Sales in the Philadelphia Five County Area have picked up as the Spring Selling Season gets under way. Much of the activity can be attributed to the Tax Credits that were offered and expired at the end of April.
It will be interesting to see how the late Spring and Summer numbers develop not that the Credit is gone.
We are noticing more and more transactions that get hung up due to the contract price not being supported by the appraised value. This is due to a couple of factors. One, Sellers are still trying to get top dollar and Buyers are trying to get discounted prices, taking advantage of the market downturn. Two, Sellers and their agents are pricing their properties to sell without taking into consideration whether or not the property will appraise at that selling price.
Several Agents in the area have engaged us on a regular basis to perform pre-listing appraisals to assure that the selling price that they put on a property will be supported by the sales in the market. They are selling their homes faster and for much more of their asking price.