PENNSYLVANIA, USA — While home sales across the country declined 2.7% percent between February and March, the real estate market in Central Pennsylvania is still on the rise.
Home sales jumped 32% last month in Pennsylvania, according to data from the to a report prepared for the Pennsylvania Association of Realtors®.
Elle Hale, President of the Realtors Association of York and Adams county, says the biggest issue she sees is inventory.
“Right now housing is in demand, its still pretty high, but the inventory just isn’t there," Hale noted.
"I would say part of the problem is going back to 2008 – builders have either gone out of business or stopped building and now we’re seeing that shortage."
She also attributes the lack of inventory to the influx of new millennial homebuyers.
Meanwhile in Dauphin County, Sylvia Hess with Turn Key Realty Group, says some buyers are now being priced out due to the lack of available options and rising interest rates.
"It also is limiting buyers that don't have perhaps a substantial savings to back them," she said.
Plus, Hess noted, "we're seeing a lot of increased competition, multiple offers, waiving of a lot of contingencies…it's great for sellers, but it's it's kind of pricing some buyers out of the market."
The good news overall, for people looking to jump into the market, is that there doesn't seem to be a sharp decline coming.
Tricia Como, district manager of the Central Pennsylvania region for Coldwell Banker Realty said, currently, "I do not expect and forecasters do not expect a sharp decline in pricing."
"If anything, we might see a cooldown in some of the pricing...I don't anticipate a huge sharp decline. The market is not showing that - I think we're gonna continue to see prices increase now and into the next couple of months.”