Real estate metrics across Bucks County — including new listings and closed sales — are up. Way up. Damon C. Williams/Kim Strong investigated the burgeoning real estate market for the Bucks County Courier Times. 

“It is definitely a seller’s market on steroids,” said Joy Zwicker, manager of Berkshire Hathaway/Fox Roach’s Southampton office. Even sales of Bucks County’s luxury homes ($700,000+) are humming. 

Eager buyers commonly make offers well above asking prices. They’re also short-cutting inspections and other red-tape processes, playing the convenience card to woo sellers. 

The frenzy bumped some shoppers right out of the competition. 

Diana Newkirk abandoned her real estate hunt in Levittown. 

“I wasn’t able to purchase a house because the market was so intense that I was outbid by crazy amounts,” she said. “It turned into a bidding war.” 

Interest rate is a factor. Demand is, too. 

The pandemic fed appetites for more home-space. Quarantined families seek more elbow room. Telecommuting white-collar workers — weary of laptops on dining room tables — want in-home offices. 

New construction is unable to keep up with demand. Pandemic-related shortages in both materials and workers trimmed ribbon-cuttings on new developments in 2020-2021. 

More on the bullish real estate buyers’ market is in the Bucks County Courier Times.