The Greater Lehigh Valley REALTORS® (GLVR) reported April data showed the first full month of the spring selling season fighting a war against low inventory, rising housing prices and interest rates, and a wave of buyers who want to get out there – but can’t.

GLVR Members: Click HERE to view the full Market Update report for April 2023.

“Housing inventory remains tight here in the Lehigh Valley and nationwide – if you can believe there were only 980,000 units available for sale heading into April,” said GLVR CEO Justin Porembo. “The lack of existing inventory continues to impact home sales. Competition for available properties remains strong, especially in certain price categories, with multiple offers again dominating the market.”

April Stats

Closed Sales dipped 33.6 percent to 432 listings. Inventory slipped 27.5 percent – there were 498 units in April for Lehigh and Northampton counties. With inventory still not at sufficient, comfortable levels, the Median Sales Price increased 12.5 percent to $315,000.

Other notable housing statistics for April include:

• New Listings dropped 36.5 percent to 584.
• Pending Sales were down 17.7 percent to 589.
• Months Supply of Inventory slid 20.0 percent to 0.8 months.
• Percentage of List Price Received tumbled 1.9 percent (but still went above and beyond), coming in at 101.2 percent.
• Homes sold, on average, in 24 days, an increase of 71.4 percent (or 10 days)

In Carbon County, the Median Sales Price increased to $231,000. Closed Sales remained perfectly steady at 59. Pending Sales dropped to 53. New Listings slipped to 70. Inventory saw an increase. With 105 units, the Months Supply of Inventory increased to 1.7 months. Days on Market increased to 42 days vs. 32 days the previous April.

“I recently spent several days in Washington, D.C., attending the 2023 REALTORS® Legislative Meetings,” said GLVR President Howard Schaeffer. “A key takeaway from economists from the National Association of REALTORS® and the National Association of Home Builders was that increasing interest rates will not fix the inventory problem.”

Schaeffer added, “Housing prices are still rising because of limited housing options on the market. Homebuilding is the policy we need to bring that inflation down, not interest rate hikes. Nationally, we need to be building more than 1.1 million homes a year to have a meaningful impact on the lack of inventory. Leadership within our association looks forward to continuing the conversation regarding inventory and affordable housing with local organizations, builders, legislators, and other valuable parties.”