8/14/2005
Through the roof
By Bob Fernandez and Alletta Emeno
Inquirer Staff Writers

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Some places considered construction dead zones a few years ago saw new subdivisions for the first time in years. Driven by the new Branford Way townhouse development, blue-collar South Coatesville Borough had the Philadelphia area's fastest-rising median home price in 2004: a 107 percent gain, to $129,950.

Prices in Branford Way ranged from $147,000 to $183,000 last year. The development is several hundred yards from a subdivision of $200,000-plus homes in neighboring East Fallowfield Township, called Branford Village. It's also about a half-mile from a scrap-metal recycling plant and a steel-mill complex

Mike Jordan, a pastor of an Exton church, and his wife, Jill, bought a home in Branford Way in June 2004, one of the few they could afford in Chester County. "We looked at a number of older places, but we're not too handy," said Jill Jordan, a graduate student. "And we just liked the street."

How This Analysis Was Conducted

The Inquirer's analysis of home prices was based on nearly 200,000 residential sales in 2003 and 2004. Information on the home sales was obtained from the five Pennsylvania counties and the New Jersey Division of Taxation.

Only sales at fair-market prices of $10,000 or greater were included in the analysis of single-family homes, condominiums, townhouses, and two-family twins, or duplexes. The median home price is the price at which half the sale prices are more and half are less.

The percentage change reflects the difference in the median sales price from 2003 to 2004. All numbers are rounded to the nearest whole number. A town with fewer than 10 sales is marked "N.C." because the median and percentage change were not calculated. Towns with no sales are marked "N.S."