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Town By Town: Some of everything

One in a continuing series spotlighting real estate markets in the region's communities. There are five Middletown Townships in Pennsylvania, two of them in the Philadelphia region.

A house for sale at 10 Springhouse Lane, for $499,999.
A house for sale at 10 Springhouse Lane, for $499,999.Read moreED HILLE / staff photographer

One in a continuing series spotlighting real estate markets in the region's communities.

There are five Middletown Townships in Pennsylvania, two of them in the Philadelphia region.

This Middletown has Wawa's main dairy, a satellite campus of Penn State, Granite Run Mall - acquired in 2013 by BET Investments and being redeveloped as the Promenade at Granite Run - and the long-shuttered headquarters of the Franklin Mint.

Middletown Township, Delaware County, "is a place with plenty of positives," says Barbara M. Mastronardo, an agent with Weichert Realtors in Media.

One of them, she says, is the Rose Tree Media School District, ranked in Pennsylvania's Top 30.

Another is "that Middletown has no police force, which reduces municipal costs and property taxes," Mastronardo says.

Taxes here are reasonable by Delaware County standards, she says.

There's a house for sale for $975,000 in Middletown that has an annual tax bill (county, school and township) of $9,700. In Upper Providence, the bill "would be $13,000 to $15,000; in Wallingford, $15,000 to $18,000," Mastronardo says.

"Taxes are indeed reasonable," says longtime resident Jeanne Vasquez, who describes the township as "a sleepy little place a few minutes from everywhere."

The "a few minutes from" destinations include Media, the county seat and now a dining mecca featuring such spots as Bittersweet Kitchen on Orange Street, owned by her son, Jeremy Pflug, and his wife, Michelle West, Vasquez says.

Baltimore Pike divides Middletown in two, creating traffic, she says, "although you sit for minutes, not hours."

When it comes to housing, Mastronardo says, Middletown has something for everyone.

"There are townhouses, lots of them, ideal for singles and young couples looking in the $250,000-to-$350,000 range," she says.

First-time buyers hoping to start at the condo level can get a one-bedroom at Riddle Glen, which was converted from apartments 30 or so years ago, "for $65,000 to $70,000, if they are in good shape," Mastronardo says.

Middletown also has "a lot of nice ranchers, providing one-floor living for the owners moving down but [who] don't want to buy over-55 because of the fees," she says.

There is a large choice of housing styles here, with "a Cape Cod running you around $200,000," depending upon condition," Mastronardo says. "Your best bet is 20- to 25-year-old homes that have been updated."

The market is very active, although there aren't very many homes for sale - just 43 listings, ranging from $120,000 for a single detached home, to $975,000 for a 296-year-old eight-bedroom, two-bath house on 10 acres.

Forty-three also is the number of houses that have settled in the three months since November, with prices ranging from $185,000 for a three-bedroom, one-bath single, to $740,000 for a five-bedroom, 21/2-bath single, Mastronardo says.

Average sale prices run from the low to mid-$300,000s, with the median about $299,000. There are 14 houses under contract, she says.

New construction includes the Residences at Rose Tree, near the Elwyn school, which start in the range of $400,000 to $450,000, Mastronardo says.

Many township residents are wary of new-home proposals, Vasquez says, fearing additional traffic and need for more schools that would boost taxes out of the "reasonable" range.

"Some people opposed the renovation of the mall, but we recognize the need to broaden the tax base," Vasquez says.

Also on her list of Middletown positives are two family-owned farmers' markets, the Rocky Run YMCA, "lots of individually owned businesses," Department of Parks and Recreation-sponsored trips "all over the world," a township council "that listens," and efforts to increase open space.

Though plans for office buildings and houses on the old Franklin Mint site have been opposed by many residents, there is a new Super Wawa going up on a piece of it.

Frank McKee, president of McKee Group, a Springfield-based real estate company, says a proposal for 300 townhouses on the site as part of a "regional lifestyle" is in the approval process.

aheavens@phillynews.com

215-854-2472@alheavens