Sewickley Herald

              Sewickley
Vol. 92 No. 28
Serving Aleppo, Bell Acres, Edgeworth, Glenvield, Haysville, leet Leetsdale, Osborne, Sewickley, Sewickley! ieighis, Ce.vicklc-yt Hills
Wednesday, August 2, 1995
□
mioki lireie
bt a better way to tick the summer heat then by lickin'some frosty ice cream? For more on Sewickley's cool-down, seepage'll.
50 Cents
INSIDE
Raligion
• This man preached the first sermon for Sewickle/s newest congregation, founded by termer members of St.
. Stephen's. Episcopal. Church.
Page3
Careers
• Find a new career by reviewing Gateway Publications' working world insert. Discover the hot jobsyou can train ter now to take your career into the 21st century.
Sports
# TourdeSewickly rolls intothe village thisweek-end. Keith Gmifer and Dick Williams are expecting a record turnout.
Page2f
INDEX
Buyers’
concerns
By AHIsmi Stallone ifemid ialcm
For Sale” signs liave been decorating lawns in Sewickley for quite sometime.
But is Sewickley selling out? West Penn Multi-List statist , tics show thatSewickley is part of a bigger trend.
The number of . sold units in Allegheny County went down by 500 from 1993 to 1994.
In comparison with last yeaf’O 'Rgures, tare dte'SHd ' homes for sale as of mid-June;... 153 homes were on the market as of mid-June last year.
Tax assessments could be to blame.
“Reassessments added to economic problems that were
already there,” said Susan Reuter.
Ms. Reuter, who has been a realtor since 1978 and is now a broker at Prudential Preferred Realty in Sewickley, lias some of her own suggestions about the state of ml estate in the village, pointing out that there is no one reason for the existing market.
Shflrites other influences'	*	—.* -	—
• Retirement-age residents	- SEWICKLEY FOR SALE. The real estate flags are flying throughout the area. The market is
who are moving away.	-	clown, theysay; and homesellers are learning that “sold* is a label thatdoes not come easily.
„ ‘Countytaxes.
•	Few corporate transfers.	mmmmmmmmmKamam
•	General population decline
that has affected all Of Al-	agents are	selling	as	many or
legheny County.	even more	homes	as	they did
Infact, Larry Bunn, a candi-	last year; the homes are justin
datefor Allegheny Countycom-	a different price range,
missioner, says Allegheny Tins could be an indication Countyistheonlycountythatis	thathomeownersdonotwantto
actually losing population. Yet, pay the large Allegheny County house sales arc not actually taxes °a the more expensive down like the population.	properties.
Infact,housesintheJIOO.OOO Multi-List statistics indicate to $200,000 range have sold in-	BeavcrandBuUer Countieshave
credibly wcH, says Ms. Reuter.	increased thcirhsmocalcaoveiv
She explains it is the houses	all while Allegheny County has
costing more than $500,000 that	dropped,
are laggings! the saiesstatistics.	Competitionalsoeomesfrom
Thesehomesarcabig chunk	timhigh-growthcommunitiesof
of Sewickley real estate.	the North Hills where thesame
“The upper-end-of-the-mar-	buyers’ dollars will purchase a
ket sellers are seeing, in some brand new home in a planned eases, as much as a 25 percent community, drop or differential in the ask- Complexes such as Diamond ingand selling price,” she says.	Run, a new suburban area ih
This does not mean business	Ohio Township - a golf course
is bad.	community - presents another
lift. Reuter points out that	kind of market concern,
the focus has just shifted, and	“Diamond Run takes most of
the $300,000 to $600,000 business	times and down times. Soihe-
awayfromSewickley,” saysMs.	times it Just goes through peri-
Reuter.	:	ods,”saysGeorgeHackett,presi-
Slie says the reason Diamond	dent of ColdweU Banker Inc.
Run is taking away Sewickley’s A bright spot in this real es-real estate business is because	tate slump may be for thosewho
thesameamountofmoneyspent are ready to purchase a resi-onaDiamondRunhomewillget dence. buyeTsamoremodemandspa- “Therehas never been a bet-dous home.	ter time to buy. The rates are
The slow market may be low, and there’s a lot on the Warned on increased assess- market,” commentsMs,Reuter. ments, but Sewickley is by no “Sellers are becoming realistic means the highest in property	about what they can get in this
tax assessments in Allegheny climate.”
County.	Hackett agrees and says it is
As of June 30, Mt. Lebanon hard to find these things while ahdFftxChapelwcre way ahead	shopping for a home,
of the tax game, says Ms.	Ms.RcuternotesthatSewick-
Reutcr.	ley is unique and can offer more
Some say this is Just the way	to home owners than other areas,
the market works, and suggests	“It’s relaxing in this town,
that it should not came concern	It’s unique in thatit has a village
in Sewickley. ,	whereyou can shop and congre-
. “Business is 'business. The	gate and feel safe. No one can
market will always have its up	compete with that,” dm says.
CALL THE SEWICKLEY HERALD WITH YOUR NEWS TIPS AT 741-8200 OR FAX THEM TO 741-5904