Same region. Same week. Two very different markets.
Bright MLS numbers for the week ending September 30 put Philadelphia County at 47 days on market. Bucks County sat at 22. Montgomery at 23. Twenty-five days apart, separated by a county line.
Here’s what’s behind the gap.
LISTINGS ARE OUTRUNNING SALES IN THE CITY
In Philadelphia that week, 1,850 new listings hit the market and 1,104 homes sold. Current inventory: 6,153 homes.
Bucks went the other way. 644 new listings, 678 sold. Sales outpaced new supply, and inventory sits at 1,257.
When more homes come on than go off, buyers get time and leverage. When sales outpace new listings, sellers get speed. That’s the whole story of the 47-versus-22 split.
THE CITY IS NOT ONE MARKET
Look at September closings across Northwest Philadelphia and you see it fast. Bright MLS data via Henry Meigs shows:
- Roxborough: 39 closings, $350,000 median, 23-day average
- Mt. Airy: 22 closings, $482,500 median, 33-day average
- East Falls: 10 closings, $399,900 median, 26 days, just 2.3 months of supply
- Manayunk: 12 closings, $375,000 median, 47-day average, 4.0 months of supply
- Chestnut Hill: 6 closings, $799,500 median, 31-day average
East Falls at 2.3 months of supply is moving. Manayunk at 4.0 months and 47 days is giving buyers room. Same city. Different block-by-block math.
THE SIGNAL TO WATCH
Across five Philadelphia zip codes (19118, 19119, 19127, 19128, 19129), active listings reached 333 at the end of September. That’s the highest month-end count of the past 12 months, up from 294 in August. New contracts also climbed, 78 versus 57 the month before. More choice for buyers, and buyers are showing up for it.
Bright MLS’s Home Demand Index for the Philadelphia metro slipped to 77 from 82 in August. Demand is cooling at the edges, not gone.
WHAT IT MEANS
Selling in Philadelphia right now takes pricing discipline. The days-on-market number is the proof. Overpriced listings sit, and the city’s 47-day average is the cost of guessing. Buying in Philadelphia means more inventory and more negotiating room than the suburbs are offering today. Buying in Bucks or Montgomery means competing against a 22-day clock.
Want the numbers for your block, not your county? Reach out to The Bograd Experience and we’ll pull the real comps.
That’s the #BogradExperience.
