| Middletown Twp |
$332,365 |
$304,821 |
-8.3% |
| Upper Providence Twp |
$340,023 |
$307,703 |
-9.5% |
June represents the high water mark of housing activity for the year so we will be able to ascertain if the market has made any significant departure from a weak 1st quarter locally. As mortgage rates have hit 7 month lows recently that excuse no longer is valid, lack of marketable inventory is more likely a culprit, but with a tight supply the expected result would be higher prices right?
Wallingford PA Real Estate – Wallingford, PA 19086
The National Association Of Home Builders (NAHB) has profiled the average new construction home built in 2013. The average new home was built on a lot size of 14,359 square feet, which is approximately 1/3 of an acre, and the typical home featured 2,607 square feet of finished interior space. Buyers paid on average $399,352 for a new home in 2013 with the average construction costs of the home averaging 62% of the sales price.
New home sales are averaging 8.7% of total home sales – barely half the historical average of 16.1 percent, according to NAHB. The NAHB projects 1.15 million total housing starts in 2014, up nearly 25 percent from the 2013 total of 928,000 units. Single-family production is expected to increase 32 percent in 2014 to 822,000 units, and then rise an additional 41 percent to 1.16 million units in 2015.
In Wallingford PA new construction accounted for 2.1% of sales for 2013. The 4 newly built homes sold for an average of $418,825. There were was no new construction sold in Swarthmore during the past year.
Wallingford PA Real Estate – Wallingford, PA 19086
There Is No Stopping Buyers So Far This Winter
Despite continued weather conditions that seem inhospitable to consumer buying of any sort the Wallingford PA and Swarthmore markets have been very active this winter so far. Amid economic reports of declining retail sales due to bad weather homebuyers in the area are proving to be an exception.
A common measure of real estate activity is known as the absorption rate which measures the rate of sale of a given market’s inventory. The calculation is very simple and uses the number of active listings on the market divided by the number of listings that have gone under contract in the past 30 days. In retail this would be analogous to the term inventory turn. In real estate a rate that is below 6 indicates a seller’s market, 6 is a neutral market, and a rate above 6 indicates a market where the buyer’s are in control. So what does this measure tell us about our local markets?
Wallingford:
The absorption rate stands this morning, amid our latest winter event, at 3.9 months. There have been 19 homes that have gone under contract in the past 30 days amid 74 active listings. This portrays a strong seller market where there is a lack of inventory, and according to basic economic theory will result in higher prices – too many buyers chasing too few homes.
Listings that have the most appeal to buyers are moving quickly, 4 of the listings that went under contract were on the market 7 days or less, and even homes that have seen extended time on the market are selling as well.
A oft heard lament among agents and buyers alike this year so far has been a lack of inventory available.
Swarthmore:
The activity in Swarthmore is even more pronounced. The absorption rate today stands at 1.2 months – there have been 10 homes sold in the past 30 days amidst 12 listings. That is a rate that basically indicates homes selling as soon as they hit the market. The under contract group as a whole averaged 47 days on the market, but the 5 quickest sales were on the market 6, 8, 9, 11, and 18 days.
If you are a buyer under these conditions you should ally yourself with a local agent who knows the area well and can keep you informed of listings before they come onto the market though their networks, and be ready to act quickly on a listing that have mass appeal.
If you are a seller considering listing your home all the indicators are pointing to a market that will continue to need more inventory to keep up with the market demand, which is a situation that has not been seen for quite sometime.
The Spring Market is off to an early start and should be a very active one.
Wallingford PA Real Estate – Wallingford, PA 19086
