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News November 16, 2009 Homebuyer aid pays off By AMY BRISSON abrisson@delcotimes.com CHESTER — About two weeks ago, Kendra Queen moved into her new home on Worrell Street in Chester, where her 15-year-old twins couldn’t wait to start decorating their own rooms. “They get to paint their room their color, any color they want,” said Queen, who took a brief break from her job as a medical technician to enthuse about her new house. “You can’t really do that when you’re renting.” To close on her home, Queen took advantage of numerous homebuyer incentive programs that city offices, the federal government and even private corporations are now offering. She signed up for the new homebuyer program at the Chester Economic Development Authority, which is enticing buyers with $5,000 for closing costs and another $5,000 toward the down payment. Queen also won a $1,000 grand prize for her down payment during the Chester Economic Development Authority’s annual homebuyer fair, along with another $500 from Fair Housing Council of Suburban Philadelphia based in Swarthmore. As a Chester-Keystone Health System employee, she qualified for a $5,000 forgivable loan through their “Walk to Work” program, and — to sweeten the deal further — she will get up to $8,000 in homebuyer tax credits, courtesy of last year’s federal stimulus bill. “I’m lovin’ it. I’m blessed to have all the help I’ve come across,” said Queen, who has considered owning her own house for years. Officials say the numerous incentives are encouraging many buyers to take the plunge this year despite increasing unemployment numbers and worries about the economy. Lisa Gaffney, housing director for the Economic Development Authority, said its program to aid new homebuyers combined with below-market housing prices in Chester are attracting offers to the table. “We have had more applications in our new homebuyer program than we have ever had. We have had a glut,” she said. So far in 2009, Gaffney said the authority has had 36 families in the program close on homes averaging around $100,000. It had two more home sales in its moderate-income program and about a half-dozen families have taken advantage of the “Walk to Work” offer from Widener University and Crozer-Keystone. Most of the sales are coming from new, affordable housing developments, like Wellington Heights in the Highland Gardens neighborhood, or new units at Sixth and Reaney streets, she said. Despite the good news — that homes are selling — it’s not clear whether numbers for 2009 will keep pace with 2008. A Prudential Fox & Roach 2009 mid-year market report showed home prices in Chester falling 22.5 percent from $67,000 in the first half of 2008, to $50,000 in the first half of this year. The number of homes sold also dropped 66.2 percent, from 139 in 2008 to 47 in 2009. But more up-to-date statistics from TREND, a multiple listing service, show 84 homes sold so far this year in Chester, fetching an average price of $65,087. By either count, it’s an improvement over a decade ago, when the 2000 U.S. Census found homes selling in Chester for a median price of just $43,100. Gaffney said there is no doubt the weak economy is having an impact on the city’s real estate market. “People are hurting, and when major employers are laying people off, people get concerned about that and they’re not going to be running off and buying house, even when you give them $8,000,” she said. The government is still subsidizing construction in the city because it costs more to build a home than it does to buy one, she said. But she said a few individuals have bought property and built fully financed modular homes in the past year. She said she sees that as a sign that banks and families are looking at Chester as a place where investment can pay off. “We’re still slightly under market, and I think if you purchase now, it’s really time to improve equity. And with all the positive things going on in the city, the quality of life is improving,” she said. “I really think now is a good time to buy.”

News
November 16, 2009

Homebuyer aid pays off
By AMY BRISSON
abrisson@delcotimes.com

CHESTER — About two weeks ago, Kendra Queen moved into her new home on Worrell Street in Chester, where her 15-year-old twins couldn’t wait to start decorating their own rooms.

“They get to paint their room their color, any color they want,” said Queen, who took a brief break from her job as a medical technician to enthuse about her new house. “You can’t really do that when you’re renting.”

To close on her home, Queen took advantage of numerous homebuyer incentive programs that city offices, the federal government and even private corporations are now offering.

She signed up for the new homebuyer program at the Chester Economic Development Authority, which is enticing buyers with $5,000 for closing costs and another $5,000 toward the down payment.

Queen also won a $1,000 grand prize for her down payment during the Chester Economic Development Authority’s annual homebuyer fair, along with another $500 from Fair Housing Council of Suburban Philadelphia based in Swarthmore.

As a Chester-Keystone Health System employee, she qualified for a $5,000 forgivable loan through their “Walk to Work” program, and — to sweeten the deal further — she will get up to $8,000 in homebuyer tax credits, courtesy of last year’s federal stimulus bill.

“I’m lovin’ it. I’m blessed to have all the help I’ve come across,” said Queen, who has considered owning her own house for years.

Officials say the numerous incentives are encouraging many buyers to take the plunge this year despite increasing unemployment numbers and worries about the economy.

Lisa Gaffney, housing director for the Economic Development Authority, said its program to aid new homebuyers combined with below-market housing prices in Chester are attracting offers to the table.

“We have had more applications in our new homebuyer program than we have ever had. We have had a glut,” she said.

So far in 2009, Gaffney said the authority has had 36 families in the program close on homes averaging around $100,000. It had two more home sales in its moderate-income program and about a half-dozen families have taken advantage of the “Walk to Work” offer from Widener University and Crozer-Keystone.

Most of the sales are coming from new, affordable housing developments, like Wellington Heights in the Highland Gardens neighborhood, or new units at Sixth and Reaney streets, she said.

Despite the good news — that homes are selling — it’s not clear whether numbers for 2009 will keep pace with 2008.

A Prudential Fox & Roach 2009 mid-year market report showed home prices in Chester falling 22.5 percent from $67,000 in the first half of 2008, to $50,000 in the first half of this year. The number of homes sold also dropped 66.2 percent, from 139 in 2008 to 47 in 2009.

But more up-to-date statistics from TREND, a multiple listing service, show 84 homes sold so far this year in Chester, fetching an average price of $65,087.

By either count, it’s an improvement over a decade ago, when the 2000 U.S. Census found homes selling in Chester for a median price of just $43,100.

Gaffney said there is no doubt the weak economy is having an impact on the city’s real estate market.

“People are hurting, and when major employers are laying people off, people get concerned about that and they’re not going to be running off and buying house, even when you give them $8,000,” she said.

The government is still subsidizing construction in the city because it costs more to build a home than it does to buy one, she said.

But she said a few individuals have bought property and built fully financed modular homes in the past year. She said she sees that as a sign that banks and families are looking at Chester as a place where investment can pay off.

“We’re still slightly under market, and I think if you purchase now, it’s really time to improve equity. And with all the positive things going on in the city, the quality of life is improving,” she said. “I really think now is a good time to buy.”