According to a recent article in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, the sale of $1 million-plus homes has been steadily increasing in the area.  And those numbers are expected to continue rising!

Continue reading to learn more about this developing trend on the Pittsburgh housing market.

Pittsburgh Real Estate

Here’s what the latest Pittsburgh housing market data from RealStats recently revealed:

• From January to October 2011, 58 houses sold for $1 million or more in the five-county Pittsburgh region.
• Comparatively, 55 homes sold for $1 million or more in all of 2010.
• And in 2009, only 44 homes sold for $1 million or more during the whole year.
• In recent years, 2006 and 2007 saw the highest number of sales of new and existing million-dollar homes with 64 and 62 respectively.
• Since 2000, 508 homes have sold for $1 million or more in the 5-county Pittsburgh region.
• Allegheny County saw the most sales with 402, followed by Westmoreland, Washington and Butler counties with 41,32 and 29 $1 million sales respectively.

Experts say there are a number of reasons why the sale of $1 million homes in the area is increasing, including low mortgage rates and low profit margins for builders.

Whatever the reasoning is, the recent trend is good news for home sellers in all price range.

After all, the more million dollar home sales there are, the higher the median sales price will be in the region.

With a higher median sales price, home sellers will have more freedom to set the price they want on their Pittsburgh area home.

Pittsburgh Homes

If you’re considering listing your home on the Pittsburgh PA market, contact me, Jim Dolanch.

As your Pittsburgh REALTOR, I’ll be happy to answer any questions you may have as well as provide you with such helpful home selling resources as:

• Free moving kit
• MOVA Assessment
• Before you list

Until next time,

Jim

After all, both home sales and home sale prices have increased recently.

But a healthy real estate market doesn’t guarantee any homeowner a favorable outcome on the Pittsburgh  real estate market.

That’s why they must take additional steps to ensure their home is well-prepared for being shown on the market.

Continue reading to discover tips on how to successfully stage your Pittsburgh home today.

Pittsburgh, PA Homes

Here are some minor steps you can take to ensure a favorable outcome on the Pittsburgh real estate market:

• Suggest day showings:  There are shorter days in the winter and less sunlight in general.  Yet it’s sunlight that will showcase your home’s beauty the best.  Thus, try to have showings during the daytime.

• Use plenty of interior lighting as well. Make sure prospective home buyers can easily appreciate the finer features in your home by turning on plenty of lights – even inside the closets.

• Make sure parking is available. You want home buyers to be as comfortable as possible when looking at your home.  If they have to trudge through snow to reach your front door or park a block down the street, they may not form a good first impression on your home.

• Make sure your home smells fresh.  Homes can feel stuffy in the wintertime because of constantly running heaters and the lack of fresh air coming in.  Thus, consider getting a furnace to help keep air circulating throughout the house and try to avoid using overwhelmingly strong home aromas.

• Don’t Make it Too Hot in Your Home.  Given how cold it can be in Pittsburgh during the winter, it’s not uncommon for home owners to blast their heaters.  But if you make the home too warm, it can feel stuffy and uncomfortable for visiting home buyers. Aim to keep the temperature around 65 degrees.

• Don’t be Afraid to Use Holiday Accents: A few appropriately place holiday decorations can really liven up a room and make it feel more warm and inviting.  Just make sure you don’t

• Remain Optimistic.  If you’ ve been trying to sell your home for a while, we recommend that you not give up.  Generally speaking, home buyers during the winter months are more likely to buy a home since they’re considered more serious home buyers.  After all, who would want to navigate the real estate market as a home buyer during the busy holiday season unless you WERE serious about buying a home?

Pittsburgh Real Estate for Sale

If you’re trying to sell your Pittsburgh area home, I hope you found the above suggestions helpful.

And if you would like help selling your home for the best price possible and in as little time as possible, please don’t hesitate to contact me, Jim Dolanch.

As an experienced Pittsburgh REALTOR, I’ll provide you with even more tips on how you can enjoy a favorable outcome on the local housing market.

For now, make sure to check out some of my home selling tools, including:

• Moving kit
• 10 Common Seller Mistakes
• FREE MOVA assessment

Until next time,

Jim

After all, the summertime is generally the busiest time of year for housing markets around the country.

But as I mentioned in a previous blog, the home buyers who ARE navigating the market during this time of year are serious about finding a home.

And your home for sale may just be the right fit for them.

The key to optimizing your chanc of selling your home in the time you want to is staging your home for success.

Continue reading to learn more about how to prepare your Pittsburgh home for buyers.

