BETHLEHEM, Pa. — There’s good news and bad news when it comes to the Lehigh Valley’s housing market.
Inventory is not yet at a healthy balance between buyers and sellers, the Greater Lehigh Valley Realtors said this week.
But GLVR’s July data showed positive increases in key housing metrics, it said in a release.
That included closed sales up 9.7% to 600 listings, and an inventory increase of 19.3%, with 802 units for Lehigh and Northampton counties.
But the median sales price increased 6.9% to $348,500.
Other notable statistics included:
- New listings increased 22.3% to 855
- Pending sales increased 11.2% to 627
- Months supply of inventory grew 25% to 1.5 months
- Percentage of list price received dipped 0.2%, but still came in at 102%
- Homes sold, on average, in 18 days, an increase of three days
“While the national real estate market has seen a significant slowdown due to leaving behind pandemic-era mortgage rates and rising sales prices, keeping many prospective buyers on the sidelines, the Lehigh Valley continues to demonstrate a remarkable resilience,” GLVR Chief Executive Officer Justin Porembo said in the release.
“While the national real estate market has seen a significant slowdown due to leaving behind pandemic-era mortgage rates and rising sales prices, keeping many prospective buyers on the sidelines, the Lehigh Valley continues to demonstrate a remarkable resilience."Justin Porembo, Greater Lehigh Valley Realtors
In Carbon County, the median sales price decreased to $244,000, GLVR said. Closed sales dropped to 44, pending sales increased to 76, new listings increased to 99 and inventory grew to 209 units.
Year-over-year, days on market increased to 36 days vs. 26 days the previous July.
Mortgage rates down
"Mortgage rates have reached their lowest weekly level — 6.47% for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage — since May 2023," GLVR President Lori Campbell said.
"This represents the largest one-week drop in mortgage interest rates we've seen in nine months. For those who have been waiting on the sidelines for rates to fall: Your time to act has arrived."
And act they have.
Applications to refinance mortgages surged this week to a level not seen since spring 2022, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
Additionally, the number of Americans applying for a mortgage hit its highest level since January 2023.
“Rates on both 30- and 15-year fixed rate mortgages decreased for the second consecutive week, and combined with the previous week’s rate moves, spurred another strong week for application activity,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s Vice President and Deputy Chief Economist.
Lehigh Valley ‘cooling down’
On Friday, Realtor.com released its latest report on the hottest housing markets nationwide as of July 2024.
And while the report found that some of the hottest markets were in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, the Lehigh Valley wasn’t among them.
The Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ metro ranked No. 49 out of 300 metros in the country in the month of July, dropping 25 spots.
The report classified the area as a “slightly hot market that is cooling down compared to last month and cooling down compared to last year.”
Median days on the market was 34, with inventory moving 13% slower than last year, but 15.5 days faster than the United States overall, the report said.
Properties in the area also get an average number of views 1.7 times that of the U.S. average, according to the report.
