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A place of many parts, united by a renowned school district

One in a continuing series spotlighting real estate markets in the region's communities. It may be that Lower Merion has waited nearly four years for a Town by Town visit because it's one of the more complicated local municipalities.

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

It may be that Lower Merion has waited nearly four years for a Town by Town visit because it's one of the more complicated local municipalities.

"It does have a lot of working parts," says John Duffy, owner of the real estate firm that bears his name, with offices in Narberth and St. Davids.

"And parts of those parts are not necessarily in Lower Merion," says Duffy, who has lived in the Haverford section of Lower Merion Township for 62 years, moving across Montgomery Avenue from Narberth at age 7.

Narberth, a borough unto itself, is surrounded by Lower Merion. But among the neighborhoods that are actually part of the township are Bala Cynwyd, Wynnewood, Ardmore, Bryn Mawr, Rosemont, Villanova, Gladwyne, Pencoyd, Belmont Hills, Penn Wynne, Roseglen, Overbrook Hills, Penn Valley, and Merion. Parts of some of these are in other municipalities, and in Delaware County rather than Montgomery.

What unites the township, however, and has always been its chief selling point - this is about real estate, after all - is the Lower Merion School District, long among the 25 best in the United States.

"There are two high schools - Lower Merion and Harriton - and both are excellent," said Duffy, a graduate of the first, while his wife, Lyn, got her diploma from the second.

When you say, "But Harriton is more science," he replies, "Who told you that?" (A son with a doctorate in planetary science who faced its students in state competition.)

Lower Merion Township has forever been a place from which people can commute easily to Philadelphia, especially by train, another selling point.

"Villanova is the longest trip by train to Center City, and that is 20 minutes," says Duffy.

Back in the 1950s and 1960s, most people commuted to jobs in Philadelphia, but today a lot of them head west to King of Prussia and the corporate centers in Malvern and East Whiteland Township.

"I would say that most people use their cars to get to work in those places and to jobs in Bala Cynwyd and on City Avenue.

Another change from those years is that the communities that make up Lower Merion - either in whole or in part - were once self-contained but now run together.

"Each had its own elementary school, for example, but that has definitely changed," he says.

If everything you know about Lower Merion is based on watching The Philadelphia Story on TCM, you don't have the real picture.

Sure, there are wealthy people living in big houses on large tracts here. That's common as you move away from the centers of the populated areas.

"The price range of houses in Lower Merion starts at a shade under $100,000 up to the sky's the limit," Duffy says. "There are, among the 429 active listings and the 135 pending sales, a number of $3 million and $4 million homes."

The best sellers in this market, though, are houses between $500,000 and $750,000, he says, with the average sale price $615,000.

"Most of these buyers are younger people who grew up in Lower Merion, moved to the city, had children, and are moving westward, coming back for the schools," Duffy says.

The highest-end housing is not selling - the exceptions are those in good shape and in prime neighborhoods. It's a situation that has existed since the housing market turned to bust in the third quarter of 2007.

"It was just before the downturn started, in fact," Duffy says. "Prices went so high that affordability, even at the highest end, became an issue, since houses were appreciating 10 percent to 20 percent at each resale."

Things ground to a halt, coupled with the fact that "bigger was not necessarily better, and maintenance and heating bills became a factor," Duffy says.

Right now, the issue in Lower Merion is density, with a boom in multifamily construction by design, not by accident.

The township has done "extensive planning and zoning in the City Avenue/Pencoyd waterfront/Rock Hill Road area to promote higher-density, mixed-use, transit-oriented development," says Chris Leswing, assistant director of building and planning.

aheavens@phillynews.com

215-854-2472@alheavens