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19148 South Philly Deep Dive: New Sixers Arena, Rising Incomes & a Tight Rental Market
•Yuriy Skripnichenko
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$1.5 billion arena and a $2.5 billion district makeover. A neighborhood where median income just jumped 12% in a single year, and a rental market so tight that it has less than two months of supply. All of that is happening in one ZIP code, 19148, the deep South end of South Philadelphia. This past April, we finally learned exactly where the new Sixers, Flyers, and WNBA arena will be built, the southeast corner of Broad and Pattison on the old Spectrum site, opening in 2030. And there is a part nobody is talking about. The big residential project that was supposed to bring over 1,300 new competing units to the market no longer exists. The demand catalyst is coming, the supply flood is not. Today, I'm breaking down what that means for the landlords and, uh, walking through the very different pockets of the ZIP code, because the difference between the lo- lower Moyamensing and Whitman is about $400 a month. And if you do not know which side on that line you are on, your numbers are wrong. Let's get into it.
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Welcome back to the Philadelphia Landlord Guide. Welcome back to the Philadelphia Landlord Guy, the show built for rental owners, property managers, and investors who want real, no-fluff facts about the Philadelphia market, neighborhood by neighborhood. I'm your host, Yuriy Skripnichenko, the guy with the impossible last name, uh, licensed real estate broker and certified property manager here in the city. Today is an episode on 19148, Lower Moyamensing, Whitman, Pennsport, and the Sports Complex. About 50,000 residents, classic South Philly row homes, and a lot happening. Citywide numbers first. Across the City of Philadelphia in August, there were 1,799 new units listed and 1,608 units rented, an 89% absorption rate. Median listed price was $1,850 and median rented price $1,800. Only a $50 gap, meaning the citywide market is pricing very accurately right now. Average days on the market, 46 days, one of the best as we've seen in the last months. Months of supply, 2.2, and September inventory is at 4,000 units, down from 4,345 a year ago. The market has tightened a little compared to the spring as well. That's the city, balanced, accurate, 46 days on the market. Now, watch how different 19148 behaves. Let's start with the news, because this is the long-term story for the ZIP Code. You may remember hearing about the Sixers canceling their arena, and that is true, but it's only the half of the story. What got canceled was the City Center Arena project at Market East, near Chinatown. It was already approved. The city council approved it, but then in January 2025, the Sixers made the surprise decision to abandon it and instead partner with Comcast Spectacor to build a shared are-arena with Flyers, uh, right here in South Philly at the Sports Complex. Then, this past April, the exact location was revealed. The new South Philadelphia Arena will be built at the southeast corner of Broad Street and Pattison Avenue, the site of the old Spectrum, right next to the Broad Street Line Energy Station. The details, reported cost is about $1.5 billion. Shared home for the Sixers, Flyers, and Philadelphia new WNBA expansion team. Three franchises under one roof. Target opening date 2030 with roughly a three-year constr- construction timeline. Once it opens, the current Xfinity arena gets demolished, and it's all part of a broader $2.5 billion transformation of the sport complex that includes a hotel, an event venue, plus 3 million committed to subsidizing SEPTA and parking riders for fans. Now, here is the piece that matters most for the landlords, and, it flew under the radar. There was a major residential development proposed for the stadium district for about 1,400 new apartments o- on the old park site, but that development fell through and, it's not moving forward, and the rezoning that was done for specifically for the development was rescinded as well. So put those two factors together, a multi-billion dollar entertainment anchor is coming to the southern edge of the zip code, thousands of construction jobs then permanent event economy jobs and the large-scale housing supply that would have completed the existing old home stock is not being built. For existing landlords in Packer Park and Whitman and Lower Moyamensing, that is demand without dilution. One honest caveat, this is a 2030 story. Do not buy in 19148 expecting an arena rent bump next year. This is a long cold thesis, but it's a real one. Now let me walk you through the zip code itself because 19148 packs several generally different markets into a compact area. The zip wide about 50,000 residents, 18,700 households, unemployment under 4%, and this is important, roughly two-thirds owner-occupied. High ownership means rental supply is tight here. Remember that when we get to the MLS numbers. So lower Mysing is the premium pocket, Snyder to Oregon, 7th Street to Broad, directly south of West