I hope this Post Finds you well!
1. Recently, I have been sharing the Zillow.com Market Updates first. This month I will diverge from that to show Bank Owned Supply vs Non-Bank Owned supply of houses. It is my belief that this trend could be instrumental in allowing the Lehigh Valley to see price accretion and I am going to follow this trend closely as the year goes forward.
(I) Supply of Bank owned Vs Non-Bank Owned property
Analysis- Year over Year bank assets are down -43%. In addition, bank properties are down -24% from January to February.
(II) Supply and Demand Chart -- For Sale homes are down 6%, homes going Under Contract increased 2% and homes reaching settlement decreased 17%.
Analysis- While it would be ideal for the amount of settling homes to increase, this becomes difficult as supply decreases. As the amount of homes available for sale declines, there is simply a less nominal amount of homes to be settled. Its great to see the amount of homes going under contract increase month over month despite the weather. Supply keeps decreasing month over month which you can see in the chart in section (I). Supply for Feb 2013 was 6.7 and this past Feb it was 6.1
Momentum is Positive overall.
2. Click here for the Zillow Report
Analysis- I like this report as it follows the negative equity in the housing markets. At the moment, the Lehigh Valley has been at a negative equity percentage of 23.6 % which trails the national average by 2.6%. This has been a consistent rate throughout the winter.
3. Federal Housing Finance Agency
Their seems to be a correlation between Philadelphia and the Lehigh Valley. The Lehigh Valley seems to shadow Philadelphia's momentum, when Philadelphia witnesses price growth or decline quarter over quarter, so does the Lehigh Valley.
I keep this report for reference from month to month: The FHFA is a nice index because it only pertains to mortgage resale's where the mortgages are owned by FHFA, Freddie, and Fannie. The reason that its a different kind of index is it differentiates between cash buyers and buyer's using investor financing. Its also nice because it does a good job of comparing different metro's. The link I provided compares Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and the Lehigh Valley.
4. Here is a BHHS Fox and Roach's
Northampton County
Lehigh County
I think the video reporter does a pretty good job of taking a few metrics and succinctly giving their meaning.
Monday, March 17, 2014
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
Lehigh Valley Habitat for Humanity
Good Evening!
This Saturday I was able to attend a Lehigh Valley Habitat for Humanity Orientation.
(I)It was an intriguing meeting as the folks in attendance were amiable and passionate about giving back to their community.
I have rarely been to a community service event where the people did not have a lot of energy. The difference is the effusion given off in the room seemed as important to the participants as a blanket is to a bed during a arctic vortex.
Many people discussed the individual moments where they recounted the importance of home to themselves, or friends, and family. The stories went something like the following, but not verbatim: I had a friend that was destitute and without a place to call his/her own; after buckling down, giving up vices and picking up responsibility, they were able to find home (sometimes with help from HFH, sometimes not).
There was a genuine appreciation for the concept of home that was seemingly compulsory for those in the room. The apex of this compelling community synergy was discussed as a casual aside by the ever-friendly orientation leader, Melissa Lauer; and this aside is that the local chapter of the Lehigh Valley is not solely dependent on Habitat International and a multitude of their community contributions were/are accomplished through ambitious local support. Very cool. I should also mention there are enough volunteering hour's that the amount available almost equates to "whenever a person wants."
(II) The RESTORE --- I was completely unaware of this new feature from our local Habitat for Humanity. They provide donated construction materials and furniture; their donors include Lowe's, Home Depot, contractors and people in general. Their store is at the Old Circuit City Building in Whitehall. There is a culture surrounding finding furniture at these ReStores and rehabbing them and selling them for a higher price. The ReStore is hosting an event with many of the furniture rehabbers to teach folks how to fix their own furniture.
It seems like a great resource to save money on many home related products and services-- and it supports other people create their own home.
(III) So I thought they just build homes for people in need. I was not wrong on the surface, but I was terribly misinformed in regard to the Lehigh Valley's method of building homes for people and the scope of their service.