Pittsburgh Area Properties for Sale

Here are some tips on how to stage your home to ensure that it leaves the best impression on home buyers:

• Make Minor Repairs:  In order to ensure that you get the best price for your home in as little time as possible, you’re going to want to make sure your home is in pristine condition.  Thus, before you start having any showings, give your home a mini-makeover.  This may include fixing a leaky faucet, replacing a burnt out light bulb or repairing the crack in your bathroom tile.

• De-Clutterize:  There are a few reasons why you want to get rid of all the clutter in your home.  First of all, too many things in a room can take the attention away from its beautiful design and layout.  And since you’re selling your home and not your furniture, you want to make sure the room’s layout takes center stage.  Also, less clutter makes a room look bigger. And finally, a cluttered house sends a subtle message to the buyer that you may not have taken good care of the rest of the home.  And that’s a doubt that you don’t want lingering in a home buyer’s mind.

• Organize Your Cabinets and Closets:  Home sellers should do this for the same reasons they de-clutterize the home.  And this doesn’t necessarily require a lot  of work at all.  For instance, making sure that your clothes are all hanging in the same way can make a world of difference on the overall impression a buyer gets from your home.

• Don’t Forget to Improve Your Home’s Curb Appeal.  The exterior of a home can make or break a first impression on a prospective buyer.   So take the time to make sure your home’s curb appeal is in top condition.  Mow the lawn, Trim the hedges, give your window shutters a fresh coat of paint, etc.

• Help Buyers Visualize Themselves Living There.  Too many personal effects strewn about your home can distract buyers from visualizing themselves living there.  While subtle accents like a set dining room table or a wreath hanging on the door create an inviting warm atmosphere, you want to make sure you don’t overdo it.

 Selling Pittsburgh PA Homes

As an experienced Pittsburgh REALTOR, I’ve seen these minor home improvements pay off significantly for area home sellers.

I hope you found them helpful as well.

To learn more about the best way to navigating the Pittsburgh real estate market as a home seller, contact me, Jim Dolanch.

I’ll answer any questions you may have as well as offer you such real estate resources as:

• E-Newsletter signup
• When to list
• 10 Common Seller Mistakes
• And more!

Until next time,

Jim

Reassessments are important to both home buyers and home sellers.  For home sellers, the property valuation affects how high of a list price they can ask for.   For home buyers, it dictates what kind of deal they may be able to get on a home.

Recently, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette had an interesting article about where the county is currently at in its reassessment process.

Continue reading to learn more!

Pittsburgh, PA Properties

A staff member with Allegheny County recently said that all property assessments for Pittsburgh would be issued by mid-December, according to the recent article.

Since the county is focusing on issuing reassessments for the city of Pittsburgh, other communities and the unincorporated parts of Allegheny County are likely to get their reassessments after mid-December.

County staff calculate the reassessments by comparing appraisers’s valuations with algorithms – a process that’s known as iteration.

According to early estimates, the reassessment is likely to shake up the local housing market at least a little bit.

Last summer, the state Revenue Department said that some Allegheny County homes are selling for about 17 percent more than their assessed value.

And county staff have said that some Pittsburgh area home owners could see as much as a 20 percent jump in their assessed value in 2012.

Not only will these reassessments have an impact on home sellers and home buyers, but home owners as well.  That’s because property valuations affect county, municipal and school taxes.

Pittsburgh PA Real Estate

Although property revaluations can be a bit complicated at times, it certainly is an important topic for anyone actively navigating the Pittsburgh real estate market.

As your Pittsburgh real estate expert, I’ll make sure to keep you posted as more information comes to light about Allegheny County’s property reassessments.

In the mean time, please feel free to browse my website for helpful real estate resources.

If you’re a home buyer, make sure to check out my Successful Home Buying and my Pittsburgh buying guide.

And if you’re interested in selling your home, I recommend you check out my free home evaluation and MOVA assessment.

Until next time,

Jim

Evidently, Pittsburgh residents may be the first to learn the results of Allegheny County’s recent property assessment.

Continue reading to learn more about this developing story – and what it means for Pittsburgh home sellers.

Pittsburgh, PA Properties

According to recent negotiations, Allegheny County is expected to release the results of the recent property revaluation to Pittsburgh and Mount Oliver residents first.

Meanwhile, the county will continue working on finalizing revaluations for other communities in Allegheny County, including:

• Clairton real estate
• Duquesne real estate
• McKeesport real estate
• Bethel Park real estate
• Monroeville real estate
• Mt. Lebanon real estate
• Penn Hills real estate
• And others

Evidently, the county is way behind on its property revaluations.  Although the county was expected to have all revaluations complete by Jan 1, 2012, officials are now saying it may be as late as April 2012.

