Homeowners Are Loving Bucks County: Report Finds Increase in Pending Sales

Homes in New Hope, Bucks County | Screenshot via Google Street View

The Bucks County real estate scene has been doing pretty well for itself all things considered. According to the latest housing report from Coldwell Banker Hearthside, REALTORS, the Philadelphia suburb has been one of the few markets to see an increase in homes pending sale, contrary to the national averages, which saw drops in August.

The third quarter report, which used TREND MLS data between July through September 2015 to gather the findings, show a 19.5 percent spike in homes going under contract or pending sale in July; while August saw an 11.8 percent raise; and September, a 6.0 increase, year over year.

To give a clearer picture, the Northeast as a whole saw a 5.6 fall in contract signings during the month of August, according to the National Association of Realtors’s Pending Home Sales Index. In spite of this mini August slump, NAR says “they remained at a healthy level of activity.”

So how’s the next quarter look for Bucks County? Pretty favorable for the most part: “Trend line fundamentals are expected to continue in the fourth quarter, though changes in federal law implemented [in October] in the mortgage closing process could delay some sales. We’ll have more to say about overall conditions during our fourth quarter update,” said CBH President Jamie Mancuso in a press release.

Other report highlights:

• Average sold prices in Bucks County have been relatively steady. To give you an idea, The area saw a 1.4 percent increase in single-family home sales in 2014, while July through September of this year “remained firm through the third quarter, with the impact of “price mix” lessening each month.” September 2015 average pricing continues to show a 1.1 percent increase year over year.
• The majority of buyers succeeded in negotiating approximately 6 percent in listing price reduction.
• Inventory units slipped a tad in August and September, going down by 1.3 percent and 4.2 percent, respectively. “I believe we can attribute the recent decrease in inventory build up to the very noteworthy year-to-date unit sales pace (near 14%) which is eating away at homes available to sell,” said Mancuso.