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  • Philly area’s housing market is ‘weird’ right now, agents say

    Philly area’s housing market is ‘weird’ right now, agents say

    Brenda Beiser knows firsthand how difficult buying a home in the Philadelphia area can be. She’s not only a Redfin real estate agent, but she’s also an empty nester who wanted to downsize.

    Her six-bedroom house in Mount Airy sold right away when she put it on the market in May. But she decided not to buy a replacement.

    “I went for a rental because I didn’t really want to compete with everyone who’s trying to get into a smaller house,” Beiser said. “A lot of people who are in their 60s and would have traditionally downsized into a smaller house just aren’t doing it. They can’t find a place to go.”

    Brenda Beiser, a Redfin real estate agent in the Philadelphia area, decided not to buy another home when she sold her Mount Airy house, because she didn’t want to enter the region’s competitive housing market.

    The Philadelphia region has a housing supply problem, just like large swaths of the country, and that’s impeding both repeat and first-time buyers. Inventory is particularly low across the Northeastern United States, where construction has not kept up with demand. In the beginning of this year, Zillow predicted that the Philadelphia metropolitan area would be one of the country’s 10 most-competitive housing markets of 2026.

    Home supply, however, has also ticked up a bit in the region compared with last year, and homes are staying on the market a bit longer before they sell. For the four weeks ending June 21, the region was in the top five markets with the highest annual increase in new home listings, according to a Redfin analysis of the 50 most-populous metropolitan areas.

    “The market’s encouraging,” said Jake Markovitz, president of the board of directors for the Greater Philadelphia Association of Realtors. “It’s certainly more balanced than it has been the last four, five years.”

    Erin Thompson, CEO of the Montgomeryville office with Keller Williams and leader of the Erin Thompson Team, agrees. She said buying and selling is “ebbing and flowing but trending toward a more stabilized market.”

    “Although I feel like I’ve said that twice in the recent past, and then it’s gone bonkers,” she said.

    The region’s market is a mixed bag.

    Some homes are sitting for a while, and some owners are at risk of selling properties for less than they bought them for a few years ago. Other homes have inspired five or more buyers to compete against each other, hiking up prices, said Markovitz, an associate broker with the Karrie Gavin Group at Elfant Wissahickon Realtors.

    This Graduate Hospital home went under contract last month a few weeks after it was listed for sale.

    “As an example, I’m seeing more inventory in Chestnut Hill than I have in a long time, which is giving buyers a little bit of power,” he said. But if the right property hits the market, it will go fast.

    He’s seen the same happen in neighborhoods such as Graduate Hospital and Fishtown.

    Because of strong demand for homes in the region, “I just don’t think we’ll see any major shift in prices coming down,” he said.

    ‘Weird’

    Markovitz and Thompson both used the same word to describe the recent real estate market: weird.

    They said housing activity isn’t always following time-tested rules.

    Philadelphia homes that sat on the market for months last fall, typically a busy season, suddenly went under contract in the winter, typically a slow one.

    A house that sits on the market for 30 days that a buyer thinks can be theirs at a lower price can suddenly attract two other buyers at the same time. And now they all need to be ready to pay more.

    Housing markets have always been hyperlocal, with buyer demand varying from neighborhood to neighborhood and block to block. But now, “it’s almost like a property-by-property basis,” even for comparable homes, Thompson said.

    Owners bound by ‘golden handcuffs’

    Even with recent upticks in home listings, the region’s housing supply is nowhere near enough to meet demand.

    “Most people are anticipating this year will continue to be a little tough,” Thompson said, “and then next year we’ll start to see some more inventory.”

    Markovitz said homeowners who bought properties five years ago with 3% or 4% mortgage interest rates are still experiencing “some sticker shock” from current rates, which lately have been averaging about 6.5% for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage.

    “Those people, even if they’re ready to leave, are kind of bound by their golden handcuffs,” not wanting to sell and then have to buy a home at a higher interest rate, he said.

    But for many homeowners, “the reality of the market has set in a little bit,” he said. “Where people were sort of hoping, wishing that rates would come back down, they’re not.” And life events such as births, deaths, and job moves mean that people need to sell their homes.

    This recently sold Graduate Hospital home has skyline views from the roof deck.

    And buyers show up to purchase them.

    Thompson said she was nervous when she listed a Phoenixville home for sale during Memorial Day weekend, when many homebuyers might be traveling. But a lot of people came to see it, and the seller ended up with seven offers and a final price that was well over what they expected.

    Buyers, however, aren’t accepting just anything. They are more selective and less likely than in past years to skip home inspections. If sellers want to get the highest price, they have to prepare their properties for sale, agents said.

    Homes, and especially kitchens and bathrooms, need to be up-to-date, and central air-conditioning is a plus, said Annette Collier, owner and real estate broker at Able Real Estate, based in West Philadelphia.

    “That’s what buyers are looking for, and I don’t think they’re willing to settle,” said Collier, who works in the city and surrounding areas. “I find that less buyers want to do any renovations. Most buyers want a move-in-ready situation.”

    Homebuyers want updated kitchens, like this one in a Graduate Hospital home that recently sold.

    And sellers need to be realistic about how much they can get for their home.

    “If you overprice by even just a little bit,” Thompson said, “you’ll end up sitting.”

    Buyers ‘ready to pounce’

    Generally speaking, buyers now have more time to make decisions than they did last year, since homes are staying on the market longer.

    But, in some submarkets, especially in Philadelphia’s collar counties, “there’s so much demand that certain houses are just going to fly off the shelves,” said Beiser, who works in Philadelphia and surrounding areas.

    “I have some buyers in the suburbs, and they‘ve kind of stopped looking because it’s too challenging,” she said.

    This home in Upper Merion Township is listed for sale for $699,900 by agent Erin Thompson.

    Beiser has been working with a couple with children who live in Philadelphia but want to move to the suburbs. Each spring for the last three years, her clients make a plan to try to find their next home. But every year, they decide that continuing to live in the city is more convenient than facing competitive markets in which they’re expected to skip home inspections to win a property, Beiser said.

