Parkland Real Estate Report Card for February 2013

So this is what it feels like when the market picks up!  The Parkland School District housing market, like that of the rest of the Lehigh Valley, is off life support and getting healthier by the day.  Overall, valley home sales are up 17.4% YTD and pending homes sales have increased by 19.7%.  The inventory of available homes has decreased by 18.1% over last year, and is down almost 25% from two years ago.  In the Parkland area the numbers are even more dramatic: closed sales are up 32.7%, pending sales are up 27.6% and available homes for sale are down 30.4%!  These numbers will eventually lead to increased prices and that will probably happen very soon, although it hasn't yet.  We're starting to see the anecdotal evidence that indicates increases are imminent.  I listed a beautiful bi-level in South Whitehall recently and within 2 weeks we had three offers on the property!  Things are definitely getting better for home sellers in the area.

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The news for buyers is good but becoming mixed: prices are still good, interest rates are still historically low, but as mentioned above available homes for sale continue to decline. Buyers seem to be adjusting quickly to this new reality and they're writing offers when they see something they like as opposed to the 'wait and see' attitude many buyers have had for the last several years.

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A quick note here to address some questions I've had about short sales and foreclosures: what we call 'distressed sales' account for about 11% of the homes sold so far this year in the Parkland School District.  About 9% of the homes currently listed for sale are classified as distressed properties.  Both of these numbers are a little more than half of the Lehigh Valley average (21.7% and 14.7% respectively). 

Have a question about real estate in the Parkland area?  Just give me a call at 484-893-1234 or send an email to homes@debandjoe.com.