Looking back on 2024 | Real Estate Newsletter

Another year is almost over. Before we turn to the year ahead, let’s look back on 2024 in the local real estate world.

Keep scrolling for this week’s edition:

📮Did you have a favorite story that you read in the newsletter this year? Why’d you like it? Let me know by emailing me.

— Michaelle Bond

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Over the last year, we’ve seen plans to build a lot more apartments, setbacks to housing affordability, and local real estate-related investigations.

Thousands of apartments are in the works in neighborhoods across Philly, and experts think there may be a multifamily housing glut.

Here’s a small sample of what could be coming:

With apartments to fill, Philly landlords are offering concessions, such as deals on rent and parking. And more now say they’re interested in renting to low-income tenants who use government subsidies.

At the beginning of the year, we looked at what $1,700 in rent could buy you across Philly, and — no surprise — it varies a lot based on where you are.

We can’t forget the many developments planned just outside Philly. In Norristown, officials hope a new apartment building will help revitalize its long-struggling downtown. In Burlington Township, a $125 million, 500-unit rental complex is planned for the former site of the Burlington Center mall. A proposal for 10 warehouses, a hotel, a big-box retailer, and 200 homes sparked opposition in a Gloucester County town.

Speaking of warehouses, this year a bunch of my colleagues got together to look at how millions of square feet of warehouses are shaping communities in a comprehensive story about trends in our region. And, they wrote, towns are pushing back.

Across the Philly region, housing affordability continues to be a problem. A Zillow report found that a household in the Philly area that makes the typical income would need a six-figure down payment to comfortably afford the typical home.

And the income needed to afford a typical home grew more in Philly and Delco than anywhere else, according to an analysis of the country’s largest metros.

Meanwhile, the local luxury housing market has done pretty well.

This year, we also highlighted a bunch of hard-hitting real estate investigations that revealed:

I shared lots of stories in this newsletter in the first 11 months of the year. We looked back to see which were most popular.

#1: Readers loved the Monstrosity.

The newsletter’s most-read story was one I wrote in September about Avalon’s Monstrosity — a home owned by the same family for more than 130 years and named with love and a wink. The family hoped to sell but preserve the home.

I wrote an update to this story last month. Unfortunately for lovers of the Monstrosity, the family decided to sell the double-lot property to a local developer. And the home will most likely be torn down.

#2: Dreaming of Delancey

Readers were interested in the rare occurrence of six multimillion-dollar homes being for sale at the same time on one of Philly’s most prestigious blocks, near Rittenhouse Square.

The homes on the 1800 block of Delancey Place came with features such as elevators, wine coolers, and a fountain. Readers liked taking a look inside the homes.

#3: Open space vs. housing

The future of open space in Philly’s collar counties has always been a popular topic. This year, readers wanted to learn more about Royersford residents’ fight to stop the construction of a housing development on one of Montgomery County’s last big open spaces.

The county once owned the 176-acre property, but the current owner wants to build 1,203 homes at the site.

#4: Big love for tiny Shore homes

Another Shore home-related story made it into the top five, which isn’t surprising.

Although the trend at the Shore is to tear down older and smaller homes and build McMansions, this story focused on small bungalows — one is less than 400 square feet — and the owners who refuse to sell them.

#5: Auctioning a historic mansion

The fifth most-read story in the newsletter this year was about the auction of a historic North Philly mansion owned by Father Divine’s Peace Mission.

The religious organization founded by the charismatic civil rights leader who claimed to be God used to have a whole portfolio of Philly properties. That’s dwindled along with the Peace Mission’s membership.

The mansion is one of the few from its era that have survived in the neighborhood. It was auctioned off in August.

These stories were the most read, but I had my own favorites. Including my story about the creator behind the popular my.philly.home account on social media and how she transformed her home as a renter.

And then there’s my feel-good story about Dwayne Fair. He’s known around his North Philly neighborhood as the guy you go to if you need help with home repairs, especially if money’s tight. After fulfilling a promise to his mom, he was finally able to renovate his own house.

There are a few homes we’ve written about this year that stick out to me.

Like the castle-like property with a moat, tennis court, and bowling alley in Gladwyne that was listed for sale for about $12 million. If you were interested but didn’t have the money, good news: the home’s now on the market for $2 million less.

These kids have a rock-climbing wall in the kitchen of their historical Fairmount home.

This Queen Village rowhouse stands out to me because this family bought it and then found out the kitchen was sinking. The room had no foundation and was supported by a telephone pole.

This rehabbed Spring Garden home, built in 1868, had some interesting past lives.

Homeowners in Northern Liberties built a home in their backyard for their children’s grandparents. There’s even a little bridge that connects the homes.

This Ocean City homeowner’s dining room table is a repurposed library table from the Philly elementary school where she used to work. Of course she had to sand out the F-word.

Reminder: If you’d like to show off your home, you can nominate it to be featured in The Inquirer. Just send a brief description and some digital photos to properties@inquirer.com.

Predicting the future of the housing market is difficult, but every year, economists try. Some years they’re more successful than others.

On a phone call with Lisa Sturtevant, chief economist at the multiple listing service Bright MLS, I tried to tactfully ask why the forecast for the 2024 housing market was so off. She told me I could be more frank: She and her colleagues got the predictions wrong for this year.

They thought that across their focus area — the Mid-Atlantic region — local markets would be busy with home sales and homebuyers would get some relief on prices.

But sales have been slower than expected — nearly flat compared to last year. And home prices grew rapidly.

So what happened?

Most people may have moved on from the pandemic, but its effects are lingering. And those effects played a big role in messing up economists’ forecasts for 2024.

Now, Bright MLS is taking another crack at predictions for 2025. Sturtevant is cautiously optimistic about next year. Our region can expect more homes on the market, more home sales, and prices that will rise but not as much as they did this year.

🔮 Peek into the (possible) future of our housing market.

We’ll see whether these new predictions come true. Enjoy the rest of your week.

P.S. Lots of readers knew that last week’s photo quiz featured the Holiday Garden Railway at Morris Arboretum & Gardens. If you didn’t get it, don’t worry. We’ll be back with another photo quiz next week.

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