    Thompson has seen a growing trend of frustrated buyers putting in offers above the asking price even when they’re not facing direct competition. One client recently went under contract on a Fishtown home they had immediately put an offer on.

    “They came in aggressive, because they’d just lost out on a house, and they’d been looking for a while,” she said. “You have these buyers who are scarred and tired, so they’re coming in more aggressive.”

    Thompson tells buyers to make sure they’re as prepared as possible before starting their home search.

    “You have to be ready to pounce the second [a home] comes to the market,” she said.

    This home on the market in Upper Merion Township spans more than 2,800 square feet and has three bedrooms.
  • Bill Wine, Emmy Award-winning film and TV critic, and longtime La Salle professor, has died at 81

    Bill Wine, Emmy Award-winning film and TV critic, and longtime La Salle professor, has died at 81

    Bill Wine, 81, of Philadelphia, three-time Mid-Atlantic Emmy Award-winning film and TV critic, retired tenured associate professor of TV and film at La Salle University, onetime freelance TV critic for the Daily News, freelance writer, playwright, and popular lecturer, died Sunday, June 14, of complications from Parkinson’s disease at his home in Chestnut Hill.

    The son of two part-time amateur actors and a lifelong devotee of theater, film, TV, writing, and teaching, Mr. Wine was a film critic for WTXF-TV, Channel 29, for 12 years and KYW radio for 17 years. Known for his pithy, witty, and often acerbic reviews, and a breezy conversational style of writing, he worked at Channel 29 from 1990 to 2002 and KYW from 2001 to 2018.

    “Bill Wine was a character out of a Neil Simon comedy, more Oscar than Felix,” said Carrie Rickey, former Inquirer movie critic. “You didn’t have to wait long for the punchline.”

    Mr. Wine’s film reviews on Channel 29 were often funny and entertaining.

    At Channel 29, Mr. Wine was nominated for eight regional Emmy Awards for commentary and writing, and won three. He appeared regularly on the station’s Ten O’Clock News, in primetime movie preview and review programs, and later on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays on Good Day Philadelphia.

    By 1990, he had already written hundreds of freelance film reviews for the Daily News and Courier-Post, done radio reviews for WPEN, and taught a variety of classes about film and writing for a decade at La Salle. So, despite no previous TV experience, he was hired at Channel 29 over 60 other film critic applicants.

    KYW cuts ties with Emmy-winning film critic Bill Wine after 17 years

    “I had never been on TV, but I wasn’t nervous,” he told the Daily News in 2001, “because I had been standing in front of 100 students for 10 years.”

    Mr. Wine worked at at WTXF-TV, Channel 29, for 12 years.

    He started at KYW radio in 2001 and usually aired reviews and reports on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. Sometimes, he watched three movies in one day. He left Channel 29 in 2002 and KYW in 2018 only after both companies eliminated their local film critic position.

    “When I started [writing film reviews], it was before the internet,” he told The Inquirer in 2018. “A lot of people [now] feel like, ‘Who the heck is a movie critic to come on in a minute and to dismiss something that took hundreds of people and millions of dollars to create?’”

    In the 1970s and ‘80s, he wrote articles and reviewed films, TV shows, books, and plays for WPEN, The Inquirer, Courier-Post, Philadelphia Magazine, and other outlets. In 1975, he wrote dozens of freelance TV columns called “On the Air” for the Daily News.

    Mr. Wine wrote dozens of columns as a freelance TV critic for the Daily News in 1975.

    He spent three years in California in the 1970s working on plays and film and TV scripts. He hobnobbed with famous writers, producers, and actors in Los Angeles, staged one of his own plays, and was a winning contestant on a new TV game show.

    He wrote 11 plays over the years, and several made it to the stage. “Now the people who disagree with my reviews can come and find out if I’m as dumb as they think I am,” he told The Inquirer in 2002.

    He aired reviews on WIP radio and lectured often at libraries, schools, community centers, theaters, and other venues about his favorite films, adapting books to film, and other topics. “He could be wickedly funny, especially when delivering a pan of a movie,” his family said in a tribute. “One of his favorite quotes was: ‘I had a bad seat. It was facing the screen.’”

    Mr. Wine was a prolific playwright who enjoyed table readings with family and friends.

    Mr. Wine earned a bachelor’s degree in math at Drexel University and a master’s degree in communications at Temple University. He helped design La Salle’s nascent Communication Department in the 1980s, and school officials called him one of their “Founding Fathers.” He also taught briefly at Drexel, and came close to earning a doctorate at Temple.

    In 2001, he was featured in a Daily News story about “celebrity professors” and said: “You have to remind yourself that this is television, not the classroom. You mention, say, ‘film noir’ on TV, and you get a memo.”

    William David Wine was born June 21, 1944, in Germantown. He grew up in West Oak Lane and Cherry Hill, attended Central High School, and graduated from the old Cherry Hill High School.

    A story and this photo of Mr. Wine about his time as a professor at La Salle appeared in the Daily News in 2001.

    As a boy, he devoured newspaper movie reviews and fell in love with film after seeing Alfred Hitchcock’s 1954 thriller Rear Window. He got positive reviews of his own freelance movie review when he was at Temple, and he knew then, he said later, that writing about movies was his creative niche.

    “The first time I saw my byline, I was hooked,” he told Drexel Magazine in 2016.

    He married Dina Lichtman, and they divorced later. He married Suzanne Monsalud in 1981, and they had daughters Simone and Paulina, and lived in Germantown, Wyncote, and Chestnut Hill.

    Mr. Wine and his wife, Suzanne, married in 1981.

    Together, Mr. Wine and his family traveled to Paris and London, and he and his wife honeymooned in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He doted on his daughters and sometimes took them to his La Salle classroom, the Channel 29 TV set, and movie screenings.

    Friends, former colleagues, and former students called him “a force of nature,” “smart and gifted,” and “a rare combination of kindness, professionalism, and humor.” His daughter Simone said: “His humor, warmth, and presence made life brighter.”

    Survivors give advice about mourning their loved ones, as told to The Inquirer’s obit writer

    Mr. Wine played tennis, third base on adult softball teams, and pickup basketball into his 70s. He followed the Phillies, 76ers, and Eagles closely, and hit tennis balls with Hall of Famer Rod Laver at a publicity event in Los Angeles.

