If you sold your house in the last two years, the current real estate market is a wonderful thing. However, this post is about the future, and what I can only forecast as buyer's remorse. The amount of remorse will be regulated by the neighborhood.
With row houses in Old Allentown going for north of $250,000, the remorse will be painful. For those in West Park and farther west, time will heal your wound sooner.
This blog post will offend both current buyers and sellers, and the middle men in between. However, offending people is not outside of this blog's wheelhouse. There are numerous feel good publications to soothe you on numerous topics, but I have neither the disposition or time for such things.
The street shown above is not meant to reference any particular street, and certainly not any particular property.
Mike,
ReplyDeleteI have said for years that Allentown's only hope is that home buyers are forced to consider moving into the city because of the cost and lack of available housing outside the city. This exact process is now underway. Think the housing market is crazy here, it's double in all the surrounding more affluent and well run municipalities. The people who are moving into West Park love the city for all the reasons we do, the beautiful homes, neighborhoods, park system and geographic location. In time, as we do, the will see what is wrong with the city, that being the people elected to city offices, and the voters who elect them. Perhaps they won't perpetuate the insanity and vote to elect and re-elect idiots. It's a slim hope Mike but it's all we have. We can be certain the people that voted the current clowns into office will never wise up.
Scott@7:51, although I prefer not reply to submitted comments, I disagree with your take on the RE market, political considerations aside. I see the RELATIVE price appreciation higher in center city Allentown than the suburbs, and the future value much lower.
ReplyDeleteMike, there is nothing political to consider about my post. The fact is houses in West park are selling in the upper $200,000 range. This is double the price of just a few years ago. As well the buyers are not the speculators you see downtown. They are homebuyers interested in the homes and the location. That is the point of my post, outsiders are moving in to buy homes to live in, this hasn't happened in any numbers in years. As well, the higher prices are bringing in upscale professional. Allentown has been losing this demographic for at least two decades, now that trend is at least for the moment reversed. One more point, talking to these newcomers is interesting and revealing. They don't understand why Allentown has such a bad regional reputation. It has everything, location, lovely homes, parks...but in time they discover Allentown has very serious problems and judging by the surrounding municipalities it should be in much better shape than it is. The veneer of respectability and economic growth that is apparent to the newcomers and Morning Call reporters doesn't pass second and third takes. One need not be partisan or a wizard to figure out sound political leadership is very likely the cause, one only needs a brain.
ReplyDeleteMike,
ReplyDeleteAll this said, as you said, there is wild speculation going on in neighborhoods will little hope for a renaissance or even long term stability. The once nicer homes/building are beyond restoration, or even repair, long stripped of any and all interior and even exterior architectural items of interests. In many of these neighborhoods the homes, now well over 100 years old, were basic to begin with. Some bidding wars have broken out for buildings that are clearly dilapidated with major heating ,electrical, and plumbing issues. A person I know who went to one auction hoping to purchase a building was shocked by the nose bleed high bidding and noticed most of the bidders where out of state or bidding by phone. Very odd indeed. Mike thanks for taking the time to inform us of what is really happening in the city. There is way too little of that now.
I agree with Scott, this market has been positive for the City. Within the last 6 months in my immediate neighborhood in the mid West End, 3 long time single family rentals were bought by owner-occupied families and 2 single family rentals that were run into the ground by absentee ownership and bad tenants were bought by a local family, fixed up and renting to much more responsible tenants. I believe this is being caused by the inflated suburban housing prices combined with younger buyers more inclined towards the conveniences and quality of life in stabilized urban neighborhoods. At least this is my viewpoint from my neighborhood.
ReplyDelete