Get Real

‘Tis the Season to Shop … for a House

Did you put a new home on your list?

While you’re making a list and checking in twice during the holidays, consider some of the national and local data on housing prices and interest rates.  You just might say, its time to shop ... for a house or investment property.  Did you know that in many cities across the country the monthly cost of owning a home is more affordable now than at any time in the last 15 years?  And, on top of that, owning is less expensive than renting?  This is because home prices have fallen and interest rates are low (around 4 percent and sometimes lower), while rent prices have increased.  A recent article in the Wall Street Journal included projections that rent prices will increase more than 4 percent in 2012 in many parts of the U.S.  According to …

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Get Real

Are We at the Bottom Yet?

Getting a great deal on a home is not just about the price of the home, but more about the costs to purchase

You’ve read and heard a boatload of news on current home prices. Each time you hear it you’re wondering whether we’ve reached “the bottom.” Sound the gong!  Someone said “the bottom”!  In our region, many experts believe we are near bottom prices, if not already there.  One of the ways this is determined is to look at the percentage of distressed properties on the market.  A distressed property is defined as a home in foreclosure or that is bank owned. It is these kinds of homes that bring down the value of non-distressed properties. In Pennsylvania, the distressed property rate is 17 percent, as of last month.  We are in better shape than most states.  Only Iowa, New Mexico, South Dakota and Alaska have fewer distressed properties.  That …

News from Lansdale Borough

Sewer Rates in Lansdale Expected to Remain Steady

A completed sewer rate analysis recommends no increase in 2011, but the borough will have to boost rates as soon as 2012.

Lansdale Borough sewer rates are in good shape, and there’s no need for an increase in 2011, according to a recent completed sewer rate analysis presented to the administration and finance committee and public works committee Wednesday night. However, those rates—which include both service charges and usage fees—will need to increase at some point over the next five years. It could be as soon as 2012 and could be as much as 18 percent. Dave Busch, of Keystone Alliance Consulting in Ambler, told council that rates are in good shape at the moment, and the borough can make it through the year without any issues. The goal of the study, he said, was to calculate what the rates would need to be each year during the next five years. The analysis …

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