Public Records
Edition
Philadelphia5200 block of Catharine StJuly 9, 2026

House report

5224 Catharine St

2 stories · 1,650 sqft · RSA3 · built 1925

Owner-occupied · assessed $391K · sold 2×. On the 5200 block of Catharine St.

Street view of 5224 Catharine St
From the street — imagery © Google
From above — imagery © Esri, Maxar
The story of this houseAI · written from the public record

Reading this house's deeds, permits and assessments…

What to do with this

The record, translated into moves — what a buyer, the owner, and a landlord would each want to check next under Philadelphia's actual rules.

If you’re buying

Built 1925: lead rules apply

Federal law requires a lead-paint disclosure at sale for any pre-1978 home. If it will be rented, Philadelphia also requires a lead-safe or lead-free certificate before a rental license can issue.

Zoned RSA3: one household by right

Single-family attached. Converting to a duplex or apartments needs a use variance the zoning board rarely grants — Pennsylvania courts require a physical hardship of the lot itself, and economics alone do not qualify.

If you own it

$1,399/yr may be unclaimed

This home reads owner-occupied but shows no Homestead Exemption, which removes $100,000 from the taxable assessment (worth up to $1,399/yr). Applying through the City is free and takes minutes.

$67,256 in back taxes on record

Interest and penalties keep compounding until a Revenue payment agreement is in place, and a lien is already filed — an owner-occupant agreement also stops the sheriff-sale track.

Derived from this house's public records and the city's rules as of 2026 (abatement ordinance, Homestead, rental licensing, lead certification, L&I process, excavation protections). Informational only — not legal, tax, or investment advice.

The investment read

How this house has moved and where it's pointed: the city's assessed value (not a listing price) over 12 years, charted against its block; appreciation is that history's pace, and the 5-year figure simply extends it. Yield estimates rent-vs-price from area rents. Ask the analyst below to dig into any number.

Assessed value
$391K
built 1925
Price / sq ft
$237
block $160 · above block
Appreciation
+282%
+13%/yr, city 6.5%
In 5 years (~2031)
~$393K
+13%/yr own pace held 5 yrs — extrapolation, not a forecast
Est. tax / yr
$5K
1.4% effective
Gross yield
—
Times sold
2

Value vs. the block, over time — sales, permits & L&I events marked on the line

$0$250K$500KBefore this chart — 2013: 2 L&I violations 2015: 6 L&I violations2018: Alteration 2018: Plumbing 2018: Mechanical 2018: Electrical 2018: Zoning 2018: Major alteration2019: Sold $385K2026: Sold $366K$391K201620222027
This houseBlock median & rangeSalePermit
The paper trailImproved

Bought for $385K in 2019. Owner pulled a major alteration permit in 2018.

  1. 2013 2 L&I violationsL&I
  2. 2015 6 L&I violationsL&I
  3. 2018 AlterationPermitPlumbingPermitMechanicalPermitElectricalPermitZoningPermitMajor alterationPermit
  4. 2019 $385KSold
  5. 2026 $366KSold

Flags: $67K back taxes (1985–2015, $34K of it interest & penalties, lien filed). Informational only — not investment advice or a consumer report (FCRA).

The house, on paper

The city assessor's field record — the physical spec sheet behind the assessed number.

Stories
2
Interior
1,650 sqft
livable area
Lot
2,094 sqft
Basement
Full
city code D
Exterior condition
Above average
city code 3
Interior condition
New / rehabbed
city code 2
New / rehabbed
Quality grade
C+
assessor's grade
Zoning
RSA3
city zoning code

OPA field-assessment attributes. Condition and grade are the assessor's codes, not an inspection.

Run the numbers

What owning 5224 Catharine St takes, at your price and your rate. Taxes are this house's actual bill from the city record; rent starts at the area median. Assessed value is not an asking price — set the price slider to the real one.

$366K
20%
6.875%
$3K/mo

When this house last sold (2026) a 30-year mortgage ran about 6.6% — Freddie Mac's average that year.

Mortgage
—
P&I · 30-yr fixed
All-in monthly
—
+ taxes & insurance
Cash to close
—
down + ~4% costs
Cash flow
—
rent − all costs · /mo
Cap rate
—
NOI ÷ price
Cash-on-cash
—
year-1 return on cash in

Estimates for orientation, not advice. Assumes a 30-year fixed loan, $1,400/yr insurance, 1% of price/yr maintenance; taxes from this parcel's record.

Next door: 5222 Catharine St  ·  5226 Catharine St

Where this comes from

City datasets are fetched live from OpenDataPhilly (phl.carto.com) and cached briefly. AI-written passages are generated from these records only and rejected if they state a number the record doesn't hold.

Official city record ↗  ·  L&I history ↗  ·  See the whole block  ·  Download this record (JSON)