Philadelphia Home Prices for April: Center City West and Art Museum Neighborhoods

City Hall's clock still punctuates Philadelphia's skyline after dark.


Below are Philadelphia condominiums and houses which sold in April  for under $1 Million. This monthly market sales capture is limited to homes in the western part of Center City, as well as the Art Museum Area.

Note the Last Price, indicated below, was the final listed price before the property went under contract. In many cases, the Original Price was much higher.

Street Address	Bed	Bath	Last Price	Sold For	Neighborhood
2601 Pennsy Ave 1004	1	1	$169,900	$169,900	Art Museum
2601 Pennsy Ave 610	1	1	$189,000	$178,000	Art Museum
2401 Pennsy Ave 18C50	1	1	$205,000	$180,000	Art Museum
761 N Taylor St	2	1	$299,000	$285,150	Art Museum
2001 Hamilton St 909	1	2	$310,000	$310,000	Art Museum
2401 Pennsy Ave 6B21	2	2	$379,000	$350,000	Art Museum
2012 Green St	3	1.1	$399,900	$350,000	Art Museum
2001 Hamilton St 324	1	1	$212,900	$192,500	Art Museum
2218 Ogden St	2	1.1	$299,000	$280,000	Art Museum
770 N Bucknell St	2	1.1	$289,500	$287,000	Art Museum
2401 Pennsy Ave 17C47	2	2	$359,000	$320,000	Art Museum
1420 Locust St 23C	1	1	$249,900	$230,000	Avenue Arts
1500 Chestnut St 11B	2	2	$409,000	$405,000	Avenue Arts
1420 Locust St 17K	3	2.1	$499,999	$462,500	Avenue Arts
1425 Locust St 17C	2	2.1	$649,900	$622,200	Avenue Arts
2202 Pine St 102	1	1	$324,000	$324,740	Fitler Square
212-24 S 24th St 2430A	2	2	$398,500	$360,000	Fitler Square
2419 Pine St	3	3	$474,900	$452,000	Fitler Square
336 S 24th St	3	2.1	$525,000	$495,000	Fitler Square
2413 Pine St	3	2	$649,000	$585,000	Fitler Square
2225 Pine St	3	2	$650,000	$615,000	Fitler Square
2025 Arch St B	1	1	$169,000	$145,000	Logan Square
102 N 21st St A	3	2.1	$374,999	$374,900	Logan Square
2301 Cherry St 4J	3	2.1	$389,900	$375,000	Logan Square
2107 Cherry St	2	2	$439,000	$387,500	Logan Square
100 N 21st St B	3	2.1	$475,000	$455,000	Logan Square
1919 Chestnut St 823	0	1	$100,000	$110,000	Rittenhouse Sq
2101-17 Chestnut St 724	0	1	$139,500	$124,700	Rittenhouse Sq
1919 Chestnut St 1323	0	1	$149,000	$125,000	Rittenhouse Sq
2101-17 Chestnut St 616	1	1	$199,000	$190,000	Rittenhouse Sq
1500 Chestnut St 10E	1	1	$244,900	$240,000	Rittenhouse Sq
1919 Chestnut St 506	2	2	$260,000	$244,000	Rittenhouse Sq
1600-18 Arch St 1715	1	1	$309,900	$305,000	Rittenhouse Sq
1600-18 Arch St 1415	1	1	$324,900	$306,000	Rittenhouse Sq
1600-18 Arch St 1916	1	1	$330,000	$315,000	Rittenhouse Sq
1931 Spruce St 1B	1	1	$375,000	$340,000	Rittenhouse Sq
1919 Chestnut St 2608	2	1	$374,900	$350,000	Rittenhouse Sq
1919 Chestnut St 2605	2	2	$399,000	$380,000	Rittenhouse Sq
2024 Spruce St 5	1	1.1	$399,000	$392,500	Rittenhouse Sq
2101 Market St 3405	1	1	$470,000	$437,500	Rittenhouse Sq
341 S Hicks St	3	2	$535,000	$520,000	Rittenhouse Sq
1901 Walnut St 7C	2	2.1	$649,500	$605,000	Rittenhouse Sq
1725 Delancey Pl 2	2	2.1	$695,000	$660,000	Rittenhouse Sq
2215 Pine St	4	3	$785,000	$735,000	Rittenhouse Sq
1617 Spruce St 200	2	2.1	$787,900	$766,500	Rittenhouse Sq

The Rock Sculpture Ruminations of a Narberth Real Estate Agent

One of many pleasantly-vexing, Main Line Rock Sculptures

Leaving the General Wayne Inn,  I passed by the Lankenau Hamper Shop  and noticed a man doing some maintenance on the small rock sculpture steps from Montgomery Avenue. For at least a year or so, these pint-sized megaliths - which are scattered throughout R5/Main Line-area neighborhoods and environs - have been a source of pleasant vexation for me.

I've always imagined these stone mini-strosities might have been inspired by the Delaware Valley's Welsh settlement roots. As noted in Wikipedia, The Main Line area was first resettled by Europeans in the 1600s, when William Penn sold a tract of land, called the Welsh Tract, to a group of Welsh Quakers for ten cents an acre. This accounts for the many Welsh place-names in the area, as well as some the Welsh-related traditions, including that of creating large piles of stones or boulders, like the one gracing the hillside and demarcating the Radnor exit to I-476.