1. They have a qualification process that is rigorous and finds people that have a deep desire for home. Applicants have to be interviewed and they also have to commit to a minimum amount of time working on their future home. Habitat calls it Sweat Equity.
2. Habitat Lehigh Valley does not just build homes locally here, they also help with property that needs a façade upgrade. They call it their A Brush with Kindness. I think this is a fantastic way to help home values in a given area in a cost effective manner.
Thanks,
Stephen
This Saturday I was able to attend a Lehigh Valley Habitat for Humanity Orientation.
1. You will find a quick recount of the atmosphere of the room. 2. How Habitat for Humanity can be a great resource for doing renovations in your own home. 3. How Habitat for Humanity gives back to the community.
I have rarely been to a community service event where the people did not have a lot of energy. The difference is the effusion given off in the room seemed as important to the participants as a blanket is to a bed during a arctic vortex.
Many people discussed the individual moments where they recounted the importance of home to themselves, or friends, and family. The stories went something like the following, but not verbatim: I had a friend that was destitute and without a place to call his/her own; after buckling down, giving up vices and picking up responsibility, they were able to find home (sometimes with help from HFH, sometimes not).
There was a genuine appreciation for the concept of home that was seemingly compulsory for those in the room. The apex of this compelling community synergy was discussed as a casual aside by the ever-friendly orientation leader, Melissa Lauer; and this aside is that the local chapter of the Lehigh Valley is not solely dependent on Habitat International and a multitude of their community contributions were/are accomplished through ambitious local support. Very cool. I should also mention there are enough volunteering hour's that the amount available almost equates to "whenever a person wants."
(II) The RESTORE --- I was completely unaware of this new feature from our local Habitat for Humanity. They provide donated construction materials and furniture; their donors include Lowe's, Home Depot, contractors and people in general. Their store is at the Old Circuit City Building in Whitehall. There is a culture surrounding finding furniture at these ReStores and rehabbing them and selling them for a higher price. The ReStore is hosting an event with many of the furniture rehabbers to teach folks how to fix their own furniture.
It seems like a great resource to save money on many home related products and services-- and it supports other people create their own home.
(III) So I thought they just build homes for people in need. I was not wrong on the surface, but I was terribly misinformed in regard to the Lehigh Valley's method of building homes for people and the scope of their service.
1. They have a qualification process that is rigorous and finds people that have a deep desire for home. Applicants have to be interviewed and they also have to commit to a minimum amount of time working on their future home. Habitat calls it Sweat Equity.
2. Habitat Lehigh Valley does not just build homes locally here, they also help with property that needs a façade upgrade. They call it their A Brush with Kindness. I think this is a fantastic way to help home values in a given area in a cost effective manner.
Thanks,
Stephen
Sunday, March 9, 2014
A March Weekend Update for the Lehigh Valley
Hello All,
There was a lot of interesting Real Estate News this week in the Lehigh Valley and I thought it would be nice to have a compendium of the news.
1. The Lehigh Valley gets a nice endorsement from a study by the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation.
Thoughts: The study is obviously flattering. Its nice to have assets that can hopefully be the engine of growth for the Lehigh Valley Region.
2. The Bethlehem CRIZ Grows
- Its nice to see developers jumping on board to take risk. It would be nice if the dates of progress were concrete. Much like the NIZ in Allentown, there does not seem to be an obvious central location to find out about development opportunities.
There was a lot of interesting Real Estate News this week in the Lehigh Valley and I thought it would be nice to have a compendium of the news.
1. The Lehigh Valley gets a nice endorsement from a study by the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation.
Thoughts: The study is obviously flattering. Its nice to have assets that can hopefully be the engine of growth for the Lehigh Valley Region.
2. The Bethlehem CRIZ Grows
- Its nice to see developers jumping on board to take risk. It would be nice if the dates of progress were concrete. Much like the NIZ in Allentown, there does not seem to be an obvious central location to find out about development opportunities.
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