Philadelphia Weekly

Crossing Walnut Street in Old City, in a hurry toward tall glass doors, realtor Celeste Barbadoro yells over the sound of the pouring rain, "This is the coolest by far."

And even in the midst of a downpour, the view from the fingerprint-access-protected luxury condo building 101 is breathtaking. From the tall windows surrounding the sprawling rooms, it seems you can almost touch the steely blue skyline of Philadelphia or the lights that line the Ben Franklin Bridge.

After months of doom-and-gloom headlines about the U.S. housing crisis, some might assume Philadelphia's been hit just as hard as other American cities.

But Philly realtors disagree. (Of course they can't afford not to.)

While it's clear that high-end places like 101 have suffered from a slight lull in demand, the rest of the local real estate market seems to be chugging along.

"There's a crisis nationwide, but I actually read something that said talking about a national real estate market is like giving the national temperature," says Holly Mack-Ward, a Coldwell Banker Preferred realtor. "It varies from area to area. Philly, throughout history, has been relatively flat. It tends not to go as low or high, and that's been the case here." She goes so far as to say the market up to about the $500,000 range remains strong.

She does, though, point out that Philly's high-end real estate market has suffered a little--but not necessarily as much as have similar markets in other U.S. cities.

"There was too much building," she says. "A few high-end luxury condos are fine, but you can only build so many--there's only so much demand for that. Here we are four or five years later, and some are sitting empty."

Condos like those in 101--which boast a single unit on each floor and asking prices close to $2 million--are prime examples of Philly's high-end market. But Barbadoro, who also shows another brand-new Old City building, Nouveau, for RE/MAX City Space, thinks that market is flourishing.

"I feel as if the high-end market is moving. I personally don't think the high-end market has been affected," she says. "If anything, I think what's going on in the mortgage business will be good for real estate."

Mack-Ward brings up the example of a couple she knows who are having trouble selling an expensive townhouse they bought just a year ago. She says it takes at least a year to break even, let alone make a profit selling a place.

"Nouveau and 101 are brand-new, so I haven't seen anyone move out," says Barbadoro, though neither of the buildings is fully occupied yet. But she remains confident all the units will sell, and adds that none of her clients have had problems buying or selling in the high-end market.

Linda Genzano, a realtor with Prudential Fox & Roach, agrees that Philadelphia's real estate market generally remains stable and is currently above the market nationally. She attributes this degree of stability to the region's many colleges.

"There still seems to be a lot of confidence in Philadelphia because people are still coming into the city to develop condos, and people are buying," she says. "I think they're just being a little more careful with their dollars."

Genzano says tax abatements--property taxes that are paid only in part for a certain number of years before rates return to what they'd normally be--are fueling all the luxury building in the city.

"There's been a lot of building, but it seems that people are still buying," she says. "Most of us here at the agency are getting busy again, and I can definitely say last year was not the best year, but for a lot of us it wasn't the worst either."

Though eight of the Nouveau's 16 units and only three of 101's 10 floors are now occupied (once the penthouse is ready, it will be listed for a mere $4.5 million), Barbadoro is confident the rest of the condos will sell.

"When you compare how amazing [the market] was a few years back, it may appear slow," she admits with a nod.