Lancaster, PA (August 28, 2009) – The Jeff Geoghan Realty Group of Coldwell Banker Select Professionals proudly announced an innovative new homebuyer program this week.

Many homebuyers today are interested in finding the most energy-efficient homes and are often ready to make improvements to the property that reflect their personal values in support of the “green” movement.  However, homes on the market aren’t easily identified as being energy-efficient and buyers can find navigating the internet to find serious green contractors a daunting task.

Jeff Geoghan, a longtime green advocate in Central PA, has introduced a new program called the SmartGreen™ Homebuyer Package, designed to bring green products and services into a “one-stop” opportunity for buyers, and to assist them with selecting homes based on energy savings & improvement possibilities.  The program website is www.SmartGreenPA.com.

“In my experience working with the public, the most compelling need has been to be able to connect buyers and homeowners with committed green service providers” says Geoghan, who is a Coldwell Banker agent.  “There are many great vendors throughout our corner of PA and I’m bringing them together in a comprehensive package consumers can access in one place”.

Customers signing up for the package will receive a complimentary home energy audit performed by Scott Pusey of Pusey & Raffensberger Builders of Lititz, PA.  Pusey will perform the audit on the prospective home and deliver a report detailing areas of opportunity.  Other key package partners are Douglas Campbell, a LEED AP architect and Steve Mellinger of Blue Moon Solar, both of Lancaster, who are offering complimentary consultations with SmartGreen™ clients.  Offers Geoghan “We’re adding new partners regularly, and my ultimate goal is to bring all serious green vendors under one umbrella that buyers can have easy access to”.

Keystone HELP, an acclaimed Pennsylvania state-supported financing program, is also a partner in the Smartgreen™ Package.  Keystone HELP, administered by AFC First Financial Corporation, offers low-interest loans to homeowners looking to finance energy-efficient improvements.

Jeff Geoghan is a member of the Green Building Association of Central Pennsylvania, Susquehanna Sustainable Business Network and an Energy Star® partner.

The Jeff Geoghan Realty Group, part of the Coldwell Banker Select Professionals family of real estate agents, is based at 1000 North Prince Street in historic Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  Their acclaimed website is www.YourLancasterHome.com and they serve the Lancaster PA real estate market with professional and personal services for home buyers and home sellers.  Jeff Geoghan is a top real estate expert in Lancaster County, PA, and has been featured in the Lancaster Newspapers, WGAL Channel 8, PA Business Journal and Wall Street Journal.

# # #

As promised in my earlier post recapping July 2009 home sales in Lancaster County PA,  here's a review of where we are as a county through July 2009.

First up is the home sales chart for the last 36 months:

New listings are experiencing a bit of an uptick for this time of year, mirroring last July/August.  As you can see, the bottom fell out in October due to the financial mess of that month.  This year should not be as traumatic (no election to influence, you see...).  Home sales took a downward tack in July and it will be interesting to see what happens in August, as by all accounts the market has been good this month. 

To some degree we are in uncharted waters in the Lancaster County home market, as the freefall of last fall is not expected to recur and the expiration of the first-time buyer tax credit in December will stop any incentive there.  Will we reach under 200 sales for the dead of winter again??????

So what's up with home prices then?

I circled the Julys on the chart - The home sales price rebounded a bit from 2008 in July and has been rising in a healthy manner most of the year.  Last year prices fell steeply in October/November, so we can certainly expect a drop into the fall.  Again, the effect of the financial meltdown and subsequent government reactions on our local market is hard to quantify, and all we can do is hope that we'll see a softer falloff such as occurred in 2007 (see the chart). 

Unfortunately, the "price gap" between list and sell prices got bigger in July rather than smaller as I had hoped in the June Market report.  That's a bummer IMO because I think the market would have practically exploded had the gap narrowed to very little (list prices would have been VERY attractive and buyers would have leaped off the fences).  As it was, list prices rose sharply in July.  Note that the SALP, or seasonally-adjusted (12 month rolling) list price is still down, though.  The SASP(Seasonally-adjusted sold price) has also fallen considerably throughout 2009, almost 10,000.  Good news for buyers even still...

Bottom line = no disaster here, and the future of home sales depends a lot on how we weather the fall in the shadow of the 2008 mess.

___________________________________________________________________________

 For Lancaster PA homes for sale click here. Jeff Geoghan is a top real estate expert in Lancaster County, PA, and an involved community member. Jeff's work has been featured in the Lancaster Newspapers, WGAL Channel 8, PA Business Journal and Wall Street Journal. Jeff's blog on Lancaster County and its homes is nationally-featured. Contact Jeff for more help with your Lancaster PA Real Estate needs. Jeff is also a photographer - view some of his lancaster pa photography portfolio. Comments are welcome!

 

This morning we had 24 Tweeters show up at Prince Street Cafe in downtown Lancaster City PA for our (13th?) regular breakfast Tweetup gathering.  It was a particularly boisterous crowd led by Daniel Klotz of "Lancast" Podcast fame.

Thanks for everyone who came out and braved the 7am start time!  Here's a follow list:

@wrtrmaus

@russellfrost

@bbes

@re_marks

@myshire

@cinexcellence

@jsang

@crazywidow

@cshontz

@christophervogt

@odonnellsteve

@investinafrica

@neilrhen

@hdesignr

@mspiker

@airport_girl

@godesignunit

@piperpav

@lancasterhomes (little ol me)

@c_visual

@danielklotz (troublemaker)

@cmarie_bundy

@dbmoulton (henchman)

@brix11

If I missed anybody or got a name wrong please jump in, thanks!

I'm going to break up my monthly home sales recap into two blog posts going forward, to make the information easier to digest (don't want any upset stomachs out there, you know...).

Here's the July 2009 home sales figures from the local MLS for Lancaster County, Pennsylvania:

You may have heard that Lancaster PA just got mentioned in Businessweek as one of the "top 30" best real estate markets in the US.  That was according to Zillow, in which I don't place much stock (guess the BW folks had a slow news week).  Looking at the numbers, though, does yield some good news for a change.

Note that while sold homes were pretty much steady (down 2%) over last year, homes "pending sale" rose sharply (up 27%) - a sign that buyers are out this summer and staying with it through July, which is typically beyond the peak in June that we see every year.  Perhaps the work that the $8,000 IRS incentive is going away this fall has something to do with that...

Also note that the Average Sold Price stayed above 2008 levels, which is very good news for home sellers concerned about eroding home values.  Personally, I was a bit shocked to see this number (and pleased too).

On the down side, it's taking almost 20% longer to sell the Lancaster County home on average, which speaks to the need for superlative marketing on the part of the listing agent to get the word out early, and the need for sellers to be patient but demanding.  Also, the biggest statistical jump was with listings expiring, almost a 50% leap over last year!  Why?  Sellers who listed six months ago (the typical listing period) realized that the year was slipping away and decided to make a change at the end of their contract, I'd wager.

All in all a great month considering the economic challenges and uncertain outlook facing the national housing landscape.

Watch for my next post on the price and sales trends over time in Lancaster County home sales - let's see if history can teach us anything.