Analytics built by: Location, Inc.
Raw data sources: American Community Survey (U.S. Census Bureau), U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Federal Housing Finance Agency.
Methodology: NeighborhoodScout uses over 600 characteristics to build a neighborhood profile… Read more about Scout's Real Estate Data
With 1,576,251 people, 613,125 houses or apartments, and a median cost of homes of $245,239, Philadelphia real estate and house prices are near the national average for all cities and towns.
Row houses and other attached homes are the single most common housing type in Philadelphia, accounting for 58.23% of the city's housing units. Other types of housing that are prevalent in Philadelphia include large apartment complexes or high rise apartments ( 19.47%), duplexes, homes converted to apartments or other small apartment buildings ( 13.94%), and a few single-family detached homes ( 8.08%). Cities that are predominantly high-density buildings are relatively uncommon in the US. Because of the density, these types of cities are often walkable and compact, and often have a lively downtown.
The most prevalent building size and type in Philadelphia are three and four bedroom dwellings, chiefly found in row houses and other attached homes. The city has a mixture of owners and renters, with 51.22% owning and 48.78% renting.
The housing in Philadelphia was primarily built before 1939 ( 41.28%), making the housing stock in Philadelphia some of the oldest overall in America, although there is a range of ages of homes in Philadelphia. The next most important housing age is between 1940-1969 ( 38.19%), followed by between 1970-1999 ( 14.38%). There's also some housing in Philadelphia built between 2000 and later ( 6.15%).
Vacant housing appears to be an issue in Philadelphia. Fully 11.03% of the housing stock is classified as vacant. Left unchecked, vacant Philadelphia homes and apartments can be a drag on the real estate market, holding Philadelphia real estate prices below levels they could achieve if vacant housing was absorbed into the market and became occupied. Housing vacancy rates are a useful measure to consider, along with other things, if you are a home buyer or a real estate investor.
Appreciation rates for homes in Philadelphia have been tracking above average for the last ten years, according to NeighborhoodScout data. The cumulative appreciation rate over the ten years has been 85.60%, which ranks in the top 40% nationwide. This equates to an annual average Philadelphia house appreciation rate of 6.38%.
Over the last year, Philadelphia appreciation rates have trailed the rest of the nation. In the last twelve months, Philadelphia's appreciation rate has been 8.71%, which is lower than appreciation rates in most communities in America. In the latest quarter, NeighborhoodScout's data show that house appreciation rates in Philadelphia were at 3.31%, which equates to an annual appreciation rate of 13.90%.
Notably, Philadelphia's appreciation rate in the latest quarter is one of the lowest in America.
Relative to Pennsylvania, our data show that Philadelphia's latest annual appreciation rate is lower than 80% of the other cities and towns in Pennsylvania.
One very important thing to keep in mind is that these are average appreciation rates for the city. Individual neighborhoods within Philadelphia differ in their investment potential, sometimes by a great deal. Fortunately, you can use NeighborhoodScout to pinpoint the exact neighborhoods in Philadelphia - or in any city or town - that have the best track record of real estate appreciation, by the latest quarter, the last year, 2 years, 5 years, 10 years, or even since 2000, to assist you in making the best Philadelphia real estate investment or home purchase decisions.
Average for Nation
High for PA