    Mr. Wine and his family made memorable trips to Paris, London, and elsewhere.

    “He was a wonderful father and a dedicated teacher,” his wife said. “He was a real Philadelphian, and we complemented each other.”

    His daughter Paulina said: “Dad, I think you cracked the code. We’ll see you at the movies.”

    Why did best-selling author Carol Saline email The Inquirer’s obit writer?

    In addition to his wife and daughters, Mr. Wine is survived by three grandchildren, a sister, Marcia, and other relatives. A sister died earlier.

    A celebration of his life was held earlier.

    Donations in his name may be made to the Bill Wine Scriptwriting Award at La Salle University, 1900 W. Olney Ave., Philadelphia, Pa. 19141.

    Mr. Wine (second from left) enjoyed time with his family.
  • They went to Mount Airy ‘on a whim’ and found love to last decades

    They went to Mount Airy ‘on a whim’ and found love to last decades

    Over more than 25 years, Jean Miller and Craig Heim have transformed their East Mount Airy home, a 1907 Dutch Colonial, through countless renovation projects.

    “But no matter what state the house was in, whatever was torn apart or upended as we did a project, it’s always been an amazing house to come home to,” Heim said. “We are always happy to come in the front door.”

    The facade surrounding that front door was the most recent project. They painted it a bold purple and updated the porch, shutters, and shingles.

    Miller said she had always wanted a purple house. “It makes the house pop.”

    The exterior of Miller and Heim’s home and their front garden are bursting with color.
    The porch railing and soffit are painted purple and yellow.
    The home was covered in asbestos shingles when Miller and Heim bought it, and they uncovered the original cedar shakes.

    The couple bought the seven-bedroom, 2½-bath home in March 2000, and moved in that spring after some initial work. At the time, they were renting near the Italian Market in South Philly and planned to buy there.

    “On a whim, we looked in Mount Airy after friends mentioned a huge house for sale nearby. Once we saw the neighborhood and how much space we could afford — including a yard — we shifted our search to Mount Airy,” recalled Miller, a physician at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Heim works for human services nonprofit Face to Face in Germantown.

    Over the past two decades, they updated nearly every part of the 3,200-square-foot house and its garden, as they raised their two children. Sara, 22, is a Penn graduate who now lives in South Philly, and Pete, 20, is a sophomore at Michigan State.

    Miller said the living room and dining room are favorites. The spaces are made cozy by a wood-burning fireplace, also a backdrop for entertaining.

    Art and instruments line the walls of the living room, as Maddie the dog enjoys the couch.
    The dining room has red walls and crown molding.

    When they moved in, Miller recounted, the home’s living and dining rooms had already been altered, losing their original woodwork. A wall with pocket doors had likely been removed and replaced with folding screen doors. The rooms were painted red with white trim.

    “We designed a wooden arch, installed larger crown molding, and removed a non-original built-in cabinet in the dining room,” said Miller. “Fortunately, the contractor removed it in sections and discovered it had been supporting the house’s main beam after studs had been taken out.”

    They decided to keep the red walls and, after testing many samples, chose a trim color in greenish gold that gave the rooms a completely different look.

    The home boasts an eclectic mix of furniture that they acquired from family, vintage shops, and what Miller described as “trash picking.”

    Paintings and photographs by local artists line the walls along the staircase.
    Art fills nearly every inch of this wall in the living room.

    An abundance of art hangs on the walls, loosely grouped into collections. Miller has dedicated one whole wall to “works from family and local artists.”

    “We use every space to display art and objects.”

    Back when Miller and Heim bought the house, the kitchen appeared to have been last renovated in the 1960s. The sheet-vinyl floor was torn and the subfloor so soft, it crumbled to dust when they pulled it up, recalled Miller.

    As a temporary fix, they installed veneered plywood, adding lines and nail marks to mimic wide-plank hardwood, and sealed it with polyurethane. They also painted the cabinets and walls. Those quick fixes held them over until a full kitchen renovation. A neighbor who is an architect designed the new kitchen, transforming it to include a bright breakfast room filled with natural light.

    Tiles and wall sculptures line an arch into the kitchen’s breakfast nook.
    A portrait of Jean Miller and Craig Heim’s dogs, Maddie and Mabel, is on display in the sun-filled breakfast area.

    “The kitchen was definitely a game changer, and it still feels new to me after 17 years. I love walking into it and feeling the brightness and natural light,” said Heim. “It’s the hub for so much of what happens every day and for special occasions, a very natural gathering place.”

    Outdoors, the garden is a treasure trove of found objects combined with topiary and plantings to create an eye-catching mix. The large porch leads to the front garden.

    “It connects us to our neighborhood and neighbors,” Miller said. “Our garden is a destination for many on their walks and allows us to connect with people. It feels like an outdoor room.”

    A path of stones runs through the garden.
    A planter the family trash-picked is filled with and surrounded by potted flowers.

    The creativity inspiring the garden also shines through in the house’s bold facade.

    “When the house recently needed to be repainted, we wanted to do something with a bit more pop,” Heim said. “So, we added the golds and pink to give things a little more zip.”

    For holidays, they decorate the yard with inflatables, lights, and ornaments.

    A hedge painted and shaped into a “happy bull” grows in front of the home. Heim often spray paints and cuts the hedges into shapes or characters.
    Decorative oversized ants are arranged as though climbing up a tree in the front garden.

    Mount Airy now holds a special place in both of their hearts. They enjoy an easy walk to the train, Germantown Avenue’s commercial strip, the Wissahickon, and Chestnut Hill.

    “We have a tight-knit group of neighbors, many long-term residents from our era and even earlier, and a whole new generation of younger people with kids,” said Miller. “It’s a wonderful community.”

    Is your house a Haven? Nominate your home by email (and send some digital photographs) at properties@inquirer.com.

  • Philly Music this week, with Subtronics, Jimmy Webb, Cat Power, Maná, Moe., and more

    Philly Music this week, with Subtronics, Jimmy Webb, Cat Power, Maná, Moe., and more

    This week in Philly music features two nights at the Met with electronic music artist Subtronics, Mexican pop rock band Maná in South Philly, four nights with Moe. on the Main Line, Jimmy Webb in Wilmington, and Cat Power celebrating the 20th anniversary of her The Greatest album.

