Welcome to my November real estate market report! In this monthly series, I examine the real estate market data, school district by school district, here in Chester County. This month’s real estate market report focuses on the Great Valley School District squished between T/E and West Chester Area School Districts. Covering the Vanguard Campus, multiple medical complexes, historic Willistown, and more, this school district takes a strong step towards the agrarian character of our county while embracing the industry and possibilities of the big city.
National headlines, averages, and talking points make for entertaining coverage, but often fall flat when it comes to capturing your neighborhood’s unique character. That’s where local, real-time information comes in. Even this snapshot of a school district in our county casts a wide net. All the same, this picture can help build a foundation for those more focused comparisons and conversations with real estate agents.
In this month’s market report, we start with a high-level overview of the month’s real estate market data before going into my practical advice for buyers and sellers.
Data Source
This month’s real estate market data was put together by Lauren Davis at Tri-County Suburban Realtors, pulling data from the BrightMLS. Lauren has very thorough presentations of the entire county, with everything from interactive graphs to .pdf downloads showing the most interesting market statistics from across our region.
A Look at the Market
This month’s numbers for the Great Valley School District speak to the seasonality of the real estate market. Fall tends to be the end of the real estate season, with the winter holidays leading people to spend more time with their families than hunting for their next home. While other school districts across our county continue to see rebounding real estate trends in the wake of the FED’s rate adjustment in September, the story in Great Valley School District shows sales, new listings, and even DOM are all moving towards a downturn.
The good news is that this type of seasonal trend is nothing new in our area. Shorter evenings to see properties, an increase in holiday activities, and the challenges of moving with kids mid school year all work together and drive real estate activity down. This return to more historic real estate trends is a good sign of a healthy market.
Advice for Buyers
Buyers in the Great Valley School District look to be facing an uphill battle right now. While there are more listings than this time last year, competition remains fierce for homes that are priced right. Part of what this means is that you may have to pay a premium to get the home of your choice. That doesn’t mean coming to the table with your hat in hand, however, as DOM continues to increase and homes are selling for less than their asking price.
Put all of this together and we have a picture of a competitive market where buyers are negotiating against each other and sellers alike. Dwindling inventory over the winter season suggests competition will only get more intense until the spring market breaks and inventory picks up. If you’re trying to buy a home in the Great Valley School District sooner than later, your window of opportunity seems to be closing.
Advice for Sellers
With prices increasing and inventory dwindling, you’d think it’s a seller’s market in the Great Valley School District right now. The rest of the data, including DOM and average sold price to original list price ratio (OLP), shows us that buyers have just as much negotiating room as ever. Looking at the 5-year average for those data points, we see that October was one of the most buyer-friendly months in recent times.
That means you, as a seller, need a plan. Though prices continue to increase, we’re not seeing the same frenzy to pay whatever premium to get in the door that we’ve seen these past few years. Instead, you should be prepared for buyers looking to negotiate. Get out in front of the negotiations by pricing your home well and having realistic expectations. And, be ready to wait for the right offer. Though buyer’s had more wiggle room than we’ve seen in years, conventional wisdom still says we’re in a seller’s market.
Conclusion
The Great Valley School District bridges the gap between the Main Line and agrarian Chester County. With the school year in full swing and the holiday season upon us, real estate activity is slowing down. Prices keep rising, inventory has nearly recovered to its 5-year average, and buyers have a better negotiating position than has been the story since COVID. Even so, seasonal cycles are strong, and the expected cycle of the real estate market has returned in at least one school district across our great county.
Thanks for reading this month’s real estate market report! I hope you found it both interesting and informative. Do you like the interactive charts on Tri-County’s website? Please let me know! I always make time to talk, and would love to hear your opinions!