Thus, the county is considering releasing new property valuation numbers first to Pittsburgh, which is the county’s largest taxing body.

Once property revaluations are sent out, residents can  challenge their new assessments at informal hearings during February and March in Allegheny County.

Pittsburgh, PA Real Estate

Knowing the new property valuations is important to public officials because it guides them on setting property tax rates. Setting the property tax rates in turn helps them plan their budget.

However, the property revaluations will also have a significant impact on Pittsburgh area home sellers as well.

After all, Pittsburgh area home buyers factor in a Pittsburgh home’s property assessment when deciding how much they’re willing to pay for the home.

Thus, depending on the results of the Allegheny County revaluation, you may either be raising or lowering your list price.

To learn more about how the upcoming county-wide revaluation will affect your Pittsburgh area home for sale, contact me, Jim Dolanch.

As your Pittsburgh real estate expert, I’ll work hard to get the best price for your Pittsburgh home for sale in as little time as possible.

In the meantime, please feel free to browse my Pittsburgh home selling tools, including:

• Before You List
• 10 Common Seller Mistakes
• What we do for you
• MOVA Assessment
• And more!

Until next time,

Jim

Evidently, the median sales price for Pittsburgh homes for sale has increased while the number of home sales has decreased.

Continue reading to learn more about the current state of the Pittsburgh, PA real estate market- and what it means for interested Pittsburgh home sellers.

Pittsburgh Real Estate News

Here’s the latest information on the Pittsburgh real estate market based on data from Trulia.com and Realtor.com:

• For the week ending on August 24, the average price per square foot for a Pittsburgh PA home for sale was $96, which represents an 80.2% decrease when compared to the same time last year.
• For the week ending on August 24, the average listing price for Pittsburgh PA homes for sale was $214,087, which is a 2.1 percent increase when compared to the prior week.
• Between May and July 2011, the median sales price for Pittsburgh PA homes for sale was $138,750, which is an 8.4 percent increase when compared to the same period last year.
• Between May and July 2011, the median sales price for Pittsburgh homes for sale was $128,000.
• Between May and July 2011, the number of Pittsburgh home sales decreased by 0.9% when compared year-over-year.
• Currently, there are 3,361 resale and new homes on the Pittsburgh real estate market, according to Trulia. In addition, there are 1,053 homes in the pre-foreclosure, auction, or bank-owned stages of the foreclosure process.

Listing Your Pittsburgh PA Property for Sale

The increase in average sales price for Pittsburgh PA homes for sale is good news for Pittsburgh home sellers looking to get a good price on their Pittsburgh PA home.

If you’ve been thinking about entering the Pittsburgh real estate market as a Pittsburgh home seller, then contact me, Jim Dolanch, your Pittsburgh real estate expert, today.

I’ll answer any questions you might have as well as provide you with a number of helpful Pittsburgh home selling resources.

These include:

• FREE home evaluation
• MOVA Assessment
• FREE moving kit
• And more!

Until next time,

According to a recent housing market data, the Pittsburgh real estate market is bucking national trends by seeing the average home price increase.

Continue reading to discover just how well the Pittsburgh housing market is doing right now and to see what that means for Pittsburgh area home sellers.

Pittsburgh Homes for Sale

Pittsburgh housing prices increased about 3.8 percent during the first quarter of 2011, according to recent real estate market data.

In comparison, the Case-Shiller home price index, which measures home prices all over the country, said that nationwide home prices decreased by 4.2 percent during the same period.

Here’s what else recent Pittsburgh real estate market data reveals:

• In Allegheny, Beaver, Butler, Washington and Westmoreland counties, the average and median home prices increased.
• 19 of  20 metropolitan areas in the country saw year-over-year home price drops  in March.
• The average home price rose from $143,859 last year to $148,859 in the Pittsburgh, PA area.
• The median home price rose from $110,000 during the first quarter of last year to $113,200 this year, which is about a 2 percent increase.

All of this is great news for Pittsburgh area home sellers thinking about listing their Pittsburgh home.

Over the last few years, Pittsburgh home sellers have had to cut their list prices in order to attract interested Pittsburgh home buyers. Given that Pittsburgh area home prices are rising, however, there might be a shift toward a seller’s market soon.

Selling Your Pittsburgh, PA Home for Sale

Have you been thinking about selling your Pittsburgh area home? I can help!

