Real Progress
The home sales market in Butler County remains strong.
“I'd say we're positive here,” said Gina Loebell, a Butler Township Realtor with Coldwell Banker and the president of the Butler County Association of Realtors.
Over the past five years in the county, home sales and median home prices have, for the most part, risen.
From 2010 to 2014, 11,922 houses were sold. Sales steadily increased each year. In 2010, there were 2,202 sales. In 2014, the number was 2,581.
Additionally, the median sales price of a house has increased. In 2010, the median price was $171,330. In 2014, it was $208,000.
Loebell said that home values did go down during the 2008 housing crisis and Great Recession and at other times, but she said they have been fairly stable in the county.
“We just don't get the big swings like they do around the country,” Loebell said.
Although the housing market here is good, Loebell said a lack of inventory can be a problem. A lot of people want to buy in the county to take advantage of the lower property taxes, but a lot of county people also want to stay and take advantage of their home equity.
Some buyers want houses like those they grew up in.
“Well, they're out of luck,” Loebell said.
Because of the expansion of the Marcellus Shale industry, she said many people who own land and may have sold in the past for development now see more value in keeping it. Or, they value it at a price that's too high for most young buyers, Loebell said
In some cases, they may sell the land but keep the mineral rights.
“Marcellus has definitely been a game changer,” Loebell said.
In the county, particularly the central and northern parts, most sales are of existing houses. In the greater Butler area, she said new home sales are about 10 percent of the market, mainly in housing plans.Loebell said some people may decide, if they cannot find a new house to their liking, to build. However, she said this is expensive and can include at least a $100,000 initial investment to buy land, dig a water well and install septic systems or tap into public utilities before even considering construction.Meanwhile, she said they could buy an existing house for about $150,000.She said development will continue in the county. A big reason for that, she said, is because of four lane highways — like Interstate 79, Route 8, Route 422 and part of Route 228.“It's a big advantage. It's already there,” Loebell said, saying that some rural areas have problems when intense development occurs on old, two-lane roads.Some potential areas for growth include along Route 8 in Middlesex Township and also Buffalo Township.The bulk of the sales are in southern Butler County, particularly Cranberry and Adams townships. Additionally, the median sales prices in the south are high, at over $260,000 in 2014.Clint Champagne, a Butler real estate appraiser, said the completion of Interstate 279 in the 1980s helped bring growth to Cranberry, giving the township a direct, fast route to Pittsburgh from I-79.Sales in central Butler County are significantly lower, but not nearly as low as in the northern part of the county, where fewer than 200 homes sold in 2014.In the north, more than half of the sales are in the Slippery Rock School District.Champagne said Slippery Rock has many more sales because of its proximity to I-79 and the presence of Slippery Rock University.Median sales prices in the central and northern part of the county are fairly comparable, being about $130,000 in 2014.Chuck Swidzinski, a Realtor with Berkshire Hathaway in Butler Township, said he sees growth potential in Center, Connoquenessing and Forward townships, areas that could be considered suburbs of Cranberry and Butler.He said that development will continue in the southwest part of the county, but he expects more of it to go up Route 19 and Route 68 as Cranberry and Adams become more congested.“It's going to keep coming north,” Swidzinski said.Sales in Butler are a little slower than in the surrounding townships. Swidzinski said some people buy houses in the city to rent, but there are plenty who want to live in Butler, depending on the price.He noted that houses in the city appreciate at about 1 to 2 percent annually while houses in surrounding townships appreciate about 3 to 5 percent annually.Overall, he said that sales have significantly increased over the past five years and they will continue to grow.“For the next two years, I think it's going to be very steady in the area. Houses are selling,” Swidzinski said.At his office, he has 32 houses under contract that are expected to close by the end of March, which he said is a lot.He said Berkshire Hathaway reported that its sales for the first eight weeks of this year were up 16.3 percent compared to the first eight weeks of 2014. Additionally, he said the number of listings are up 12.2 percent for the same period this year as compared to last.Swidzinski said most sales are resales. However, he said that new home sales are increasing now that banks are more willing to give loans to buyers and builders.Jack Hutterer, a broker and manager with Northwood Realty in Sarver, said there are a number of people looking to buy vacant land to build, but said it is in short supply.“We have a very low inventory of building lots,” Hutterer said.But besides that, the sale of existing houses is doing well, he said.When the recession hit in 2008, he said the sales lull only lasted about six months.