Best Place to Eat and Hangout

Fishtown is fun. It’s drinking-a-local-beer-while-watching­-a-local-band fun. It’s ping-pong-in-a-beer-garden fun. It’s 25-cent-video-games fun.

So it makes perfect sense that Barcade would open in the neighborhood. This outpost of the Brooklyn-based bar offers a combination­—vintage­ 1980s arcade games, plus American craft beer—that’s like free weed and doughnuts to a certain segment of the 20-and-30-something­ populace. The lure is basically undeniable.

Going after the same crowd, Loco Pez has morphed a sad corner bar into a vibrant hangout that’s turning out authentic Mexican tacos and a surprisingly robust cocktails list. Chill out and absorb the eclectic­ Mexican­-themed decor and Pez dispenser collection, or head to the back corner for some Family Guy pinball.

All of this almost makes a place like Interstate Drafthouse seem dull by comparison. Opening a Fishtown joint that’s only known for good food and a 16-tap craft beer selection? Where are the mimes, retro board games, Star Wars figure collages and lucha libre masks?

Still, it isn’t like Fishtown is completely without a solid history on which this hipster boom-splosion has been building. Johnny Brenda’s has been hosting live music for more than five years, and it’s still the place to see local bands. Plus, the chalkboard menu always features spot-on bar snacks and entrées. And Kraftwork is making bank on the whole let’s-be-a-gastropub­-without-calling-ourselves-a-gastropub­ thing, luring in ‘hoodees and interlopers alike with promises of craft beers, then surprising them with an addictive beer-can chicken sandwich that snags in the memory like a burr.

Here is a list of the top rated restaurants in Fishtown, some of my personal favorites are in here 

Best Fishtown Restaurants

The future of Fishtown restaurants: More growth and, tragically, legitimacy. It’s hard to keep the whole DIY, up-from-the-waterfront act going when a dude like Stephen Starr double-jumps the fad-wagon by not just opening smack in the middle of the Fishtown boom, but opening a beer garden, which was just the apex of cool last summer. Neighbors were rightly worried over what Frankford Hall would mean for the area, but at least for the moment—with its ping-pong tables and liter mugs of Teutonic barley­ pop—it seems to be fitting in just fine.

How is the Market?

Without fail, I get this question EVERY DAY.  Some people ask because they are generally interested and others ask simply to break the ice knowing that I'm a Realtor.  My response is always the same." depends on where you live".  Each neighborhood of the city is different, and each neighborhood has it's own Real Estate Market Trends.

Now, since this is a blog about Fishtown and the Riverwards; the information I'm about to provide is relevant to these areas. 

The following is based on the Property Type: Single Family Home, Townhomes and Condo  priced between $0.00 to $99,999,000.00.

Property Sales

November Property sales were 19, down -5.0% from 20 in November of 2010 and -29.6% lower than the 27 sales last month. November 2011 sales were at their lowest level compared to November of 2010 and 2009. November YTD sales of 271 are running -18.9% behind last year's year-to-date sales of 334.

Basically, the overall amount of homes sold has been decreasing for the last two years.

Prices

The Median Sales Price in November was $140,000, down -7.9% from $152,000 in November of 2010 and down -16.2% from $167,000 last month. The Average Sales Price in November was $158,116, down -4.8% from $166,155 in November of 2010 and down -7.0% from $170,034 last month. November 2011 ASP was at the lowest level compared to November of 2010 and 2009.

 Simply put, the average home sales price is down from both 2010 and 2009.  We have seen the rate of home value price begin to slow and level out.  I expect price to remain steady during 2012.

Inventory & MSI (Month's Supply of Inventory)

The Total Inventory of Properties available for sale as of November was 215, up 2.4% from 210 last month and down -28.1% from 299 in November of last year. November 2011 Inventory was at the lowest level compared to November of 2010 and 2009.

A comparatively lower MSI is more beneficial for sellers while a higher MSI is better for buyers. The November 2011 MSI of 11.3 months was at a mid range compared with November of 2010 and 2009.

Market Time

The average Days On Market(DOM) shows how many days the average Property is on the Market before it sells. An upward trend in DOM tends to indicate a move towards more of a Buyer's market, a downward trend a move towards more of a Seller's market. The DOM for November was 59, down -30.6% from 85 days last month and down -37.9% from 95 days in November of last year. The November 2011 DOM was at its lowest level compared with November of 2010 and 2009.


Basically, homes are selling but in order to do so they must be the be the best showing, most promoted and best priced homes in the area.   

What shall I write about....

This is my first venture into blogging and I've spent the last few days trying to decide what will I write about.  I asked myself, "what do people want to know".  And then it struck me; why don't I answer some of the most popular questions I'm asked about real estate and what's going on in the Fishtown neighbor hood.

My first few blog entries will be just that; answers to those questions.