Our spring market has been quite interesting. Some homes have flown off the market in just days, yielding the sellers great satisfaction and peace of mind. Those homes fall into a surprisingly predictable pattern. Most are under $350,000, although there have been exceptions. Most are in the Village – Sewickley Village remains a strong draw for buyers. And most that sell quickly are offered by sellers who have done the heavy lifting in preparing their homes for market. And yet we have many wonderful, well priced homes that have not sold. Most of these are not in the Village.
Conversely, in the North Hills, homes are flying off the market consistently in just days, often with multiple offers. There are lines of buyers waiting for homes in the North Allegheny School District while we have terrific options available here, often at better prices, just waiting for their new families. It is certainly frustrating to sellers when their homes do not sell quickly. And its hard to figure out why. The most likely rationale is that the North Allegheny School District is ranked in the top three in Pittsburgh – Quaker Valley is top ten. The buyer profile these days trends toward people who give paramount importance to rankings.
What these buyer prospects are not hearing is why ranking is not everything, and it will take this Village to spread that word. Most of you own a home here and will benefit from the continued increase in real estate values. To protect your investment, it’s important that you share information about our town when you are talking to friends and colleagues outside of Sewickley. If you have kids in our schools, point out what makes our smaller school district the best choice – how many more opportunities are available to the kids when they don’t have to compete with 800 other children for everything – how much our teachers and administrators care and are able, given the small size, to know the children and families as individuals.
Spread the word about what a unique and special place Sewickley is to live. Whether you live in an older home in the Village, or up the hill in something newer, we are all part of one community here. The ability to stroll through town – enjoy a meal, shop the galleries, participate in May Mart or the House Tour or Sewickley Unleashed, just to name the most recent few – makes Sewickley special. Our neighbors care about and help each other. We work side by side to raise money for causes. There are very few places like Sewickley in all this country.
Realtors are clearly the most direct connection to incoming buyers and we tell the Sewickley story daily. But we are not the only connection. With the help of this Village we can jump start some of the more sluggish parts of our market and make Sewickley, not just the Village, the hot place to live in Pittsburgh. It will only help you in the long run as your property values increase. So spread the news about what makes Sewickley (and our schools) special to you!