Passyunk Crossing. This is where the strongest story in the zip lives. The median household income here is around 80,000, and it jumped 12.5% in a single year. For the prime renting demographics, ages 25 to 44, the median income is nearly $97,000. These are well-paid tenants. The housing here is mostly 19th century row homes, plus some, converted factory buildings at a density of over 40,000 people per square mile, denser than 90% of any American neighborhoods. This is where the $2,000 plus rents in 19148 exist. A renovated, row home in Lower Moyamensing near the Passyunk border, premium product. Whitman is the working class core. Sixth Street to the front, Snyder down to Bigler, named for the Walt Whitman Bridge back in the 1950s. This is a traditional working class South Philly. Long-term families, more price sensitive tenants, about 21% child poverty, and a notably high share of single mother households. It is a solid, stable rental market, but it's not lower Moyamassing. Rents here run meaningfully lower, and the product expectation is clean and functional, not designer. If you underwrite a Whitman row, row home at lower Moyamassing rents, your numbers are broken on day one. And this is the place where I had, that one flip that I mentioned before in the previous pieces that I never do flips, that I buy and hold. But this is exact area where I had a regular buy and hold, which turned out to be a better flip than buy and hold just because of the pricing and, the rent that I was able to get for it. So the northeast edge along the Delaware River, All of the new constructions and rehab activity has pushed values up over the past decades as renters priced out of Queen Village and Passyunk drifted south. A growing pocket with a mix of, legacy families and new arrivals Packer Park is the suburban surprise. West of Broad from Packer Avenue down towards the stadium, this is the most un-South Philly part of South Philly. 1950s twins and singles with driveways, lawns, and, green buffer space. It's quiet, secure, and famously home to professional athletes from Eagles, Phillies, and Flyers because of the convenience to the stadiums. Mostly owner-occupied, limited rental inventory, but this is the pocket that sits closest to the new arena site and the one with the most to gain from the district transformation over the next decade So now the data and it backs up everything I just described. In August, there were 28 units listed and 23 units rented in 19148. That's a strong 82% absorption rate. End of the month inventory just 56 units, and the months of supply index is 1.8, one of the best we've covered on this show all year. Remember what I said about two-third owner occupancy? This is what it produces. Structurally scarce rental supply. Days on the market 33, that is 13 days faster than the citywide 46. When something decent hits the market here, it moves. Now the pricing, and here is your one zip code, multiple markets proof as a single line of the data. The median listed price in August was $2,073. The median rented price was $1,685. That is a $388 gap. But unlike, uh, some zip codes we've covered, this gap isn't purely landlords overpricing. It is the product range talking. The listing pools skews towards renovated lower Moyamassing and Pennsport product asking $2,000-plus, while the full mix of what actually were listed, including Whitmonroe Homes, lands at 1,685 median, with the average sold at 1,805. Both numbers are true. They're just describing different streets and different areas of this, zip code. So the pricing guidance is pocket specific. A renovated row home in Lower Moyamassing East or near Pashank can generally target 19 to 2100. A standard clean Whitman row home belongs into the 1500 to 1700 lane. Price the block you're actually on, not the zip code asking median, and not its blended sold median either. Looking ahead, September inventory has, ticked up to 58 units, and the current listed median is 1850 with MSI still at a tight 2.5. This market has room to absorb what's coming. Now a quick thank you to our sponsor, TrustArt Realty. In a zip code where the right price swings 400 depends on which side of the seventh street you're on, local pricing knowledge is everything. TrustArt Realty offers all listeners a free rental analysis of real comps for your actual block, not zip code average. Reach out at trustartrealty@phillylandlordguy.com, or hit the link in the show notes, and schedule your free session. Now let's land this. 19148 is a tight, stable, owner-heavy market with a genuine long-term catalyst, and a 2.5 billion district transformation arriving by 2030. With the competing residential supply canceled. Lower Moyamassing is the premium pocket. Income's up 20-- 12% over a year. A a thriving community. With 1.8 months of supply and 33 days turnarounds, currently priced units here simply do not sit. Know your pocket price, your block, and think in decades, not quarters on the arena story. If this was useful, subscribe, leave a review, and drop your zip code and a question in the comments. I read them and answer them. Keep your properties clean, stay legal, and I'll catch you in the next episode.