Mid Penn Realty

The one thing worth knowing if you are selling

One hundred ninety nine homes went under contract within two weeks this spring, at a median of five days, and as a group they sold for 100 percent of what they originally asked.

Sixty nine homes sat for ninety days or longer. Seventy seven percent cut their price, waited a median of 153 days, and closed at about 89 percent of what they first asked.

Both groups closed at 98 to 100 percent of their FINAL asking price, which is the number every listing portal reports. Against the original asking price, the gap is eleven points. The price cut hides the damage.

The number a home launches at is what decides which of those two markets it lands in.

By market

Bloomsburg: $294,250 median, 11 days, 100 percent of asking. 58 sales.
Danville: $280,000 median, 15 days, 99.3 percent of asking. 62 sales.
Lewisburg: $392,450 median, 9 days, 99.2 percent of asking. 42 sales.
Berwick: $216,500 median, 19 days, 98.1 percent of asking. 32 sales.
Sunbury: $165,000 median, 15 days, 98.9 percent of asking. 87 sales, trailing twelve months.
Milton: $245,500 median, 9 days, 100 percent of asking. 57 sales, trailing twelve months.

Some of our smaller communities, including Elysburg, Watsontown and Winfield, do not produce enough annual sales to support an honest median. We report their counts and let the county carry the pricing rather than quote you a number built on too few homes.

What we cover, and what we do not

These figures come from the Central Susquehanna MLS and cover Columbia, Montour, Union and Northumberland counties. They do not include Lycoming County, which is served primarily by a different MLS. We would rather show you the boundary of what we can see than publish a number that looks complete and is not.

Priced to Sell, or Priced to Sit

The valley did not have one market this spring. It had two, and with 387 sales behind it the split is not a small sample curiosity.

One hundred ninety nine homes went under contract within two weeks, at a median of five days. Almost none of them cut their price, and as a group they sold for 100 percent of what they originally asked.

Sixty nine homes sat for ninety days or longer. Seventy seven percent of those cut their price, they waited a median of 153 days, and they closed at about 89 percent of what they first asked.

Here is the part no listing portal will show you. Both groups closed at between 98 and 100 percent of their FINAL asking price. On that measure they look almost identical, and that is the number a portal reports, because a portal measures against the most recent price rather than the first one.

Measured against what the seller actually asked on day one, the gap is eleven points.

The price cut hides the damage. A home that has already reduced twice sells close to its reduced number and appears, on paper, to have done fine. Five days or 153 days, and the number the home launched at is what decided which.

What we cover, and what we do not

These figures cover Columbia, Montour, Union and Northumberland counties, drawn from the Central Susquehanna MLS. They do not include Lycoming County, which is served primarily by a different MLS. We would rather tell you the boundary of what we can see than quietly publish a number that looks complete and is not.