    Wednesday, March 4

    Michael Shannon & Jason Narducy play R.E.M.

    Actor Michael Shannon has played James Garfield (in Death by Lightning) and George Jones (alongside Jessica Chastain in George and Tammy) and now he’s playing Michael Stipe. Or at least singing his songs. Along with guitarist Jason Narducy, Shannon has been moonlighting in recent years in this R.E.M. tribute band. This time, the band is playing 1986’s Life’s Rich Pageant, and more. 8 p.m., Union Transfer, 1026 Spring Garden, utphilly.com

    Jesse Welles

    Before Bruce Springsteen’s “Streets of Minneapolis” or Billy Bragg’s “City of Heroes,” there was Jesse Welles’ “Join ICE.” The best of Welles’ many protest songs is an Immigration and Customs Enforcement recruitment satire that stings with humor. “There’s a hole in my soul that just rages,” Welles sings, “but look at me now, I’m putting folks in cages.” 8 p.m., Fillmore Philly, 29 E. Allen St., thefillmorephilly.com

    Sonny Landreth & the Iguanas

    It’s the in-between time between Mardi Gras and New Orleans Jazz Fest, which makes it Louisiana music season. Two top-shelf ambassadors share a bill in Bucks County, in Breaux Bridge-based slide guitar great Sonny Landreth and NOLA roots-rock band the Iguanas. 8 p.m., Wednesday, Sellersville Theater, 84 W. Temple Ave., st94.com and 8 p.m., Thursday, Elkton Music Hall, 107 North St., ElktonMusicHall.com

    Thursday, March 5

    Moe.

    They named themselves after “Five Guys Named Moe,” the 1942 hit by swing blues greats Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five, though none of their name is actually Moe. The longstanding six-member Buffalo, N.Y., jam band is settling in for four shows, starting Thursday. 8 p.m., Ardmore Music Hall, ardmoremusichall.com

    Mx Lonely play Nikki Lopez on South Street on Thursday.

    Mx Lonely & Wax Jaw

    Top-notch shoegaze-slash-punk rock double bill. Mx Lonely is a Brooklyn band, fronted by singer Rae Haas, who just released their musically and thematically layered debut, All Monsters on Julia’s War, the West Philly label helmed by They Are Gutting a Body of Water’s Doug Dulgarian. Openers are terrific Philly punk quartet Wax Jaw, whose 2025 album It Takes Guts! was one of the strongest local releases of the year. 8 p.m., Nikki Lopez, 304 South St., @nikkilopezphilly

    Lindsey Webster

    Woodstock, N.Y., vocalist Lindsey Webster, who topped the contemporary jazz charts with her 2016 hit “Fool Me Once,” has just released her seventh album, Music in Me, on New Jersey’s Shanachie label. She’s playing two nights as part of Gerald Veasley’s Unscripted Jazz series. 6:30 and 9 p.m. Thursday and 7 and 9 p.m. Friday, South Jazz Kitchen, 600 N. Broad St., southjazzkitchen.com

    Philly Pogues tribute band Bar Dust play Free at Noon at World Cafe Live on Friday and Anchor Rock Club in Atlantic City on Saturday.

    Friday, March 6

    Bar Dust

    Shane MacGowan’s spirit lives on with Bar Dust, Philadelphia’s premier Pogues tribute band, the collective featuring members of Modern Baseball, Foxtrot & the Get Down, and the Menzingers. With St. Patrick’s Day around the corner, the punk folk septet is having a busy month, starting with a Free at Noon on Friday, followed by Saturday night at Anchor Rock Club in Atlantic City, and dates at Johnny Brenda’s on March 14 and John & Peter’s in New Hope on March 17. The band has recorded two Pogues-style original songs, including the single “Three Castles Burning,” on its new Bar Dust From the Studio EP. Noon, World Cafe Live, 3025 Walnut St., xpn.org and 8 p.m., Anchor Rock Club, 247 S. New York Ave., anchorrockclub.com

    No More Dysphoria VII

    This benefit for the self-described “queer-run nonprofit with the goal of helping trans + nonbinary individuals financially through major aspects of their transitions” has a loaded lineup. Headliners are Oceanator, the Elise Okusami-led band whose new Things I Never Said was made with Grammy-winning Philly producer Will Yip. Also on the bill are Frances Quinlan of Hop Along, Hit Like a Girl, and Universal Girlfriend, which features guitar hero Marissa Paternoster and Augusta Koch of Gladie. 8 p.m., First Unitarian Church, 2125 Walnut St., r5productions.com

    Robert Glasper performs on the Fairmount Park Stage during The Roots Picnic at the Mann Center in Philadelphia on Sunday, June 2, 2024. He plays Union Transfer on Friday.

    Robert Glasper

    Pianist, producer, and bandleader Robert Glasper’s music spans R&B, hip-hop, jazz, and beyond. He’s won five Grammys and released two albums in 2025. Code Derivation featured jazz instrumentalist like Keyon Harrold and Walter Smith III, and Keys to the City, Vol. 1, showcased guests Black Thought, Norah Jones, Bilal, Yebba, and MeShell Ndegeocello. You never know who might turn up at a Glasper concert. 8 p.m., Union Transfer, 1026 Spring Garden St., utphilly.com

    Lindsey Webster plays two shows each night at South Jazz Kitchen on Thursday and Friday.

    Baroness

    Savannah, Ga.-born and Philly-based heavy rock band Baroness plays a hometown show in support of its sixth album Stone, a muscular, melodic effort that as always features bandleader John Baizley’s distinctively trippy album cover art work. Commitment and Blood Vulture open. 8 p.m. Friday, Underground Arts, 1200 Callowhill St., undergroundarts.org

    Subtronics, the electronic dance music project of Philadelphia DJ-producer Jesse Kardon, plays two nights at the Met Philly this weekend.

