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Three different neighborhoods, one ZIP code, And if you analyze it as a single number, your underwriting is broken before you even close on the property. Today, we're going to do a deep dive in 19134, Port Richmond, Harrowgate, and Kensington. Three areas that cannot be more different from each other, all sharing the same ZIP code. I'm going walk through, who lives there, what the housing stock looks like, and what the real numbers for May 2026 say about price in each pocket of the ZIP code straight from MLS. let's get into it.

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Welcome back to the Philly Landlord Guy, the show built for rental owners and investors in Philadelphia who want real facts about, operating in the city of Philadelphia. I'm your host, Yuriy Skripnichenko, licensed real estate broker and certified property manager here in Philly. Let's start with the macro numbers. I'm looking directly at the May 2026 residential lease report for all Philadelphia County, which is city of Philadelphia. In May, there were 2,600 new units listed across the city, with, 1,500 units successfully rented. the median listed price was $1,885, and the median price that leases actually closed as was, $1,840. It's a relatively tight $45, dollars gap, which tells you the citywide market is fairly realistic right now compared to what we've seen in the past months, where we saw over $190 gap between the asking and the actual, rented price. So average days on the market, 49, and, total days on the market, 53. End of the month inventory sat at 4,400 units with a month of supply index of 3.1, which is a balanced market leaning slightly towards tenants having options. now look at June. Current inventory has already climbed to 4,600, almost 4,700 units, up over 200 units in just a week. New listings for June so far, 1,564. Supply keeps growing, which means the pressure to price correctly from day one isn't going away. The takeaway, the days of, listing high and seeing what sticks are over. You have competition, price it right, present it clean, and you will move it under 50 days. Overprice it, and you will be sitting vacant on the market for two months or more. all right, let's get into the main ZIP Code, and I'm going to, spend real time here because this ZIP Code deserves it. 19134 sits in, kind of right past northeast, North Philly area, and it generally contains three distinct community that each need their own strategy. Let me walk you through each one. Port Richmond is the most stable out of the three. This neighborhood has a population around 21,000 people with a median age of 38, noticeably older than the city average, which tells you this is a neighborhood of long-term residents, not a transit rental market. Historically, it's a Polish Eastern European working class, enclave. it has diversified over past, few decades but kept its core identity. Row homes, front stoops, people who have lived on the same block for 20 or 30 years. the housing stock here is classic Philadelphia brick row homes, mostly built in the early to mid 1900s. It's well-maintained relative to the rest of the ZIP Code because of the ownership rates are higher and pride of the block runs deep here. there is some new construction going on in the area. If you own a clean, updated row home in Port Richmond with central air, in-unit laundry, modern kitchen, you are competing at the top of this sub-market and can push toward the higher end of, what 19134 can bring you. Harrogate is generally transitional, And this is the part of the zip code where block-by-block due diligence is not optional, it's mandatory. For-sale housing data shows that area currently has a median listing price around $130,000, with homes typically sitting on the market over 100 days when they're for sale, which tells you that the ownership market here is slow and price-sensitive, let alone the rental side. So before you buy here, you must go out, you must look at the block, you need to know your block, and you need to know where you're buying. Housing stock is older row homes, a meaningful number of multifamily conversions, And noticeably higher share of distressed or under-renovated property compared to Port Richmond. One block can be quiet and stable, the next block over can have multiple vacant or safe flagged properties. before you buy or aggressively price a rental here, walk the block. Check, your L&I or go to atlasvilla.gov for active L&I violations on the surrounding properties. Don't assume Harrogate is one thing. It's not. Now, Kensington. I'm not going to dive in all of the problems that the area has, but the population that falls within 19134, and they have roughly about 20,000 residents with a median age around 34.5, younger than Port Richmond And this is the part of the zip code carrying the heaviest reputation challenges, some fair and some outdated depending on the specific block. This is a working class, largely immigrant and multigenerational community, and your tenant base here is going to be highly price sensitive. The row home stock in this part of the ZIP code is older and frequently unrenovated, which drives, higher maintenance demands and contributes directly to faster tenant turnovers when units aren't kept up. This is also the section of zip code doing the most drag to the overall median rent numbers downwards. So whenever you pull the report for 19134, this section of the zip code will drag down the numbers for the rest of it, even though as Harrogate is not very much different number-wise, but Port Richmond is. So three different, wards, one zip code, one set of MLS statistics that blends them all together. Keep that firmly in mind as I walk you through actual May 2026 numbers. there were 61 units listed and 43 units rented in May. That's a strong absorption rate for the month. End of the month inventory, 109 units. Months of supply, two point six. A relatively tight market overall. Here is the pricing reality, though, that matters the most. The median listed price was $1,500. The median price that lease is actually closed at was $1,300. That's a $200 gap. It's over 13% between what landlords are asking and what tenants are actually paying here. Average days on the market, 59 days. cumulative days on the market, 60 days. that is 10 days slower than the citywide average of 49 days. Here's what actually happening underneath those blended numbers. A well-maintained Port Richmond row home can realistically command close to 1,500 and more, for your median rent in line with the city average. A property in the rougher pockets of Harrogate or older Kensington stock is going to land much closer or below than 1,300. And pricing it at 15 because that's the zip code's average is exactly how you end up sitting on the market for 60-plus days and then cutting your price anyway. Price for specific block you're actually in, not the zip code on paper. Current June inventory for 19134 is already up to 113 units at a median listed price of 1,500, flat compared to May. before I wrap up, a quick thank you to our sponsor, TrustArt Realty. Managing rentals in complex zip codes like 19134, where price and strategy can change from one block to the next, is exactly the kind of thing that TrustArt Realty is helping with. they are offering all of our listeners free rental analysis and management consultation. Reach out at trustartrealty@phillylandlordguy.com or go to the website at trustartrealty.com and schedule your free session. here's where we land today. Citywide, the market is balanced, but supply is growing. Price correctly from the start, And 19134 is the cleanest example I can give you of why a zip code is not a neighborhood. City of Philadelphia is a city of neighborhoods, as I told you so many times, and different neighborhoods has different people living in, different price range, and very often when we have one zip code covering bunch of different neighborhoods. For 19134, we have Port Richmond, Harrogate, and Kensington. Each have their own population, their own housing stock, and their own realistic price point. Pull one number off a spreadsheet and apply it to all three, and you will either overprice you into a 60 days vacancy or underprice a perfectly good Port Richmond row home. Know your block, price your block, not the zip code average. If you found this valuable, subscribe, leave a review, like, and, drop your zip code questions In the comments. Share with another landlord in Philadelphia. Keep your property clean, stay legal, and I will catch you in the next episode