Greater Philadelphia has one of the lowest median home prices of the top U.S. metro areas. Our region's housing market has not been hit as hard as the U.S., and has fared better than many other Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA) where price declines are occurring.  

According the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s purchase-only Housing Price Index (HPI) for the Philadelphia Division in 2009q3, the average price of an existing single family home was down 4% year-over year, just above 3.8% decline for the U.S.
Taking a longer view confirms that the region’s housing market has fared better than the US and other large metros. Since peaking in 2007q2, based on the HPI index, housing prices in the Philadelphia Division have fallen only 6.9%, compared to a 10.7% decline for the U.S.
Price declines since the peak are higher in other east coast markets, including drops of 10.7% in New York, 13% in Baltimore, and 23.1% in Washington DC.  Even these figures are well below declines since the peak of 40% in Miami, 33% in Los Angeles, and 43% in Oakland.
In Philadelphia, as in most other metros, the rate of decline in housing prices has slowed in recent quarters, suggesting that a bottom in housing prices may be reached later this year or next.
Sales figures from Prudential Fox Roach’s HomeExpert data base show that the median sales price of a single family home in the Greater Philadelphia Region in 2009q3 was $219,000, 4.8% lower than a year ago.
The residential market is still soft; although the number of transactions in 2009q3 was down only 0.9% from a year ago (due in large part to the tax credit for first-time buyers); the number of days on market rose from 72 to 85.
The number of permits for new single family homes issued year to date through September 2009 was down 51% from the same period in 2008.
Affordable-housing and economic-development programs are available in Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania (Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia listing of publications).
Affordable-housing and economic-development programs are available in Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania (Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia listing of publications).
Check out HomExpertReport.com where you will find local real estate data, industry trends and local commentary. 
View Greater Philadelphia housing price estimates by municipality and county.
View Philadelphia Fed Analysis: House Price Index. 
Read a report on Greater Philadelphia Housing Prices (distributed by the Prudential Fox & Roach Realtors Research Division).
Greater Philadelphia offers a diverse range of neighborhoods and residents can choose from urban, suburban or rural living.

View Real Property Tax Rate Table 
Select gathered the nominal real property tax rates by municipality and school district . The Rates were then converted to effective property tax rates correcting for differences in assessment ratios in our 11 counties. This enables tax rates and tax levels to be fairly compared across county boundaries. We then estimated the total real property tax payments by municipality, including the school district, for a single family home with an assessed value of $250,000.

Housing Prices and Affordability in the 12 Largest MSAs:

Note: the Housing Opportunity Index (HOI) measure affordability and is the percent of homes for sale that can be afforded by a family with the median income in the MSA.

Sources: Source: Grubb & Ellis, 2010. National Association of Home Builders and Wells Fargo Bank, 2009. www.realtor.org. www.nahb.org.