Average price of homes also rises, Lehigh Valley Association of Realtors says.
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A for-sale sign promotes this home in 2011 in Forks Township.
Sales of homes in the Lehigh Valley jumped 18.5 percent in February compared to the same month last year, according to a report released today by the Lehigh Valley Association of Realtors.
The average sales price of homes in the region also rose 1.4 percent, and the average number of days a home was on the market dropped 14.4 percent compared to last February, the association reported.
The positive numbers mirror national trends that have shown a steadily improving housing market. Builders started work on the most homes last year since 2008. The latest national data shows new-home sales jumped 16 percent in January to the highest level since July 2008. And home prices rose by the most in more than six years in the 12 months that ended in January, according to real estate data provider CoreLogic.
The data provided in the Lehigh Valley Association of Realtors report also shows:
Sales closed on 352 homes in February.
There were 3,196 homes on the market with 838 new listings for the month; both figures mark a decrease compared to February 2012.
The average sales price of a home was $168,288.
The average number of days a home remained on the market was 83 days.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.