What are the factors that you consider before buying a house? Location, neighborhood, transportation, schools, restaurants, and shopping malls. Behind all this, you have one strategy in mind while buying the house: the place should have all these facilities within your budget. But sometimes, you need to compromise on a few factors or increase your budget to meet your demands. Fortunately, Delaware County is a place that ticks all your boxes. It has some amazing properties at prices that will suit your pocket.
Best neighborhoods in Delaware County
Your neighborhood plays a crucial role in your kid’s upbringing. If you are moving with your family, you should always pay attention to the neighborhood before you spill out cash to buy the house. Here are some of the neighborhoods in Delaware County that residents consider as the best:
- Swarthmore
- Upper Providence Township
- Radnor Township
- Nether Providence Township
- Haverford Township
- Chadds Ford Township
The prices of properties in these areas are slightly higher. It’s best if you compare the median prices of the houses in these neighborhoods instead of comparing them with the median price of properties in the entire Delaware County.
Best school districts in Delaware County
Apart from neighborhoods, school districts also contribute to the overall prices of properties. Delaware County has terrific elementary, middle, and high schools spread across various districts.
- Radnor Township School District
- Wallingford Swarthmore School District
- Garnet Valley School District
- Rose Tree Media School District
- School District of Haverford Township
- Marple Newtown School District
Following are some of the schools where you can enroll your kid into:
- Indian Lane El School
- Westtown-Thornbury El School
- Rose Tree El School
- Ithan El School
- Tredyffrin-Easttown Middle School
- Haverford Middle School
- Paxon Hollow Middle School
- Strath Haven Middle School
- Marple Newtown Senior High School
- West Chester Henderson High School
- Strath Haven High School
Real estate in Delaware County
The latest real estate stats Delaware County suggest that there are a total of 14,203 apartments or houses. With a population of 39,930 people, Delaware County is one of the peaceful cities in Pennsylvania. Its real estate prices are higher than the average cost of other cities in the United States. The median cost of houses here is $217,252.
Single-family detached homes make for the most common type of properties in Delaware County. They account for nearly 63.33% of the housing units. You should be looking to buy a single-family detached home as they are usually the ones readily available for sale. High-rise apartments and large apartment complexes constitute 16.79% of the city’s housing units, while small apartment buildings and homes converted to apartments account for 11.56%. There are attached homes and row houses too that make for 6.30% of the total number of houses.
You will mostly find three and four-bedroom dwellings here. These are suitable for big families. If you want to move in with your partner, you can look at some of the row houses or small apartment buildings. They are relatively cheaper compared to some of the other types of houses. The current real estate stats Delaware County show that the city has a mixture of renters and owners with the former constituting 40.92% and the latter 59.08%.
You will find a lot of houses with Brady Bunch-look. These are house that were built between 1970 and 1999. The rise in the real estate market started growing after 2000. The real estate stats Delaware County indicate that 30.96% of the houses were built after 2000.
Appreciation rates in real estate market
The appreciation rate is higher than the national average for the last 10 years. According to real estate stats Delaware County, the cumulative appreciation rate in the last decade was 40.54%. Although the recent developments show promising signs for the real estate market, the 40.54% appreciation ranks in the top 30% in the entire country. This means the average annual appreciation rate stands at 3.46%.
The 2019-reports show that the appreciation rate of properties was 4.46%. This is slightly higher than the national average, indicating a boom in the real estate market. The average appreciation rate, overall, has been 1.13% that annualizes to 4.58%. You should also check the appreciation rate of properties in different neighborhoods before buying your house.
Living in Delaware County
Delaware County has a mix of both white-collar and blue-collar jobs. The city has sales and office workers, service providers, and management executives working for different companies. The residents are well-educated compared to some of the other states in the US. 35.35% of the adults in Delaware County have a bachelor’s degree, while some of them even have advanced degrees.
The per capita income of the people is $30,377. This comes to an annual income of $121,508. It is sufficient for a family of four. Although the majority of the residents don’t have financial troubles, some of the people find it hard to make ends meet. There are government schemes to compensate such families.
Ethnical diversity is another reason why you should move to Delaware County. It has people belonging to various ethnic and racial groups. Most of the people here are White, followed by African-American or Black. The county also has people from Ireland, Germany, Italy, Scotland, and England. English is the most common language spoken here. A few other languages that some people speak are Yiddish, German, and Spanish.
The average square feet of a single-family detached home in Delaware County is 1811. There were a total of 11,491 sales of residential houses in 2019. Experts believe this number will grow by the end of 2020.
With so many good neighborhoods and schools around, you shouldn’t have second thoughts on whether to shift to Delaware County or not. It is one of the most popular counties in Pennsylvania and living here would be a dream come true. Shortlist some of the properties after comparing their rates and finalize a deal soon with your real estate company.