In 2021, Allegheny County Economic Development (ACED), in partnership with Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh(URA), completed the a Market Value Analysis (MVA) for Allegheny County. This analysis services as both an update to previous MVA’s commissioned separately by ACED and the URA and combines the MVA for the whole of Allegheny County (inclusive of the City of Pittsburgh). The MVA is a unique tool for characterizing markets because it creates an internally referenced index of a municipality’s residential real estate market. It identifies areas that are the highest demand markets as well as areas of greatest distress, and the various markets types between. The MVA offers insight into the variation in market strength and weakness within and between traditional community boundaries because it uses Census block groups as the unit of analysis. Where market types abut each other on the map becomes instructive about the potential direction of market change, and ultimately, the appropriateness of types of investment or intervention strategies.
This MVA utilized data that helps to define the local real estate market. The data used covers the 2017-2019 period, and data used in the analysis includes:
- Residential Real Estate Sales
- Mortgage Foreclosures
- Residential Vacancy
- Parcel Year Built
- Parcel Condition
- Building Violations
- Owner Occupancy
- Subsidized Housing Units
The MVA uses a statistical technique known as cluster analysis, forming groups of areas (i.e., block groups) that are similar along the MVA descriptors, noted above. The goal is to form groups within which there is a similarity of characteristics within each group, but each group itself different from the others. Using this technique, the MVA condenses vast amounts of data for the universe of all properties to a manageable, meaningful typology of market types that can inform area-appropriate programs and decisions regarding the allocation of resources.
Please refer to the presentation and executive summary for more information about the data, methodology, and findings.