“It hit us, but it didn't hit us as hard as you might expect,” Hutterer said.During the recession, Hutterer said many people who may have in the past traded up instead chose to remodel.And he said the gas industry has brought more home buyers here.Hutterer said the trend among younger people is to live in more urban areas, which might benefit the real estate market in downtown Butler, and old river towns such as Freeport.He said the Saxonburg and Sarver areas are ripe for more growth.With all of the development in Cranberry, Hutterer said the conventional wisdom was that growth would head north along Route 19 and I-79. However, he said it traveled east instead along Route 228.He said development could continue in that direction and affect Saxonburg and Sarver.Access to Route 28 makes Sarver attractive, Hutterer said, especially now that road work near downtown Pittsburgh has improved traffic flow.He said property in Saxonburg sells quickly, and its only disadvantage is a relative lack of access to major highways.“It's got a quality of life that a lot of people seem to like,” Hutterer said.One area that may not see much growth is the northeastern part of the county.“There's no new industry, nothing to attract people,” said Robert Heaton, a longtime home and plan developer in Butler.As far as predicting where development will occur, Heaton said jobs, good schools and entertainment options are important.Demand will continue to be high around Cranberry, he said, because of the presence of companies like Westinghouse.However, he has high hopes for areas around Butler.He said sales were slow from 2008 to the middle of 2014. Recently, he said he has sold a few homes at nearly face value, without a lot of haggling or discounting. This was not the case during the recession years.“I think we're at least back to the level of '08,” Heaton said. “I'm confident about Butler.”
Overall, he said that sales have significantly increased over the past five years and they will continue to grow.“For the next two years, I think it's going to be very steady in the area. Houses are selling,” Swidzinski said.At his office, he has 32 houses under contract that are expected to close by the end of March, which he said is a lot.He said Berkshire Hathaway reported that its sales for the first eight weeks of this year were up 16.3 percent compared to the first eight weeks of 2014. Additionally, he said the number of listings are up 12.2 percent for the same period this year as compared to last.Swidzinski said most sales are resales. However, he said that new home sales are increasing now that banks are more willing to give loans to buyers and builders.Jack Hutterer, a broker and manager with Northwood Realty in Sarver, said there are a number of people looking to buy vacant land to build, but said it is in short supply.“We have a very low inventory of building lots,” Hutterer said.But besides that, the sale of existing houses is doing well, he said.When the recession hit in 2008, he said the sales lull only lasted about six months.“It hit us, but it didn't hit us as hard as you might expect,” Hutterer said.During the recession, Hutterer said many people who may have in the past traded up instead chose to remodel.And he said the gas industry has brought more home buyers here.Hutterer said the trend among younger people is to live in more urban areas, which might benefit the real estate market in downtown Butler, and old river towns such as Freeport.He said the Saxonburg and Sarver areas are ripe for more growth.With all of the development in Cranberry, Hutterer said the conventional wisdom was that growth would head north along Route 19 and I-79. However, he said it traveled east instead along Route 228.He said development could continue in that direction and affect Saxonburg and Sarver.Access to Route 28 makes Sarver attractive, Hutterer said, especially now that road work near downtown Pittsburgh has improved traffic flow.He said property in Saxonburg sells quickly, and its only disadvantage is a relative lack of access to major highways.“It's got a quality of life that a lot of people seem to like,” Hutterer said.One area that may not see much growth is the northeastern part of the county.“There's no new industry, nothing to attract people,” said Robert Heaton, a longtime home and plan developer in Butler.As far as predicting where development will occur, Heaton said jobs, good schools and entertainment options are important.Demand will continue to be high around Cranberry, he said, because of the presence of companies like Westinghouse.However, he has high hopes for areas around Butler.He said sales were slow from 2008 to the middle of 2014. Recently, he said he has sold a few homes at nearly face value, without a lot of haggling or discounting. This was not the case during the recession years.“I think we're at least back to the level of '08,” Heaton said. “I'm confident about Butler.”
One area that may not see much growth is the northeastern part of the county.“There's no new industry, nothing to attract people,” said Robert Heaton, a longtime home and plan developer in Butler.As far as predicting where development will occur, Heaton said jobs, good schools and entertainment options are important.Demand will continue to be high around Cranberry, he said, because of the presence of companies like Westinghouse.However, he has high hopes for areas around Butler.He said sales were slow from 2008 to the middle of 2014. Recently, he said he has sold a few homes at nearly face value, without a lot of haggling or discounting. This was not the case during the recession years.“I think we're at least back to the level of '08,” Heaton said. “I'm confident about Butler.”
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