    Subtronics

    Jesse Kardon doesn’t normally land on the list of the biggest music artists in Philadelphia, but he should. Kardon, who records and performs as Subtronics, is an electronic dance music phenom on an ascending career arc. The son of longtime Philly music business fixture (and former Hooters road manager) Rich Kardon, Jesse grew up in Lower Merion, lives in Chestnut Hill, and has become a major player in dubstep and EDM in general over the past decade. He’s headlined the Sphere in Las Vegas and Red Rocks in Colorado, and his two shows at the Met Philly this weekend are timed to the release of his new 10-song EP, Fibonacci Pt 2: Infinity. 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Met Philly, 858 N. Broad St., themetphilly.com

    Jimmy Webb plays the Baby Grand in Wilmington on Saturday.

    Saturday, March 7

    Jimmy Webb

    The songwriting legend who penned “Wichita Lineman” and “By the Time I Get to Phoenix” will be singing songs and telling stories at the Baby Grand in Wilmington. And now he has a new one to tell. Alysa Liu skated to Donna Summer’s recording of Webb’s “MacArthur Park” during her gold medal-winning figure skating program at the Olympics in Italy last month, and bringing what Webb has called his “old, beat-up song,” originally recorded by Richard Harris, an audience with a new generation. 8 p.m., The Grand, 818 N. Market St., Wilmington, thegrandwilmington.org

    Maná

    In 2025, Maná became the first Spanish-language band nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The pop-rock band from Guadalajara, which has sold over 40 million records, is on the road with its “Vivir Sin Aire” tour, named for its 1992 power ballad. 8 p.m., Xfinity Mobile Arena, 3601 S. Broad St., xfinitymobilearena.com

    Cat Power plays Union Transfer on Sunday.

    Sunday, March 8

    Cat Power

    It’s been 20 years since Cat Power — the remarkable song interpreter Chan Marshall — released her greatest album, appropriately titled The Greatest. Marshall will lead a six-piece band featuring Philly guitarist, music director, and former Delta 72 leader Gregg Foreman. She’ll play the Memphis soul album in its entirety and also reach into her catalog and hopefully include her version of Prince’s “Nothing Compares 2 U” from her new EP, Redux. 8 p.m., Union Transfer, 1026 Spring Garden St., utphilly.com

  • See what roughly $765,000 can buy you in the Chestnut Hill, Riverton, and Upper Dublin housing markets | The Price Point

    See what roughly $765,000 can buy you in the Chestnut Hill, Riverton, and Upper Dublin housing markets | The Price Point

    The Price Point compares homes listed for similar sale prices across the region to help readers set expectations about house hunting.

    When homebuyers sit down to make their must-have lists, they usually have a property size in mind.

    Maybe they’re outgrowing their home and need something bigger. Maybe their home is too big and they need to downsize.

    A bigger home can mean a bigger price tag, but not always.

    The latest installment in the Price Point compares homes in the region that are listed for sale for about the same price but vary widely in size.

    The Upper Dublin Township home is about 1,000 square feet larger than the home in Riverton, Burlington County, which is about 1,000 larger than the home in Chestnut Hill.

    But they’re all for sale for between $765,000 and $770,000. That’s more than twice the typical price of a home sold in the Philadelphia metropolitan area last month — $380,000, according to the multiple listing service Bright MLS.

    Colonial in a special location

    What makes this house in Upper Dublin Township special is its location, said listing agent Frank Blumenthal with Keller Williams Real Estate Tri-County.

    It’s about three miles from Regional Rail’s Ambler and Fort Washington stations, close to the Pennsylvania Turnpike and other major roads, and not far from shops and restaurants.

    And the home is a few hundred yards from Mondauk Common, a public park that includes a one-mile walking track, sports fields, exercise equipment, playground equipment, basketball courts, and pavilions. The park also hosts community events throughout the year.

    The home has expansive side and rear yards.

    Inside, the large primary bedroom includes a sitting room. The kitchen flows into the great room, which has a fireplace and lots of windows. The home also has an unfinished basement.

    Within the last few years, the owner replaced the roof and heating and cooling systems. A buyer may want to update the kitchen and bathrooms, “but the big-ticket items are out of the way,” Blumenthal said.

    The property was originally listed for $834,000 in September. The price dropped to $828,000 in November and $769,000 in February.

    Fully renovated historical home

    This house is more than a hundred years old and part of a historic district.

    “Homes were just built differently back in the day than they are now, and they stand the test of time,” said listing agent Michelle Bishop with Real Broker LLC.

    Because the home is historically protected, the investor who is flipping the property was limited in the exterior changes he could make. But he installed a new roof and new windows and fixed the siding.

    The home’s interior was a gut job, Bishop said. The property was in rough shape before the renovations, which included tearing down walls and installing new mechanical systems.

    The owner built a one-car detached garage and fixed up the in-ground pool.

    The staircase and double-sided fireplace are original to the home. New features include an updated kitchen, striking light fixtures, and a soaking tub.

    “The perfect buyer for this property is somebody who really appreciates historical homes but enjoys living in modern-day comfort,” Bishop said.

    Bishop called Riverton “a cute little town” and said she’s seen families who like Moorestown but can’t afford to live there come over to the borough. The home is close to parks, the Riverton Country Club, the Delaware River, Routes 130 and 73, and a NJ Transit light rail station on the River Line.

    The property was originally listed in January for $799,999, but the price dropped to $769,999 in February.

    Detached house on a double lot

    This property isn’t one that a potential buyer would typically see in this twin-filled part of Philadelphia.

    “It’s a detached home in Chestnut Hill,” said listing agent Neil Dessecker with RE/MAX One Realty. And its double-wide lot offers large side and rear yards, which are fenced in.

    On tours, many prospective buyers said they liked the property because they were looking for more space, he said.

    The home also has more of the usual features of homes in the area, including a covered front porch and hardwood floors.

    The kitchen includes high-end Bosch appliances, including an induction range. The owners converted the home from oil heating to central air-conditioning and heating.

    The third floor is a flexible space that can be used as a bedroom, living space, or playroom.

    The home doesn’t include parking, which Dessecker noted “usually skyrockets the price.” But the sellers said they almost always parked their two vehicles on the street right in front of their home.

    “The sellers said it was an incredible block and they loved the people there,” Dessecker said.

