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Carbondale home prices bucking downward trend
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BY JEREMY G. BURTON
STAFF WRITER
CARBONDALE — With much of the country mired in a housing crisis, home prices in Carbondale surged 13 percent in 2007, a positive sign the city can tout but also a reminder of just how low real estate values were to begin with.
According to database numbers analyzed by Realtor Robert Vanston, the average sale price of single-family homes in Carbondale is up to nearly $81,000, from $71,000 in 2006.
Some peg the rise even higher. Carbondale Realtor Henry Deecke said that while Multiple Listing Service numbers are accurate, they aren’t comprehensive. Mr. Deecke estimates prices have climbed as much as 30 percent.
Mayor Justin Taylor called the trend exciting news. For the last few years, City Hall has pushed programs like tax abatements and first-time homebuyer loans to encourage the housing market.
But Mr. Taylor also acknowledges there was nowhere to go but up.
“We were at pretty much the lowest point we could be,” he said.
Even with recent gains, city home prices remain nearly $100,000 below the Lackawanna County average. Only Carbondale Township is lower.
So far, though, 2008 hasn’t been as kind to Carbondale as last year.
Prices have leveled off, and Mr. Deecke, who runs an agency on Pike Street, said his sales volume is down 20 percent.
But 2008 hasn’t been kind to anyone in real estate, and as go the country and region, so goes Carbondale, Mr. Deecke said.
Home prices in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre metropolitan area increased 7.2 percent in 2007, according to a federal index. Mr. Deecke said Carbondale was able to ride that wave.
Joann Cerminaro, an associate Realtor with Ruddy Realty downtown, said the city saw a rush of outsiders, buyers from New York and New Jersey looking to profit from cheap properties. Those investors drove the market, basic supply and demand, Ms. Cerminaro said.
Ms. Cerminaro and Mr. Deecke said they doubt City Hall programs affected prices much. If officials could create jobs, draw an employer or lure more professionals, that would be huge, they said.
Mr. Vanston, however, gives a lot of credit to those programs and city leadership.
Since 1998, first-time homebuyers have been able to apply for money to cover closing costs, and more recently, city officials started offering tax incentives to people renovating or building new homes. In Mr. Taylor’s first term, there was also a home rehab program.
That kind of support is key, said Mr. Vanston, of Prudential Preferred Properties in Clarks Summit.
Then there is Lackawanna Neighbors, a nonprofit that buys homes and overhauls them for low- to moderate-income families. Since 2003, the nonprofit has renovated 16 of the city’s worst eyesores.
Jody Baden, the organization’s director of development, said single-family homes are the bedrock of a turnaround, fostering stability and community.
“People start caring. It’s a domino effect,” she said.
While it’s debatable just to what extent the mayor and City Council can influence real estate trends, other indicators are up, too. Between 2001 and 2007, revenue from real estate transfer taxes doubled. And building permits issued climbed 30 percent in the past three years.
There are great homes in Carbondale, Mr. Deecke said, and most people don’t realize it. A rise in prices is good. But low prices, he said, aren’t necessarily a bad thing.
Contact the writer: jburton@timesshamrock.com
According to database numbers analyzed by Realtor Robert Vanston, the average sale price of single-family homes in Carbondale is up to nearly $81,000, from $71,000 in 2006.
Some peg the rise even higher. Carbondale Realtor Henry Deecke said that while Multiple Listing Service numbers are accurate, they aren’t comprehensive. Mr. Deecke estimates prices have climbed as much as 30 percent.
Mayor Justin Taylor called the trend exciting news. For the last few years, City Hall has pushed programs like tax abatements and first-time homebuyer loans to encourage the housing market.
But Mr. Taylor also acknowledges there was nowhere to go but up.
“We were at pretty much the lowest point we could be,” he said.
Even with recent gains, city home prices remain nearly $100,000 below the Lackawanna County average. Only Carbondale Township is lower.
So far, though, 2008 hasn’t been as kind to Carbondale as last year.
Prices have leveled off, and Mr. Deecke, who runs an agency on Pike Street, said his sales volume is down 20 percent.
But 2008 hasn’t been kind to anyone in real estate, and as go the country and region, so goes Carbondale, Mr. Deecke said.
Home prices in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre metropolitan area increased 7.2 percent in 2007, according to a federal index. Mr. Deecke said Carbondale was able to ride that wave.
Joann Cerminaro, an associate Realtor with Ruddy Realty downtown, said the city saw a rush of outsiders, buyers from New York and New Jersey looking to profit from cheap properties. Those investors drove the market, basic supply and demand, Ms. Cerminaro said.
Ms. Cerminaro and Mr. Deecke said they doubt City Hall programs affected prices much. If officials could create jobs, draw an employer or lure more professionals, that would be huge, they said.
Mr. Vanston, however, gives a lot of credit to those programs and city leadership.
Since 1998, first-time homebuyers have been able to apply for money to cover closing costs, and more recently, city officials started offering tax incentives to people renovating or building new homes. In Mr. Taylor’s first term, there was also a home rehab program.
That kind of support is key, said Mr. Vanston, of Prudential Preferred Properties in Clarks Summit.
Then there is Lackawanna Neighbors, a nonprofit that buys homes and overhauls them for low- to moderate-income families. Since 2003, the nonprofit has renovated 16 of the city’s worst eyesores.
Jody Baden, the organization’s director of development, said single-family homes are the bedrock of a turnaround, fostering stability and community.
“People start caring. It’s a domino effect,” she said.
While it’s debatable just to what extent the mayor and City Council can influence real estate trends, other indicators are up, too. Between 2001 and 2007, revenue from real estate transfer taxes doubled. And building permits issued climbed 30 percent in the past three years.
There are great homes in Carbondale, Mr. Deecke said, and most people don’t realize it. A rise in prices is good. But low prices, he said, aren’t necessarily a bad thing.
Contact the writer: jburton@timesshamrock.com
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