As your Pittsburgh area real estate expert, I’ll provide you with a number of helpful Pittsburgh area home selling resources, including:

• Free home evaluation
• MOVA assessment
• Before Your List
• Free Moving Kit
• 10 Common Seller Mistakes
• And more!

Until Next time,

Jim

There were about 750 foreclosures during the first quarter of 2011, which is the lowest number of foreclosures during a quarter since the fourth quarter of 2004.

Here’s a breakdown of foreclosure rates by county in the Pittsburgh area:

• 402 homes foreclosed in Allegheny County in the first quarter of 2011, which is the county’s lowest figure since fourth quarter of 2002.
• During the fourth quarter of 2002, 374 homes foreclosed in Allegheny county.
• 127 homes foreclosed in Beaver County in the first quarter of 2011, which was a dramatic increase from fourth quarter 2010.
• During the fourth quarter of 2010, only 76 homes foreclosed in Beaver County.
• 77 homes foreclosed in Westmoreland County in the first quarter of 2011, which was a decrease from the fourth quarter of 2010.
• During the fourth quarter of 2010, 152 homes foreclosed in Westmoreland County.
• There was an increase in foreclosures in Washington County – which went from 83 to 103 foreclosures.

The Pittsburgh Real Estate Market

Depending on whether you’re a Pittsburgh home buyer or Pittsburgh home seller can determine whether you think the number of foreclosures in the area is positive or negative.

For Pittsburgh home buyers, this means that while Pittsburgh homes are still listed at bargain prices, the trend might be shifting.

Why? Because as there are less foreclosures entering the Pittsburgh real estate, there’s less inventory of available homes for sale.  With less inventory on the market, prices  will ultimately rise as homes for sale become more scarce.

On the flip side of that, a drop in foreclosures in the region is promising news for Pittsburgh home sellers as well because it means they might be able to raise their list price soon as Pittsburgh home inventory decreases.

Thus, for both Pittsburgh home buyers and Pittsburgh home sellers, now is a great time to enter the Pittsburgh Real Estate Market!

Thinking About Entering the Pittsburgh Real Estate Market

I can help!  As your Pittsburgh real estate expert, I’ll provide you with all the information you need to make an educated decision on the Pittsburgh real estate market.

Contact me, Jim Dolanch, today to see how I can help you and your family!

And if you’re thinking about relocating to the Pittsburgh area, I recommend you check out some of my relocation materials, including:

• Free relocation package
• School Information
• Help Me Find a Home
• Pittsburgh buying guide
• Moving with kids
• And more!

Until next time,

Jim

Many Pittsburgh real estate experts are not too concerned, however, citing the boost to the housing market that the first-time home buyers tax credit gave last year.

Plus, Pittsburgh’s single family home sales in January and February were better this year than last year, suggesting that March’s data might just be an anomaly.

Here is some more data on the Pittsburgh real estate market according to the recent article:

• Sales figures fell by 3.3 percent in March when compared to March 2010.
• The median home price  fell by 3.8 percent in March when compared to March 2010.
• The sales figures and median home price for March 2011 is still considerably better than 2009, in which there 350 less home sales and $70 million less in home sale revenue.

Pittsburgh Real Estate Data

The publication ranked the largest Pittsburgh residential real estate firms by 2010 sales volume.

With a total sales volume of $126,000,000 in 2010, our team of Pittsburgh real estate experts at Century 21 Frontier Realty came in at number 6!

Providing Pittsburgh Home Sellers the Very Best in Service

One of the factors that we believe contributed to our recent appearance on the Pittsburgh Business Times’ list of top residential real estate firms in the Pittsburgh area is our commitment to our clients.

When we work with Pittsburgh area home sellers, we make sure we provide them with all the resources they need to ensure a successful outcome on the Pittsburgh real estate market.

These Pittsburgh home buying tools including:

• Free Home Evaluation
• Free Moving Kit
• MOVA Assessment
• Information on 10 Common Seller Mistakes
• Information on what to do before you list
• And more!

We also use only the latest and greatest marketing tools to ensure that your Pittsburgh home sells as quickly as possible and for the best price possible.

List Your Pittsburgh Home on the Pittsburgh Real Estate Market Today!

Contact me, Jim Dolanch, and I’ll tell you even more about what Century 21 Frontier Realty can do for you as a Pittsburgh home seller.

As your Pittsburgh real estate expert, I’ll make sure that the Pittsburgh real estate transaction process is as easy and worry-free for you and your family as possible.

Until next time,

Jim