December 31, 2015
Over the past several years, Fishtown has rapidly become one of Philadelphia's most prized neighborhoods, from its booming bar and restaurant scene to its live entertainment, accessibility and, for the most part, low crime rate.
Based on these factors alone, it's not surprising that Philadelphians have increasingly sought to lay down roots in Fishtown by purchasing a home. The neighborhood has drawn so much interest, in fact, that an annual study conducted by Redfin, a residential real estate company, found Fishtown was Philadelphia's most competitive market for homebuyers in 2015.
The study analyzed seven different factors in 30 U.S. metro areas where Redfin has access to transaction and offer data. Drawing from multiple listing services, public records data and insights gleaned directly from agents, Redfin evaluated the market in neighborhoods where a combined total of 50 condos, single-family homes and townhomes were sold during the course of 2015.
Based on seven equally weighted categories, Fishtown ranked among the top 50 most competitive neighborhoods in the United States, as seen in the table below (Redfin also included a table with the top 30 neighborhoods, which does not include Fishtown).
Most competitive U.S. metro neighborhoods in 2015 in areas served by Redfin.
Most notably, 31 percent of homebuyers faced bidding wars in Fishtown, 38 percent paid in all cash and 16.1 percent of homes sold above the asking price. Still, the median sale price of $245,000 was on the lower end of cities that made the top fifty.
Homebuyers in Boston navigated the most competitive market in 2015 by a longshot, landing 10 neighborhoods in the top thirty. The remaining markets that hit the top 30 were all located in Portland, San Francisco and Seattle. In the Cambridge neighborhood of Inman Square, a full 68.2 percent of homes sold above the asking price during an average period of one week on the market. San Fran's Central Sunset saw 91.9 percent of homes sell above the asking price at an average price of $1,150,000.
As tough as it may seem in Philadelphia's hottest neighborhoods, we're clearly not dealing with the kind of frenzy that takes place in the cities that make up the top 30.
Check out the full Redfin study here.