    The home is not far from the shops and restaurants along Germantown Avenue and is near an Acme. The Wyndmoor station on Regional Rail is at the end of the street.

    “There’s just not a lot of inventory in Chestnut Hill,” Dessecker said. “So when something of quality becomes available, you have to seize the opportunity.”

    The property is listed for $765,000.

  • Moore College will consider opening undergraduate programs to men

    Moore College will consider opening undergraduate programs to men

    Moore College of Art and Design will consider opening its undergraduate programs to men for the first time in its 177-year history.

    The Philadelphia school, which touts its role as “the first and only historically visual arts college for women in the nation,” cited the need to make arts programs more accessible in the region and the expected national decline in the available pool of high school graduates.

    The college, which enrolls about 500 students, will study and discuss with its community the prospect of admitting men over the next four months and make a decision by June, the school announced in emails to alumni, faculty, and students Monday. If the school decides to admit all genders, the first class admitted would be for 2027.

    How the UArts closure transformed Moore College of Art & Design, the last art-centered college in Philly

    “We will explore all of this together in an inclusive way for students, faculty, staff, and alumni,” wrote Moore president Cathy Young and Frances Graham and Art Block, chairs of the school’s board of trustees and board of managers, respectively. “Your voices are essential. No decision has been made at this time. The boards want your feedback.”

    Moore College of Art and Design president Cathy Young.

    If Moore goes coed, Bryn Mawr College would be the only remaining women’s school in the Philadelphia region. (In Allentown, Cedar Crest College remains primarily a women’s college.)

    Several other colleges in the region that were formerly for women have gone coed over the last decades, including Rosemont on Philadelphia’s Main Line in 2008, Immaculata University in Chester County in 2005, and Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia in 2003.

    Nationally, the number of women’s colleges has been declining from a high of over 200 to just 31 as of 2022, according to a 2025 report by the Pew Research Center.

    It wouldn’t be the first change in Moore’s admissions policy in recent years.

    This women’s college declared its doors open to nonbinary students. And more enrolled.

    In 2015, Moore began admitting “all qualified students who live as women and who consistently identify as women at the time of application.”

    Then in 2020, Moore also began accepting nonbinary and gender-nonconforming students. Since then, the number of those students has been growing. They made up 6% of the first freshman class under the new policy in 2021. By fall 2022, they accounted for 21%, and by fall 2023, 26%. Last fall, that grew to one-third of the freshman class.

    Moore’s graduate programs and most of its continuing education programs already include men.

    Moore officials said they are making the decision from a position of financial and academic “strength.” The school has had operating surpluses for the last 24 consecutive years, a school spokesperson said. Many small schools have faced financial strain in recent years, but Moore fared among the top small private colleges in the Philadelphia region for financial health in a 2024 Inquirer review.

    Moore’s net tuition climbed from $10.8 million to $12.7 million in fiscal 2024 and to $16.5 million in fiscal 2025, financial records show. The school also saw a big gain in private gifts and grants last year to $2.2 million, up from $885,383 the year before.

    This year’s enrollment is the school’s second highest behind fall 2024, when the college accepted 112 students from the University of the Arts, which abruptly closed in June 2024. The school also took 12 students that year from the Delaware College of Art and Design, which closed that year, too.

    Here’s a look at new buildings and programs coming to Philly-area colleges this school year

    Moore opened a new residence hall in Rittenhouse Square last fall, which is just a seven-minute walk from campus and will allow the school to guarantee students housing for all four years.

    In announcing the possibility of accepting all genders, Moore officials noted UArts’ closure and the end of degree-granting programs at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.

    “There is a void in Philadelphia’s higher ed creative landscape, and that begs the question: Shouldn’t all creatives, regardless of gender, have access to Moore …” they wrote. “The answer doesn’t have to be “yes,” but it is our responsibility to explore it.”

    College surveys of applicants have shown that the school’s status as a women’s college isn’t a big draw. Only 6% cited it as important to their decision out of 885 survey respondents over the last dozen years, the school said. Meanwhile, a quarter said it was one of the important reasons they didn’t choose Moore.

    Moore officials also cited the expected drop in the high school graduate population beginning this year because of declining birth rates. A decline of 10% is expected by 2037, they noted.

    “There are simply fewer students,” they wrote. “No responsible institution can ignore factors like these. And we won’t.”

    They said they will discuss ways “to preserve and activate in new ways” Moore’s history and legacy as part of the exploration.

    Between February and April, Moore plans to host about 20 sessions for faculty, staff, and alumni to share their thoughts, as well as providing an opportunity for online comments.

    Staff writer Harold Brubaker contributed to this article.

  • A Main Line town leads the charge of new Philly-area restaurants for February

    A Main Line town leads the charge of new Philly-area restaurants for February

    February’s crop of restaurant openings includes two restaurants’ expansions to Narberth, a reopened brewery in South Jersey, a chic restaurant/lounge in Center City, an intriguing wine bar/bottle shop in Chestnut Hill, and two French newcomers.

    Restaurants can take awhile and owners are often hesitant to pinpoint an opening date. I’ve listed the targeted day where possible; for the rest, check social media.

    Duo Restaurant & Bar (90 Haddon Ave., Westmont): Brothers Artan and Arber Murtaj and Andi and Tony Lelaj, who own the Old World-style Italian Il Villaggio in Cherry Hill, are taking over Haddon Avenue’s former Keg & Kitchen with a pub serving a bar menu supplemented with seafood.

    Eclipse Brewing (25 E. Park Ave., Merchantville): Last August, food trucker Megan Hilbert of Red’s Rolling Restaurant became one of the youngest brewery owners in New Jersey when she bought this 9-year-old Camden County brewery, open as of Friday.

    Lassan Indian Traditional (232 Woodbine Ave., Narberth): The second location of the well-regarded Lafayette Hill Indian BYOB takes over the long-ago Margot space in Narberth.

    LeoFigs, 2201 Frankford Ave., as seen in January 2026.

    LeoFigs (2201 Frankford Ave.): Justice and Shannon Figueras promise the delivery of their long-awaited bar/restaurant, with an urban winery in the basement, at Frankford and Susquehanna in Fishtown. The food menu will be built around comfort-leaning small plates.

