The latest numbers show 15 straight months of sales gaining from prior-year levels, though the rate of increase cooled from summer.
The Lehigh Valley Community Land Trust promotes the sale of this Cherokee Street in Bethlehem. Lehigh Valley home sales rose 8.6 percent in September compared with year-ago results.
The region sold 468 homes last month, up 8.6 percent from 431 sales in September 2011, according to the Lehigh Valley Association of Realtors. The average sales price also rose 2.1 percent to $198,000 over that same time.
Sales are now up 16.3 percent year to date. The September increase also marked 15 straight months where sales surpassed prior-year levels.
The pace of increase has slowed, however. The prior two months, July and August, reported sales increases of 27 and 34 percent respectively from 2011 levels.
Monna Lou Henninger, a real estate agent with Coldwell Banker Heritage in Bethlehem Township, Pa., said some slowdown was to be expected after strong summer months.
Henninger said many buyers and sellers are taking a “wait-and-see” approach given political and economic uncertainty while others are taking advantage of low interest rates to refinance existing mortgages instead of buying new homes.
Consumer spending has been curbed by a disappointingly weak economic recovery. Unemployment has remained about 8 percent while lending standards are tighter than before the housing crash of the late 2000s.
The Federal Reserve has attempted to revive borrowing by pledging low interest rates through mid-2015. Mortgage rates continue to remain at historic lows.
The average 30-year rate was 3.4 percent, according to bankrate.com today. The 15-year mortgage, a popular refinance option, listed at 2.8 percent.
LVAR says the current environment is encouraging renters to commit to buying homes.
“Our members are finding that many renters who are able to take on the responsibilities of home ownership are choosing to buy a home,” LVAR President Andrea Decker said in a statement. “Historically low interest rates compared with the stable payments provided by a fixed-rate mortgage are attracting renters who are frustrated by increasing rental fees and decreasing availability in the rental market.”
Also in the LVAR report:
- More sales are in the pipeline. Pending sales, a future indicator, rose to 504 in September, up 28.9 percent from the year-ago total 391.
- Homes are selling quicker. The average length for a sale took 76 days in September, down from 97 one year ago.
- The median — or midpoint — sales price was $177,000, down 1.1 percent from $179,000 in September 2011.
- New listings slightly increased to 876 last month, from 864 in September 2011.