Central Pennsylvania Real Estate Market Statistics For February 2019

A monthly post to keep you up-to-date on what is happening in Lancaster, Dauphin, and York Counties

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Settled Units – Virtually unchanged from last year at this time. On a national level, settled units dipped over 4% in the fifty largest metro areas so our area stacks up better than the national average.

Average Sales Price – This number continues to climb at a steady rate; up almost 4% from last year which mirrors what is happening across the country.

Median Days to Sell – Twenty-five days on the market is a significant drop from last year and far exceeds what the majority of the rest of the country is experiencing.

Average Interest Rate – Almost the same as last year. Predicting mortgage interest rates is a tricky business, but most experts predict that rates will hold fairly steady until at least the spring home buying season is over.

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Absorption Rates are the rates at which available homes are sold in a specific real estate market and price range during a given time period.  It is calculated by dividing the total number of available homes by the average number of sales per month.  The rate represents the number of months it would take to clear out available inventory if no other homes came on the market.

Homes that are competitively priced under $300K are selling at a rapid pace which accounts for the extremely low absorption rates. Multiple offers on these homes continue to be the norm. Head north of $300K and the market becomes relatively balanced. However, the luxury market over a half a million is ultra competitive. Sellers who are in this price category should heed their real estate agent’s advice regarding list price because of the abundance of inventory that is sitting.

Click here to access Dauphin and York County Statistics

Trend 7: The Digital End-To-End Real Estate Transaction Dream

Closer than Ever, But Still Far Away

This is the fourth blog post in a series of ten that covers the trends that will shape the residential real estate industry in 2019 and beyond according to the publication, Swanepoel Trends Report 2019.  The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this post belong solely to the author, and not necessarily to the author’s employer or the publication cited.

The real estate transaction has long been an analog process that has, until recently, been more than adequate. Real estate agents who could manage the plethora of different systems and personalities (i.e. mortgage, inspection, title, insurance, etc.) could excel in the business.

More companies, both inside and outside our industry, are now recognizing that the real estate transaction is broken. Too many unknowns; too many systems; too many parts that don’t talk to each other; too much duplication – – – and none of them create an exceptional customer experience. But that is changing.

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Trend 8: Blockchain + Real Estate

Redesigning the Brokerage Relationships with Agents and Consumers

This is the third blog post in a series of ten that covers the trends that will shape the residential real estate industry in 2019 and beyond according to the publication, Swanepoel Trends Report 2019.  The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this post belong solely to the author, and not necessarily to the author’s employer or the publication cited.

If you’re like me, your eyes glaze over when someone tries to explain what Blockchain is. Most people that write about the topic are techno-geeks who are trying to impress you with their level of knowledge on the topic. Unfortunately, the average person gets lost in the Blockchain jargon about the second sentence into an article and they stop reading.

The average person’s understanding of Blockchain is illustrated perfectly in this comic:

‘Dilbert’ comic courtesy of Scott Adams

Well here’s one of the reasons why you should want to pay attention and try to understand this concept and how it could effect the real estate business: forty of the top financial services companies have already invested over $1 Billion (yes – with a ‘B’) in Blockchain company infrastructure in the hopes of reducing costs in the future.

Let me try to explain Blockchain in simple terms to that you can understand it.

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Trend 9: The Evolving Real Estate Value Proposition

Redesigning the Brokerage Relationships with Agents and Consumers

This is the second blog post in a series of ten that covers the trends that will shape the residential real estate industry in 2019 and beyond according to the publication, Swanepoel Trends Report 2019.  The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this post belong solely to the author, and not necessarily to the author’s employer or the publication cited.

Running a real estate brokerage “ain’t what it used to be.”  That is pretty much an understatement.  Today, brokers walk a tight rope between serving their agents and the consumer.  Tilt to one side too far and a brokerage risks plummeting to irrelevance.

The Swanepoel Trends Report examines the changing relationships between the broker/agent and the broker/consumer and suggests ways in which all sides can win if they embrace certain strategies.

The Broker/Agent Relationship

Brokerages’ compensation models have evolved over time.  From the early days of 50-50 splits to 100% desk fee models to hybrids somewhere in between, the permutations are endless.

Agent’s are now more independent than they have ever been before.  They only want to pay for what they feel they need from their broker and many agents are now accustomed to paying for services from private vendors apart from their brokerage.  As a result, the agent relationship with the broker has eroded.

Other market changes have led to a further deterioration in this relationship.  They include:

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