This isn't exactly anything new but I can't help but feel the need to express how baffled I am at how expensive some of these renevated houses are. I see prices like $275,000 or even $462,000 advertised in the papers for what seem to be nothing more than average Philly row homes, they are just cleaned up a little bit. But seriously, usually nothing fancy about the interiors either, just regular features you would see in any house.

Does anyone else find this to be ridiculous? What kind of people are buying these houses? What idiots is paying over two-hundred grand to live in places like Fishtown, South Philly, University City, etc.?

Don't get me wrong, I love this city and all but there is absolutely no way that it is worth THAT much money to live here. If I had a quarter million dollars to throw away, I think I would find a nice place down south where it is nice and warm most of the year...

You answered your own question. A market is defined as what someone is willing to pay for it. I wouldn't call someone an idiot for buying something that you don't value or see future value in. I can't figure out why on earth someone would pay as much as they do for "designer clothing", but they do. Hal and others can speak volumes on the raising market value. If you ask me, the value of living back in the city is raising because people are getting fed up with the commute and wasting their lives on the road. Philly, like other cities, is having a growing re-urbanization because the infrastructure on access is beginning or has reach capacity and there really isn't much anyone can do about it unless they are willing to endure a Boston "big dig" type of development. I think the primary driver is not necessarily the value of the house, but the value of the location.

Gee person, you really know how to make a good first impression!

1 post into your PhillyBlog experience and you are affectionately referring to a big chunk of it's users as "idiots".

Right back at you....dufus.

-UC

Hey idiots and dufi (is that the plural of dufus).

Part of it seems to be just gambling - should I buy here now . . . and hope that the house is worth 40% more in five years. And, I can gamble on someone else's dime.

Where could you ever get margin allowances of 95% in other investments.

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“Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody.” - Jane Jacobs

Although I don't like the prices either I think a lot of the market is really UNDER valued. You can't find rowhomes in a neighborhood like QV or BV or Society Hill or Wash. Square West or Rittenhouse etc., in NYC or Boston or DC for similar prices. I'm still new to Philly so I don't pretend to understand the dynamic but it must have something to do with a lack of good jobs here.

I've found that opinions of people from burb housing tracks are irrelevant wrt to urban housing. All they can see is no front yard and 1500 square feet spread across 3 or 4 floors. They either don't get or give any credence to the idea of location. People from other cities though come here and say wow that's alot of house for 400K!

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Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want and deserve to get it good and hard. - H.L. Mencken

That was my seventh post....moron.

Eek! Anyway...

I think developers and some real estate people are just trying to see how far they can get--girl's gotta eat, as a friend of mine says. It's up to the buyer to offer how much they think something is worth. It's been my experience that it's not as cut-throat here as it is in places like DC and NY. In fact, I'm hearing that little by little, it's slowing down all over. So, don't take the advertised listing at face value!

I'm not a real estate expert, but it's my impression that Philadelphia is still very affordable compared to NYC, Boston, SF, LA....London, Paris, etc etc...

Philly is catching up in its growth as a player amongst these metropolitan areas, so I imagine its real esate prices will grow as well.

While some may think its nuts to spend $200k for merely a condo in center city, I know someone who just spent $400k for a one bedroom condo in Hoboken! Is that person an idot, since it's HOBOKEN? I guess not, since if I still lived in the NY metro area, I would probably be one of those people who think that's a very affordable price, compared to condo prices in the manhattan.

It's ALL relative, and about location.

Yep, location, location, location. As a Northeastern city, Philly is undervalued IMO. Faced with choosing between Northern cities, I chose Philly because all the other cities were so much more expensive. The South is much cheaper to live in from what I've heard--the jobs also don't pay as well in most sectors. And there's different types of jobs.

I just heard about my relatives putting a bid on a house in the middle of nowhere in the burbs in upstate NY--a split level 2200 sq. ft. house, not updated since the 1950's, a kitchen and 3 bathrooms that have to be gutted, no air conditioning, 3/4 acre, with taxes at $5K a year...for $150K. It's funny how my perspective has changed. I was thinking, "Man, in ROCHESTER? For a cheesy split level? With that much yard maintenance? My house has character, much lower taxes, and is close to the action and public transportation for less than that!"

But you couldn't pay me to live in the South either. It's just all a matter of perspective and what you're looking for. If that's what my relatives want--that's great for them. What appears to be a shanty to them a/k/a my house is great for me.

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Resident of Fishtown, Moderator of Fish/No. Libs/Kenzo forum, Real Estate Agent-Prudential Fox & Roach

I think also its undeniable that the low interest rates have inflated the market everywhere. Its not just that many neighborhoods in Philly are newly considered desirable or a good bet as an investment. Money is cheap, interest rates are still at 40 yr lows (although they have come up recently) so everyone has more money spend - prices are up everywhere because everyone has the ability to borrow more and there has been a big inflation in house prices nationwide.

It is funny how arbitrary the lines of what is safe and a good investment are however. I take the train everyday from a train stop by the Kingsessing Rec Center at 49th and Chester. I look one way across the Rec Center there are 4 story 7 bedroom twins that face the Rec Center that currently go for around $120 K and last year went for aroung $70K, but behind me (literally rock throwing distance) are 3 story, 5 bedroom twins that go for around $250 to $280 K that maybe last year went for $150 to $180 K. The difference - you are that much closer to the gunshots we all ocasionally here coming from the vicinty of 52nd and Kingsessing even both ouses can look out the window and see eachother.