BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Housing pressures in the Lehigh Valley remain intense, and LehighValleyNews.com this week will take a deeper look at the region's rental market.
Now we’re turning to the other side of the housing equation: what landlords, developers and economists say is driving the region’s rental market.
That full story, to publish Wednesday, March 18, will explore why newly available apartments are attracting large numbers of applicants and what that reveals about the balance between housing supply and demand.
Developers say the demand is stronger than many people might assume, even at the highest rates.
“We’re finding that for every apartment that goes on the market, they’re likely to have 11 to 15 applicants in some places,” said John Przyuski, director of real estate operations at DLP Capital.
The company owns and manages several large apartment properties in the region, including developments in Allentown and Bethlehem.
Przyuski said 93% of units are leased at its property The Hamilton at Grand Plaza building, where rents ranged from $1,455 to $1,915 for studio apartments available Monday.
The renter pool spans a wide range of residents, including students, retirees, young professionals and longtime Lehigh Valley workers.
But there are not enough homes for everyone.
The Lehigh Valley has 9,100 fewer housing units than it needs, as of early 2026. That number is projected to soar past 54,000 units over the next quarter-century, due to expected population growth.
The upcoming report also will examine how the economics of building new housing have shifted in recent years.
Rising construction costs, higher interest rates and more expensive financing have narrowed the range of projects that developers say are financially feasible, particularly when it comes to lower-rent units.
Economists say the broader issue is a familiar one: limited housing supply.
Orphe Divounguy, a senior economist with Zillow, told LehighValleyNews.com a lack of housing inventory continues to put pressure on rents in the region.
“There’s just not a lot of housing inventory ... and so that’s going to continue to keep pressure on rents,” Divounguy said.
Our full report Wednesday will examine how those forces are shaping the housing market across the Lehigh Valley, including the competition renters face when apartments become available and the barriers many households encounter when trying to transition into homeownership.
