Suburban REALTORS Alliance

09/18/2026

Rising CE costs. Schools at risk of closing. That's what's on the line if Senate Bill 838 doesn't move forward.

SB 838 exempts real estate and appraiser schools from double regulation they don't need. It only takes a minute to help get this across the finish line. Take action now at https://parealt.rs/3TzNo7C

09/02/2026

"Apartments currently under construction in Philadelphia average 627 square feet, according to RentCafe."

Of the country’s 100 largest cities for renters, Philadelphia ranked 88th in apartment size, according to RentCafe.

08/31/2026

A new Montgomery County Planning Commission review of the revised Melrose redevelopment plan — a roughly 115-acre, mixed-use project on the former Melrose Country Club site in Cheltenham Township — found the developer has added about 33 more homes since 2024, now totaling roughly 443 residences (351 townhomes, including some age-restricted, plus 12 twins, 80 assisted living apartments and 30 traumatic brain injury care units), while eliminating the previously planned small apartment building.

County planners criticized the change because it reduced housing variety.

There are more houses planned for the Melrose development than before, according to a county review of the Cheltenham project that also raised potential parking issues for the proposed public pools.

08/30/2026

Kennett Square Borough Council voted to cap short-term rentals at 20, grandfathering in existing STRs. The new ordinance also prohibits single-family homes from turning into short-term rentals as their primary use.

Though existing short-term rentals are grandfathered in, the borough will restrict such units moving forward.

08/29/2026

The National Association of Realtors (NAR), joined by the Realtors Land Institute and the American Farm Bureau Federation, filed an amicus brief in Hoffmann v. WBI Energy Transmission, a U.S. Supreme Court case that could significantly affect property owners’ rights when private companies exercise federally delegated eminent-domain authority.

The case stems from WBI’s acquisition of easements across North Dakota ranchland for a natural gas pipeline authorized under the Natural Gas Act (NGA). After the landowners rejected WBI’s offer at substantially below market value and successfully obtained a higher valuation in court, they were awarded attorneys fees and litigation expenses under North Dakota law.

The 8th Circuit reversed that award, holding that compensation in NGA condemnations is limited to the Fifth Amendment’s federal standard of “just compensation,” which generally excludes litigation costs and attorneys fees.

The Supreme Court agreed to review the case to resolve whether landowners subject to condemnation under the NGA may rely on state-law compensation protections or are limited to the federal constitutional standard of just compensation.

The National Association of REALTORS® (NAR), joined by the REALTORS® Land Institute (RLI) and the American Farm Bureau Federation, filed an amicus brief in Hoffmann v. WBI Energy Transmission, a U.S. Supreme Court case that could significantly affect property owners’ rights when private companie...

08/29/2026

Oxford Borough Council members voted 5-2 to disband the community’s local law enforcement department. Mayor Phillip Harris said that by pursuing a partnership with Southern Chester County’s regional force.

Council President Kathryn Cloyd, Vice-President Bill Fitzpatrick, and members Michael Brandt, Melody Boston-Griffin and Robert Ketcham voted “yes” as the crowd shouted out in protest.

08/28/2026

The Next Step Programs, a Doylestown nonprofit serving young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, cleared a key zoning hurdle when the Doylestown Borough Zoning Hearing Board voted 4-1 to conditionally grant a parking variance for its Adam's Way project — a planned three-story building with 41 apartments and four commercial spaces on the former Paul B. Moyer property.

An application to redevelop the former Moyer property in Doylestown Borough went before the zoning hearing board Thursday night. Here's the plan.

08/26/2026

Upper Darby passes lead inspection ordinance

Upper Darby Township Council passed a lead-poisoning-prevention ordinance requiring properties built before 1978 to be certified lead safe or lead free.

The ordinance requires all rental properties to be tested and certified lead safe or lead free with a license renewal, all houses to be certified at transfer, and all child care facilities on license renewal. Amrinder Singh, director of Licenses and Inspections, said the ordinance includes rentals, child care facilities, and condemned or unsafe properties, and applies to properties subject to real estate transfer inspections and use and occupancy requirements.

The purpose of the ordinance is “to identify and address lead-based hazards before children, families, residents, homeowners and other occupants are exposed to preventable harm,” Singh said. A certified third-party professional would verify structures are lead safe or lead free.

Beginning Jan. 1 all rentals in the township will need to be tested. Non-rental homes would be tested at the time of property transfer. That certification would be renewed every three years for rentals, Singh said. Once found lead free, the status would remain with the property through future owners. The township will establish a fee for rentals to carry out the program.

08/26/2026

D.R. Horton is advancing plans to build a 106-home, single-family community called Brookfield Estates on 127 acres in Milford Township, Bucks County. Most lots will run roughly a third of an acre, with some larger parcels and about 68 acres preserved as open space.

The developer agreed to purchase the land from Quakertown Community School District for $7.8 million after the district dropped plans to build a school there in 2024. The district still owns the property pending the sale.

The nation's largest homebuilder is moving through the approval process to build a community of 106 single-family homes in the Philadelphia suburbs.

08/25/2026

Upper Pottsgrove Township commissioners recently voted 4-1 to buy three properties from companies controlled by developer Richard Mingey for $2.9 million.

The property on West Moyer Road will expand existing open space, and two adjacent parcels, 1327 Farmington Ave. (nearly 13 acres) and 67 Steinmetz Road (nearly 11 acres), are planned as the site of a new municipal complex including administrative offices, police, fire and public works.

Commissioners Chairman Al Leach said one of the three properties, on West Moyer Road, is adjacent to open space and will be used to further expand that open space.