Happy New Year! Start it off by judging other people’s homes.
In the latest installment of my Price Point series, I compare three local homes on the market for about $390,000 — the median sale price in the Philly area in November.
(To no one’s surprise, that’s higher than last year.)
Read on to look inside a Lower Merion condo, a Mayfair twin, and a Gloucester Colonial that are all for sale for roughly the same price.
Keep scrolling for that story and more in this week’s edition:
- Old is new again: Learn about an architectural trend pushing back against the sameness of Philly’s new rowhouses and apartments.
- We made it: Find out why Philadelphia is the only big city on Zillow’s list of the top 20 most popular housing markets.
- Bucking a trend: Learn about the challenges that help explain why homeownership in Philadelphia fell during the pandemic while rates grew nationally and in other big cities.
- Breaking the rules: Peek inside a TikTok home design influencer’s Old City apartment.
— Michaelle Bond
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Price Point: $390,000
Every couple of months, I set out to help homebuyers get a sense of their options by featuring three local properties for sale for about the same price.
This time, I’m answering the question: What can a homebuyer get with a budget of $390,000 in the Philly area?
These homes offer a taste of what’s out there.
🏠 A condo located on what a real estate agent calls Haverford’s “golden mile.”
- This unit is one of the larger layouts at Haverford Hunt Club and is close to restaurants, stores, and public transportation.
🏠 A twin that has a private bathroom attached to the primary bedroom, an uncommon feature among older homes in Philly’s Mayfair neighborhood.
- The home also has a garage and a finished basement with a bathroom.
🏠 A Gloucester Township house that has a more open layout than the traditional Colonial.
- This house has a deck in the spacious backyard and a bunch of recently updated features.
Which would you choose? Keep reading for more details and pictures.
The arch’s comeback
Have you noticed that a lot of the new rowhouses and apartments in Philly look alike? Architecture critic Inga Saffron has, too.
And she’s not shy about sharing her thoughts: “The streets of Fishtown and Graduate Hospital and Spruce Hill are now awash in interchangeable blocky structures, all dressed in the same dreary gray clothing, their aluminum panels shrink-wrapped around the exterior like a sheet of graph paper.”
Saffron says no one likes these buildings, which opponents snarkily refer to as fast-casual architecture, McUrbanism, and developer modern.
But they’re cheap and easy. So they’re everywhere.
Cue the rebellion: The arch is making a comeback. And it’s shaking up the city’s built environment.
Keep reading to see some examples of how it’s being used and find out why Saffron says some Philly architects have rediscovered the arch.
The latest news to pay attention to
- Philadelphia is the only big city on Zillow’s top 20 list of the most popular housing markets.
- Philadelphia’s homeownership rate fell during the pandemic while rates grew nationally and in other big cities.
- Many renters say they’ll never buy a home, according to a national survey.
- Good luck affording an apartment in Philly if you earn minimum wage.
- These are the top searches by Zillow home shoppers in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and beyond in 2025.
- After a decade of delays, the Philadelphia Housing Authority will bring affordable housing to Center City.
- This first-time homebuyer purchased a house in Germantown without any money saved.
- With a new batch of policies, lawmakers hope to make Pennsylvania an easier place to build.
- House of the week: For $652,000 in East Falls, a five-bedroom rowhouse with a garage, high ceilings, and a private patio.
Home tour: A TikTok influencer’s Old City apartment
Are you looking for some interior design tips in the new year? Jaden Daubert in Old City is @homedecorhomie on TikTok, where he shares his ideas and vintage finds.
But he doesn’t think anyone should blindly follow advice from influencers, him included. He even breaks his own rules.
“My goal is to be authentically unique,” he said. He plays with patterns and textures and describes his apartment’s aesthetic as maximalist and eclectic.
Daubert likes to collect vintage pieces, and he’s a regular at thrift stores. His walnut dining room table was built in the early 1900s. He has two vintage Tiffany lamps.
Art fills his home and even decorates his doors.
Daubert’s two-bedroom corner apartment spans 1,400 square feet, has 14-foot ceilings, and features two walls of windows that let in sunlight and frame city views.
It’s actually his second stint in the same apartment after he moved out in 2020. Daubert said being back feels “meant to be.”
Peek inside the apartment to see how a social media influencer decorates his home.
📷 Photo quiz
Do you know the location this photo shows?
📮 If you think you do, email me back. You and your memories of visiting this spot might be featured in the newsletter.
In the newsletter two weeks ago, the quiz featured a photo that was shot at Calder Gardens on the Parkway.
Shout-out to Rick E. and Tim G. for getting that right.
Enjoy the rest of your week. And I hope you have a fulfilling 2026. I’ll be here to share the local real estate news you need to know.
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