Realtors report rise in area home sales

People looking to buy homes in University City will have to fight their way to the front of the line, as local real estate agencies have reported an unusual, dramatic increase in property sales in recent months when compared with the same time last year. The agencies, community leaders and University officials attributed the higher demand to a variety of factors, including increased lighting in the area, lower mortgage rates, the University's efforts to clean up the area and greater incentives from a Penn mortgage program that encourages faculty members to live in University City. Agents from three University City real estate agencies said that after nearly six years of a relatively constant market, they have sales pending on at least double the amount of houses than at this point a year ago. Clients include Penn graduate students and faculty members as well as people not affiliated with the University, agents said. Lyndsay Johnston, an agent at Common Ground Realtors, said the demand is so great that "we are frankly out of inventory." Johnston said he currently has 13 pending sales in University City, more than twice as many as he had last year at this time. This upward trend comes at a time when city officials have witnessed only a "small uptick in residential properties" during the past year for the entire city, said David Glancey, chairperson of the Board of Revision of Taxes. "Location drives property," Glancey said. "Areas where the location is still good are seeing an increase [in property value]." While properties in University City, Olde City, Chestnut Hill and Center City are appreciating at a higher level than the city-wide average -- $40,000 for a single family residence in 1996 -- those in areas including Bridesburg, Kensington and Port Richmond are either at or below the city-wide average, he added. Also, on a national level, the real estate market is generally healthy. Mortgage rates are lower -- 7.47 percent in the fourth quarter of 1997, down from 7.71 percent in the year-earlier period -- and median family income is higher, according to the National Association of Realtors. University officials said in addition to national and city-wide trends, they attribute this increase in demand to the combined efforts of the University and the surrounding community to clean up and promote the area. One such venture is the UC Brite program, which has funded hundreds of lights on blocks in the area. Another is the University City District, a partnership of Penn, Drexel, Amtrak and other area institutions. Created last summer, the district funds street cleaners and "safety ambassadors" who patrol the area. Joe Ruane, president of the Spruce Hill Community Association, said efforts to clean streets and remove graffiti have "given the neighborhood a much better appearance." Grace O'Donnell of O'Donnell Real Estate Inc. said the increasing interest in home ownership in University City is "remarkable and noticeable." "I am starting to have more than one buyer competing for a house," she said. And Melanie Lamond, an agent at Urban & Bye, said she currently has sales pending on 10 properties, up from just three properties at the same time last year. In addition, sellers are managing to get buyers to pay closer to the asking price than last year, when the sellers received an average of 91 percent of their original asking price. In general, houses in University City range from $85,000 to $200,000, Lamond said. Her clients include a Penn graduate student, a Penn department head, a Philadelphia Inquirer employee and a woman who works for the government. O'Donnell had a different theory for the increase in sales. In addition to what she said were the lowest interest rates on mortgages in 25 years, she attributed the increase in demand to the fact that "this winter never actually got cold," causing more people to venture outside in the mild weather to look at homes. She said she currently has sales pending on 12 properties, six more than at this time last year. None of her clients is affiliated with the University.