    The bubbly selection at Lovat Square in Chestnut Hill.

    Lovat Square (184 E. Evergreen Ave.): Damien Graef and Robyn Semien (also owners of Brooklyn wine shop Bibber & Bell) are taking over Chestnut Hill’s former Top of the Hill Market/Mimi’s Café property for a multiphased project: first a wine shop with indoor seating, then a courtyard with a full dinner menu, followed later by a cocktail bar/restaurant component. Opens Feb. 12

    Malooga (203 Haverford Ave., Narberth): The Old City Yemeni restaurant is expanding to Narberth with lunch and dinner service plus a bakery, with expanded indoor/outdoor seating and space for groups.

    Mi Vida (34 S. 11th St.): Washington, D.C.-based restaurant group Knead Hospitality + Design is bringing its upscale Mexican concept to East Market, next to MOM’s Organic Market. Target opening is Feb. 18.

    MOTW Coffee & Pastries (2101 Market St): Mahmood Islam and Samina Akbar are behind this franchise of Muslims of the World Coffee, offering a third-space experience at the Murano.

    Napa Kitchen & Wine (3747 Equus Blvd., Newtown Square): A California-inspired restaurant rooted in Midlothian, Va., opens in Ellis Preserve with an extensive domestic and international wine list in a polished setting. Opens Feb. 9.

    Ocho Supper Club (210 W. Rittenhouse Square): Chef RJ Smith’s Afro-Caribbean fine-dining supper club starts a six-month residency at the Rittenhouse Hotel, tied to the Scarpetta-to-Ruxton transition, serving tasting menus through July. Now open.

    Piccolina (301 Chestnut St.): A low-lit Italian restaurant and cocktail bar at the Society Hill Hotel from Michael Pasquarello (Cafe Lift, La Chinesca, Prohibition Taproom). Targeting next week

    Pretzel Day Pretzels (1501 S. Fifth St.): James and Annie Mueller’s pretzel-delivery operation is becoming a takeout shop in the former Milk + Sugar space in Southwark. Expect classic soft pretzels plus German-style variations (including Swabian-style) and stuffed options.

    Merriment at the bar at Savu, 208 S. 13th St.

    Savú (208 S. 13th St.): Kevin Dolce’s Hi-Def Hospitality has converted the former Cockatoo into a modern, bi-level dining and late-night lounge with a New American menu from chef Maulana Muhammad; it just soft-opened for dinner Thursday through Sunday and weekend brunch.

    Bar-adjacent seating at Side Eye.

    Side Eye (623 S. Sixth St.): Hank Allingham’s all-day neighborhood bar takes over for Bistrot La Minette with “French-ish” food from chef Finn Connors, plus cocktails, European-leaning wines, beer, and a late-night menu. Opens 5 p.m. Feb. 7 with 50% of the night’s proceeds going to the People’s Kitchen.

    Soufiane at the Morris (225 S. Eighth St): Soufiane Boutiliss and Christophe Mathon (Sofi Corner Café) say there’s a 90% chance of a February opening for their new spot at the Morris House Hotel off Washington Square. It’s billed as an elegant-but-approachable restaurant inspired by classic French bouillons/brasseries, with a menu spanning small plates and full entrées alongside Moroccan-influenced tagines. Expect evening service indoors, daytime service outdoors.

    South Sichuan II (1537 Spring Garden St.): A second location for the popular Point Breeze Sichuan takeout/delivery specialist, near Community College of Philadelphia; this one will offer more seating.

    Zsa’s Ice Cream (6616 Germantown Ave.): The Mount Airy shop’s end-of-2025 “grand closing” proved short-lived after a sale to local pastry chef Liz Yee. Reopened Feb. 7.

    Looking ahead

    March openings are in the offing for the much-hyped PopUp Bagels in Ardmore, as well as the long-delayed Terra Grill (a stylish room in Northern Liberties’ Piazza Alta) and ILU (the low-lit Spanish tapas bar) in Kensington.

  • Dozens of surveillance videos and cell phone data led Philadelphia police to Kada Scott’s accused killer

    Dozens of surveillance videos and cell phone data led Philadelphia police to Kada Scott’s accused killer

    Two weeks after Kada Scott vanished, Philadelphia Police Detective Joseph Cremen stood over a patch of disturbed ground in a wooded stretch near an abandoned school in East Germantown.

    He pushed aside a layer of loose twigs and pressed a six-foot branch into the soil. It sank only a few inches before stopping short.

    That, Cremen testified Monday, was when he realized he’d found a shallow grave.

    The Oct. 18 discovery ended a two-week search for Scott, 23, who disappeared on Oct. 4 after leaving the Chestnut Hill senior living center where she worked. An autopsy later determined that she had been shot in the head.

    Cremen testified that the location of the grave was not discovered at random, but emerged from weeks of reviewing surveillance footage, digital data, and tips that helped authorities trace a path from the Awbury Arboretum to the wooded area where Scott was buried — and that linked her killing to Keon King, who is charged with murder, abuse of a corpse, and related crimes.

    During a preliminary hearing Monday that stretched nearly five hours, prosecutors methodically laid out that evidence, replaying video after video on a courtroom TV as detectives testified about how they tracked Scott’s final movements and King’s efforts, they say, to conceal her death.

    At the conclusion of the hearing, Common Pleas Court Judge Karen Simmons ruled that prosecutors had presented sufficient evidence for the case to proceed and ordered it held for court.

    An attorney for Scott’s parents, Brian Fritz, called the ruling a “first step” in getting justice for their daughter.

    “Kada Scott’s family is grieving,” he said. “In fact, their grief is unimaginable. But, so is their commitment for accountability and justice for Kada.”

    Detectives testified that surveillance cameras at the Awbury Arboretum recorded a silver hatchback vehicle pulling into a parking lot less than an hour before Scott’s Apple Watch transmitted its final location at 1:14 a.m. on Oct. 5. Footage from the same cameras appeared to show two men removing an object from the car and walking in the direction investigators later followed to Scott’s burial site.

    An anonymous tip helped lead investigators into the woods nearby the Ada H.H. Lewis Middle School in East Germantown.

