As the premier source of real estate information in the Lehigh Valley and its surrounding communities, the Greater Lehigh Valley REALTORS® (GLVR) is pleased to provide an in-depth report on the 2023 local housing market.
Highlights of the report include:
SALES: Pending sales decreased 15.5 percent, finishing 2023 at 6,291. Closed sales were down 19.7 percent to end the year at 6,193.
LISTINGS: Comparing 2023 to the prior year, the number of homes available for sale was down 30.3 percent. There were 488 active listings at the end of 2023. New listings decreased by 19.6 percent to finish the year at 7,191.
LIST PRICE RECEIVED: Sellers received, on average, 101.3 percent of their list price at sale. Year-over-year list price decreased 0.7 percent.
DISTRESSED HOMES: Foreclosure and short sale activity was expected to increase in 2023, and that proved true, but this activity was still a small percentage of the Lehigh Valley market. Through strong gains in equity seen by most homeowners in the last few years, the number of distressed sales has remained limited. In 2023, the percentage of closed sales that were either foreclosure or short sale finished the year at 1.0 percent of the market – or 59 properties out of the 6,193 closed for the year. This is an increase of 27 properties over 2022, which saw 32 distressed sales.
PRICES: Home prices were up compared to last year. The overall median sales price increased 7.7 percent to $360,820 for the year. Single Family home prices were up 5.9 percent compared to last year, and Townhouse-Condo home prices were up 11.6 percent.
CARBON COUNTY REVIEW: Closed sales were down 15.8 percent to 676. There were 857 new listings, and the year closed with 124 active listings. Percent of list price received at sale for 2023 was, on average, 98.2 percent. The overall median sales price increased 8.3 percent to $227,500.
WHAT TO EXPECT IN 2024: With inflation showing signs of improvement, the Federal Reserve recently announced they are likely done raising interest rates for the time being and plan to make at least three cuts to their benchmark rate in 2024. Mortgage rates have been dropping in recent months, which should help bring buyers and sellers back to the market and could lead to an uptick in both home sales and housing supply. Affordability will still prove challenging for many homebuyers, however, and economists predict U.S. home sales will remain down compared to 2019 – 2022. As for home prices, opinions are mixed, with some analysts expecting prices will hold steady or continue rising in areas, while others foresee a modest price drop in some markets.
About the Report / View the Full Report:
The Annual Report provides thorough data on the 2023 real estate market in Lehigh and Northampton counties. A quick review of Carbon County and its school districts is also reported. The full report is only available to members of the Greater Lehigh Valley REALTORS® via the Member Portal.
ShowingTime, the vendor used to create the annual and monthly market reports, uses research collected from the Greater Lehigh Valley REALTORS® Multiple Listing Service (MLS), which is utilized by more than 3,000 REALTORS® and Appraisers.
The Annual Report provides commentary on the 2023 real estate market and a breakdown of the following criteria:
- Quick Facts
- New Listings
- Pending Sales
- Closed Sales
- Median Sales Price
- Average Sales Price
- Percent of List Price Received
- Inventory of Homes for Sale
- Monthly Supply of Inventory
- Property Type Review
- Price Range Review
- Distressed Homes Review
- Activity by School District with Review of Median Sales Price
The full annual report is only available to members of the Greater Lehigh Valley REALTORS®. The report lives on the Member Portal under MLS > Markets Updates > Annual Reports. If you are not a full member of the association and want to revisit your membership type, contact Cheryl Graham, Membership Administrator, at Cheryl@GLVR.org to get started.