By now it’s no surprise that Philly home values are at an all-time high, experiencing its best quarter since before the recession. Now, a new report reveals that property values in the ‘burbs are also back on track, after lagging behind Philly proper for a few years.
Kevin Gillen, Ph.D., of Drexel’s Lindy Institute for Urban Innovation, says according to latest numbers, suburban housing prices have followed in Philadelphia’s footsteps, experiencing significant appreciation in Q2. On average, home values in the Philly suburbs increased by 7.5 percent, while city homes increased by 6.2 percent.
Even more, home values didn’t only increase in affluent communities like Montgomery Country. In fact, some of the biggest double-digit increases occurred in "relatively lower-income" and "historically lower-priced" counties and like Camden and Burlington. Here’s how each county’s housing values changed in the second quarter:
Still, Gillen writes that the city’s housing market is remains ahead of the suburban market. While city home prices are now above their previous peak pre-recession, suburban housing prices still "need to rise another 14 percent just to erase their losses over the last nine years to return to their peak."
One reason for the discrepancy is Philadelphia County’s decreasing inventory compared to the suburbs, says Gillen. His recent Philadelphia Housing Market Q2 report found that with its increasing house values and low inventory, the city’s housing market had officially transitioned to sellers’ market.
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