Real Estate

U.S. Home Prices Rise More Quickly Than Expected in July

Lower Providence Township homes are worth more now than in years past.

According to a report on Bloomberg.com, housing prices increased more than was forecasted in July. In year-over-year growth, the figures increased, showing a spur in economic growth.

The S&P/Case-Shiller index of property values across 20 different cities in the nation has increased 1.2 percent from July 2011, the largest in a 12-month period since August 2010, said the report.

“We’re finally seeing a more sustained and broad-based improvement in home prices,” said Millan Mulraine, senior U.S. strategist for TD Securities in New York, in the Bloomberg article. “The housing sector has made an important turn here, and that is being sustained.”

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In Lower Providence Township, even steeper growth has been seen since 2000. In the past 12 years, the prices of homes in the township has shot up from an average cost of $169,400 in 2000 to a current median value of $296,919, according to statistics on City Data.com.

The township has an average home value much higher than the state's overall average, which as of 2008, was $164,700. In the same year, average home prices for a detached home in Lower Providence average $321,681 in costs. A townhome in Lower Providence is around $247,432 average cost, while a mobile home is as low as $23,693 in the township.

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According to the county's records, the township includes 9,227 housing units, which is also up from 2000 statistics. In the year 2000, the township only had 7,690 units.

The national trend is spurring optimism about the nation's economy. 

“All in all, we are more optimistic about housing,” David Blitzer, chairman of the S&P index committee, said in a statement to Bloomberg.com. “Stronger housing numbers are a positive factor for other measures including consumer confidence.”


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