Why Philly's Rental Market is So Hot Right Now

With home sales down and home prices pretty flat, the rental market in Center City has been off the chart, probably the busiest I've ever seen it. And not surprisingly, mostly around Rittenhouse Square. In fact, this April will be my firm's best rental month ever compared to all other Aprils in previous years. We will rent 20% more homes than last year. This is why I think rentals are so hot right now:

1) Wharton students, other grad students, and interns often prefer living in Center City over the neighborhoods in which the universities lie.
2) Normal professionals who typically would rent continue to actively do so.
3) A segment of the market that would buy but is not buying right now is renting, tightening the rental market.
4) A flurry of some new business coming into Philly via Comcast and other firms is increasing the amount of renters.

Big Sports Weekend for Philadelphia!

Good luck Flyers and 76ers in your playoff games, and good luck to the Phillies on their first home series against the Mets this season!!

More on foreclosures...

The Philadelphia Common Pleas Court announced today details of a pilot program it hopes will reduce the number of foreclosures in the city. Here is the jist of the program:

• Owner-occupied properties will be put on a special track intended to help borrowers with free legal advice and housing counseling
• All residential foreclosures will be subject to a conciliation conference before the property can be sold via Sherriff's sale.

I think that first of all Judge Rizzo is smart and understands real esate. The efforts for owner occupied properties under this plan make sense. Counseling and then action for a loan work-out for owner occupieds will at least be any effort to help people who are having problems with their loan payments.

This is a good plan and timing wise it is not create long delay for lenders. Their are time limits like 45 days to resolve these issues.

To Pause Foreclosures, or Not Pause Foreclosures?

Last week Philadelphia City Council approved a one month pause in foreclosures while it sought a six-month moratorium on foreclosure activity in the city. Turns out City Council doesn't even have the authority to impose the longer-term moratorium they seek. And, Mayor Michael Nutter does not currently support a court order authorizing such a freeze. This is what I think on foreclosures in the city...if the property value is currently below the loan amount, I am not in favor of any postponement, you might as well just get it over with now and foreclose. If the value of the property is greater than the loan amount, I am in favor of some sort of postponement.

Otherwise we will not be fair with our lenders and it will cost all homeowners in the end.