Housing Sales in Philly Up 20 Percent Over Last Year


Something title “The Residential and Foreclosure Sales Report” isn’t usually the go-to source for good news these days, but RealtyTrac’s extensive survey does have some great news from its July 2013 edition: turns out our real-estate market isn’t drowning!

From the report:

Among 20 of the nation’s largest metro areas with annual sales estimates tracked in the report, the biggest year-over-year increases in sales volume were in Chicago (up 27 percent), Minneapolis (up 23 percent), Baltimore (up 21 percent), Boston (up 20 percent), and Philadelphia (up 20 percent).

For the layman, this means that Philly-area homes sold 20 percent more homes than last year, meaning that people in our area are actually generating the money needed to buy homes. Not only that, but nationally, we’ve seen a jump in sales of residential properties to the tune of 11 percent. These are the best numbers RealtyTrac has seen in 2013.

Sure, the housing market isn’t safe just yet. But as Liz Spikol says, this news errs more on the “glass half-full” side of things. Like SEPTA, we’re getting there. [Property]