By Jason Scott, February 21, 2019, Central Penn Business Journal
Hoping to attract Hanover and York commuters while adding new housing to a midstate market starving for more inventory, Burkentine Builders has started selling new home sites in the Spring Grove School District.
The West Manheim Township-based builder is marketing homes in the latest phase of a Spring Grove development known as Spring Forge. There are more than 80 home sites in that phase of development, with new homes from Burkentine starting above $300,000.
There are about 140 homes already built in Spring Forge. Burkentine officials said about 25 percent of the lots in the new phase of the project have been sold, though many haven’t yet started on construction.
Burkentine, which built 125 homes last year and saw new-home sales jump by 27 percent, believes Spring Forge is an opportunity to beef up the local supply of homes. Central Pennsylvania has experienced a dearth of homes for sale over the last two years.
Home sales in York County and across the midstate had been rising by double digits annually for most of this decade, but the dwindling supply of homes has begun to limit opportunities for new buyers.
The inventory crunch has led to homes selling at a faster pace and for more money in many areas.
Spring Grove School District finished last year with 393 home sales, up 14 percent from 2017, according to the Realtors Association of York and Adams Counties. The median-sale price in Spring Grove last year was $179,900, which was flat from 2017 but up 16 percent from 2013.