Blue Route cairn is Smaller.

These man-made heaps of stone, also called Cairns, have been a mainstay in Wales for hundreds and hundreds of years. Some were created as landmarks or guideposts for travelers, some are property-line or burial markers, and some may even have astronomical significance. What motive, I wondered, could the middle-aged man on Montgomery Avenue have behind his mini-liths?


Turns out a handful of local newspapers and bloggers have already Uncovered The Story  behind these sculptures, which grace several train stations and at least one excellent sushi restaurant in Lower Merion and Radnor Townships. Ed Bassner, a longtime Wynnewood resident and local dentist, is the man who creates and maintains these delightful stone creations. Bassner told the Main Line Times that no motivation, historical, cultural, or anything other than purely aesthetic, are imbuing his efforts.

 But there are wonderful stories related to the location, creation and maintenance of each funky, contemporary Cairn, and Bassner shares them on his very entertaining blog and photo gallery,  Rock Sculptures.

Bassner's forms may not possess the gravity of a Stonehenge - or the backstory and unfortunate tradition of sneakers hanging from telephone wires - but his work and dedication exude a sense of grace and elegance that is timeless, mysterious, peaceful and fun.

Narberth & Lower Merion Home Prices for April 2011

Suburban Square in Bloom. Five Ardmore homes sold this April from 100-345k.

Below are the Lower Merion and Narberth homes which sold in April 2011 for less than one million dollars.
Many of these homes are located within minutes of Ardmore's elegant Suburban Square, which opened in 1928 and is widely regarded as the first shopping center in the country.

Note:  The "Last Price" indicated below was the list price just before each home went under contract. In many cases, the original listing price of the home was much higher to start.

Street Address	City/Station	Beds	Baths	Last Price	Sold For
114 Elm Ave	Ardmore	3	1.0	$124,800	$100,000
130 E Spring Ave	Ardmore	4	1.0	$199,900	$186,500
32 Holland Ave	Ardmore	5	2.1	$314,900	$300,000
212 Cobblestone Dr	Ardmore	3	2.1	$354,900	$335,000
223 Cobblestone Dr	Ardmore	3	2.1	$345,000	$345,000
736 Conshohocken State Rd	Bala Cynwyd	3	1.1	$164,900	$140,000
41 Conshohocken St 107	Bala Cynwyd	2	2.0	$150,000	$150,000
147 Pencoyd Ave	Bala Cynwyd	3	1.1	$259,900	$252,500
191 Presidential Blvd R1005	Bala Cynwyd	2	2.0	$349,000	$318,000
511 Cynwyd Cir	Bala Cynwyd	3	2.1	$400,000	$383,000
515 Oxford Rd	Bala Cynwyd	3	2.1	$450,000	$425,000
57 Academy Rd	Bala Cynwyd	3	3.1	$529,000	$475,000
1047 Floyd Ter	Bryn Mawr	3	1.0	$199,900	$181,000
845 Summit Grove Ave	Bryn Mawr	5	1.2	$299,999	$225,000
127 Pennsylvania Ave	Bryn Mawr	5	3.1	$529,000	$529,000
1054 Broadmoor Rd	Bryn Mawr	4	4.1	$700,000	$690,000
801 Black Rock Rd	Gladwyne	4	3.0	$659,000	$635,000
541 Conshohocken State Rd	Gladwyne	5	3.1	$749,000	$701,000
1425 Colton Rd	Gladwyne	5	4.1	$857,777	$775,000
237 W Montgomery Ave 3N	Haverford	1	1.1	$155,999	$148,000
264 W Montgomery Ave 302	Haverford	3	2.0	$304,900	$280,000
100 Llanalew Rd 1A	Haverford	4	2.1	$310,000	$285,000
566 Haverford Rd	Havertown	3	2.1	$269,000	$269,000
358 Winding Way	Merion Station	4	3.1	$499,900	$475,000
518 Anthwyn Rd	Merion Station	5	3.1	$649,000	$620,000
125 Merion Ave	Narberth	3	1.0	$269,000	$225,000
2 Stuart Ave	Narberth	3	1.1	$359,500	$335,000
203 Forrest Ave	Narberth	5	2.0	$425,000	$425,000
1637 Oakwood Dr S212	Penn Valley	2	2.0	$249,000	$223,000
414 S Woodbine Ave	Penn Valley	4	2.1	$359,000	$365,000
1339 Bobarn Dr	Penn Valley	4	2.1	$599,900	$556,000
1306 N Spring Mill Rd	Villanova	4	2.2	$649,000	$635,000
262 Trent Rd	Wynnewood	3	2.1	$309,000	$290,000
1415 Greywall Ln	Wynnewood	3	1.1	$299,000	$295,000
103 Henley Rd	Wynnewood	3	2.1	$319,900	$325,000
1413 Dorset Ln	Wynnewood	4	2.3	$424,900	$410,000
512 Clothier Rd	Wynnewood	4	2.1	$588,800	$531,000
1218 Remington Rd	Wynnewood	5	4.1	$649,000	$615,000
1308 Hillside Rd	Wynnewood	5	3.1	$834,900	$810,000
434 Warick Rd	Wynnewood	5	3.1	$985,000	$932,500