    Kim Matthews (second from left), mother of Kada Scott, holds a image of her daughter before a Domestic Violence Awareness walk at the Philadelphia Art Museum on Oct. 26, 2025.

    Additional street cameras, prosecutors said, captured the same hatchback parked in a driveway behind homes on the 2300 block of 74th Avenue. Moments later, video showed a sudden flash of light and flames as the car was set on fire, destroying what authorities believe may have been physical evidence inside.

    Investigators did not rely on any single camera, prosecutors emphasized. Instead, detectives testified that they reconstructed the timeline by stitching together footage from dozens of surveillance systems across the city. That effort, they said, led them to King, 21.

    Street cameras recorded a 1999 gold Toyota Camry registered to King traveling in the vicinity of the arboretum around the same times activity was captured there, they said. Police also tracked the movements of one of Scott’s Apple devices after she left work, comparing its location data with license plate readers and surveillance video, detective Robert Daly testified.

    “Everywhere this device went, Mr. King’s car went,” Daly said.

    Cell phone records presented at the hearing showed that King and Scott had exchanged text messages in the hours before her disappearance, Daly testified.

    The last message Scott sent asked King to call her when he arrived at the senior living center. The final incoming call on her phone, at 10:12 p.m. on Oct. 4, was from King, according to police.

    Before Simmons ruled, King’s defense attorney, Robert Gamburg, argued that the prosecution’s case relied too heavily on circumstantial evidence and failed to place his client directly at the scene of the killing.

    The surveillance footage, he said, did not clearly identify any faces and could not establish who was inside and around the vehicles.

    He also pointed to testimony from a senior living center employee who said she saw Scott leave work that night and noticed a dark-colored Jeep parked outside the facility, not a silver hatchback.

    “There is absolutely nothing connecting this young man to what happened to Ms. Scott,” Gamburg said, urging the judge to dismiss the case.

    “At this level, with this quantum of evidence, for this type of case, it should be discharged today,” he said.

    Assistant District Attorney Ashley Toczylowski countered that investigators had assembled a detailed and corroborated account of Scott’s final hours, one that showed not only King’s proximity to her disappearance, she said, but also steps taken afterward to destroy evidence.

    “This isn’t coincidence,” she told the court. “It’s corroboration.”

  • SEPTA hopes Regional Rail cars rented from Maryland will alleviate overcrowding

    SEPTA hopes Regional Rail cars rented from Maryland will alleviate overcrowding

    As Train 9710 pulled out of the Trenton Transit Center at 7:25 a.m. Monday, something looked out of place.

    Five passenger coaches in the Philadelphia-bound Regional Rail train bore foreign “MARC” logos and orange-and-blue markings, all pulled by a properly labeled SEPTA electric locomotive.

    It was the first day of service for 10 coaches rented from Maryland’s commuter railroad to add capacity to SEPTA’s service as it works through the fallout of last year’s Silverliner IV fires.

    The substitute cars initially will be running on the Trenton and West Trenton lines, where riders for months have endured packed trains due to a shortage of available 50-year-old Silverliner IVs.

    In October, the Federal Railroad Administration ordered SEPTA to inspect and repair all 223 of those cars after five of them caught fire earlier in the year.

    The transit agency is paying $2.6 million to lease the new coaches for a year.

    SEPTA’s records show it canceled at least 2,544 Regional Rail trips in the last three months of 2025. Delays and skipped stops also have plagued commuters for months.

    SEPTA is using its ACS-64 electric locomotives, which it bought in 2019, to pull the MARC coaches and its own fleet of 45 coaches.

    Silverliner cars do double duty; they carry passengers and have motors that provide their own locomotion through electricity drawn from overhead wires.

    The addition of new cars coincides with new Regional Rail schedules that went into effect Sunday.

    SEPTA said in a statement that the schedules will add trips on the Wilmington, Trenton, and Chestnut Hill East lines and increase the frequency of service from Wayne Junction directly to the Philadelphia International Airport on the Airport line.

  • House of the week: A five-bedroom end-of-the-row house in East Falls for $652,000

    House of the week: A five-bedroom end-of-the-row house in East Falls for $652,000

    When Hope Coleman and Nathan Fong were looking for a larger East Falls rowhouse for themselves and their two young sons, they settled on a house that combined character and practicality. It had a garage, very rare for a rowhouse in that neighborhood.

    The couple — Coleman is a veterinarian and Fong a marketing professor at Rutgers University — moved into the house in 2019 but have now left for a larger house in Bala Cynwyd to accommodate aging parents on both sides.

    “The stuff that gave it character was original,” said Coleman, describing the East Falls house.

    The five-bedroom, 2½-bathroom home is 2,288 square feet.

    The heated, window-lined front porch provides entrance to the living room with original cathedral glass and stained-glass windows, high ceilings, and hardwood and Second Empire architectural style indicate it is considerably older. Documentation says the house was built in 1925, but Coleman believes that the mansard roof and architectural style indicate an earlier construction date.

    The living room features original cathedral glass and stained-glass windows.

    The dining room has a butler’s cabinet and a powder room with a pocket door.

    The renovated eat-in kitchen has solid oak cabinetry, granite countertops, a wide island with seating for four, and a beautifully restored Chambers stove complete with built-in warmer and broiler and griddle, vented to the exterior.

    The wide kitchen island can accommodate seating for four.

    Glass doors open from the kitchen to a private patio. A sunroom, added by the couple and connected to the kitchen, has underfloor heating, two skylights, and additional access to the backyard and side entrance, creating seamless indoor-outdoor flow.

    Glass doors open from the kitchen to a private patio.

    A back staircase leads directly from the kitchen to the second floor, which has three bedrooms, including a spacious front room that is used as a family room but can also serve as a large second-floor primary.

    The hall bath has a stained-glass window and a laundry room, which has built-ins, closet space, and the home’s original porcelain sink hutch.

    The third floor has two additional bedrooms and a newly added full bath. The rear bedroom could serve as a walk-in closet, office, private retreat, or a primary suite.

    The house is listed by Lisa Denberry of BHHS Fox & Roach Chestnut Hill for $652,000.