No, that's not a joke. It is an exercise in framing, or in how things are put.
A few days ago, the real estate section of the Sunday PG offered an annual update on
sales in both the 13th and 14th Wards, among others. I share the
details about the 13th and 14th Wards because they are right next to
each other - the 13th Ward is Homewood, the 14th Ward is Squirrel Hill
and Point Breeze (as I type this I can hear John Brewer proclaiming,
"Point Breeze is an optical illusion.").
These two tables
compare activity through June of this year with activity for the same
period last year, using data provided by RealSTATs:
2008 2009
13th Ward, Homewood
Sales 90 84
Median Price $8,200 $10,000
Highest Price $358,000 $120,000
14th Ward, Squirrel Hll
Sales 540 424
Median Price $250,000 $225,000
Highest Price $1,405,000 $1,375,000
The most dramatic thing about these numbers is that the 2009 median price in the 14th Ward (the price where half of sales were for more and half for less) is more than 22 times the price in the 13th Ward. But something else is going on. While the 14th Ward median price plummeted by 10 percent, Homewood's median price in Homewood rose by 22 percent, a huge jump.
In dollar terms, Homewood's median price surge was small, and Homewood homes are still undervalued, as demonstrated by this week's transactions:
7433 Idlewild St., for $4,000
1402 N. Homewood Ave., for $4,710
1308 Sterrett St., for $5,250.
But in percentage terms, 22 percent is ginormous, especially when values are plunging elsewhere. So I'll say this again: anyone who is even considering buying a home in Homewood should do so while they're still affordable...and before they get torn down.
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Anyone here ever check out "Real Estate NOW," the PG's Sunday real estate section? Each week, a feature titled Buying Here highlights a home for sale, and its neighborhood. This week, it's "Buying Here: North Point Breeze", and the home is on N. Linden Ave., one block north of Penn Avenue. Here's the opening paragraph:
"Old house lovers in Pittsburgh are a little spoiled. If they've never lived anywhere else, they don't realize how unusual it is to find huge, relatively inexpensive houses with original woodwork, windows and fixtures."
In this instance, "relatively inexpensive" means $279,000.
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Did anyone out there attend Saturday's Brother to Brother breakfast? Please tell us about it (I missed it because I was at a meeting of Block Watch Plus, the monthly Operation Better Block gathering of block watch groups).
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Posted
Sep 02 2009, 11:26 AM
by
Elwin Green