Post by Christopher Vogt – Baron Insurance Group

We have all seen the car commercial where the guy is on the used car lot and says “Show me the CARFAX®” before he purchases a vehicle. A CARFAX® report provides potential buyers a vehicle’s history of ownership, titles and accidents. The report allows buyers to make an informed purchase decision and gives them confidence that they are buying what is advertised. Did you know the same type of report is available when you buy a house too?

The CARFAX® for a home is called a C.L.U.E.® or Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange report. A C.L.U.E.® report shows insurance claims made on a property for the past 5 years and insurance companies use this information for underwriting homeowner insurance (See a C.L.U.E. example).

However, home buyers can also get a C.L.U.E.® report by requesting the seller to purchase a C.L.U.E. Home Seller’s Disclosure Report for $19.95. Remember that the buyer or real estate agent cannot order the C.L.U.E.® report and it only can be provided by the seller or owner. The report shows the same claim history on the property that insurance companies use but it removes all of the seller’s personal information that they would want to keep private.

If you wouldn’t buy a car without the CARFAX® report, should you buy a home without a C.L.U.E.® report? Let me know your thoughts.

Now that we have two full months of home sales behind us in Lancaster County, PA, let’s look at the numbers and see what is really happening with the local housing market this winter.

Actually, there’s a fair amount of good news here:

1) While the number of closings decreased by 6%, the number of pending sales shot up by double that percentage (+12%).

2) The number of new listings jumped up significantly (+16%) from last year Jan/Feb.  More homes for buyers to choose from.

3) Good news for sellers – While the average list price held steady, the average sold price jumped 12% over last year.

4) The average days to sell dropped almost 10% – always good news for everybody.

So how does the emerging 2010 Lancaster PA real estate market fare against history?  Here are two snapshots of home sales:

Pending home sales are up from 2009 as noted above, but remain well below 2007 and even 2008 levels.

Sold homes started out better than last year but February was the lowest number in recent years.

What about home prices versus history?  I’ve got that for you too:

What I want you to see in this chart is the 12-month average prices (the Orange and Blue lines).  Note that the sold price has been climbing for three straight months after a continuous decline since 2007.  This is good news and I think a key indicator of the health of the Lancaster homes market.  Also see that the list price has seemingly bottomed out and is starting to rise again, which is good news for sellers.

So, there is good reason (based on facts) to say that, as of March 2010, the Lancaster PA real estate market is not in decline but staging a sales and price rally.  If you’re looking to buy now is really a great time to do it: low rates and the tax credits which run through April.   Call me at 717-799-0851 or visit my Facebook page for the latest comments on the market.

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For Lancaster PA homes for sale click here. Jeff Geoghan is a top real estate expert in Lancaster County, PA, and an involved community member. Jeff’s work has been featured in the Lancaster Newspapers, WGAL Channel 8, PA Business Journal, CNN Money and Wall Street Journal. Jeff’s blog on Lancaster County and its homes is nationally-featured. Contact Jeff for more help with your Lancaster PA Real Estate needs. Jeff is also a photographer – view some of his lancaster pa photography portfolio. Comments are welcome!

If you’re a library book sale hound, tomorrow is the start of the annual sale for the Friends of the Lititz Public Library. I find that whenever I stop by one of these, I leave with a grocery bag full, so be careful…here’s the Lititz Library Book Sale Facebook page.

Here are the details:

Location: Community room
9 AM – 8 PM