Lehigh Valley pending home sales soar in March

Pending sales, or anticipated deals that have not yet closed, rose 52.3 percent. Total sales rose 3.1 percent.

The local housing market edged forward in March while more future deals were added to the pipeline, according to a report released Monday by the Lehigh Valley Association of Realtors.

Prices rose modestly as well.

The report is the latest sign that the housing market, while still much cooler than the frenzy that marked much of the prior decade, is recovering from the plunge of the late 2000s.

Future indicators confirm that trend. Pending sales rose more than 50 percent, suggesting a pickup in the coming months. Pending sales are signed deals yet to close.

LVAR President Andrea Decker said continued low interest rates along with unusually mild weather are drawing some buyers from the sidelines. The national average rate on 30-year mortgages is just below 4 percent, according to Bankrate.com.

“There is a lot of pent-up buying energy that had been building up for about six months,” Decker said. “Plus, the fact that we had a mild winter was an anomaly. I know it sounds crazy, but we went from fall to spring.”

Total sales rose 3.1 percent in March to 394, up from 382 in March 2011, according to LVAR.

On a month to month basis, sales rose 48.7 percent from 265 in February. Sales normally pick up as spring approaches. Year to date, sales are up 5.3 percent from the 2011 pace.

The LVAR report doesn’t break down how many sales stem from foreclosures or short sales — excess supply from the housing boom now selling at bargain prices.

Loren Keim, a real estate agent and author who lectures at Lehigh University, has previously estimated that clip at 23 percent.

Decker, a manager with Coldwell Banker Hearthside, says her firm is also seeing steady interest from first-time home buyers. About two-thirds of March sales occurred at homes priced less than $200,000, according to LVAR.

Looking ahead, pending sales rose 52.3 percent last month to 620, compared with 407 in March 2011. That also marked the fourth straight monthly increase for pending sales.

Prices, which had dropped recently, rose in March.

• The average sales price increased 4 percent to $181,000, up from $174,000 in March 2011.
• The median price — or midpoint — rose 3.2 percent to $160,000, up from $155,000 one year ago.

Bethlehem-based economist Kamran Afshar said the latest figures show that the housing market is transitioning toward recovery, assuming the job market continues to progress.

“Most of the numbers indicate that the by the end of summer, we should be through the bottom and poised for growth in 2013,” Afshar said.