From the Allentown Morning Call:
The number of new listings for homes in the Lehigh Valley hit an all-time high in May, providing prospective buyers with enough selection to be choosier and make offers below asking price.
Prospective buyers are reaping the benefits of lots of homes on the market because they can be choosier and make offers below asking price.
Real estate agents say buyers do not feel the urgency to purchase that they felt two years ago when many homes received multiple offers the day they came on the market. As a result, many sellers find their homes are sitting longer on the market, there are more price reductions and there are fewer bidding wars, which drive up the sales prices.
The number of new listings was about three times the number of homes sold in May. Bethlehem economist Kamran Afshar said the two statistics should be roughly even.
”As the price of housing goes up, everyone and their uncle wants to list their house, even if they really were not planning on leaving,” said Afshar, who publishes the quarterly Lehigh Valley Economic Review. ”You have more houses on the market than otherwise would have been because it is such an attractive market.”
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But the high number of homes for sale is slowing the pace of transactions, and possibly depressing prices. New listings rose 16 percent last month to 1,864 units, compared with May of 2006, while the number of homes sold fell year-over-year for the 12th month in a row.
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Last month, there were about 3,400 homes listed by real estate agents for sale, or about 1,000 more than the number of real estate agents who work in the Valley.”Buyers are finding more inventory from which to choose. They are not making their decision as quickly as they did before, and that’s why now you will find more listings on the market,” said Rosemary Scardina, chief executive director of the Realtors’ association.
FLASH: ABN Bank sees housing crash on a global scale, reports UK 50% overvalued, USA 25% overvalued
http://housingpanic.blogspot.com/
Oh dear god, this is going to end nasty.
You’ll never see this type of leverage, this type of credit stupidity and this type of insane worldwide asset overvaluation again in your lifetime.
This is a joke, I live in Emmaus, PA. There are 6 to 8 homes all priced under 200k that have been on the market for at least 6 months. This rag is such a cheerleader it’s a shame! A few months ago they reported on how commuters basically stopped coming in late 05 and barely any in 06, yet they are the main people they try to sell the homes too. No smart local would ever pay 175k for a row home on Main Street in Emmaus. You could buy one for 85k, if your a local and know the right people. These commuters got screwed and it’s a shame! These figures are bogust!
Lehigh valley
I know what you mean. I lived and worked in PA for six months, when a transfer became available, I left. My mom wanted to buy a house to escape the taxes from NJ, We visited several homes and PA. They were priced for 250K two years ago with taxes around 3500. I was so surprised that prices went up but My mom was pleased. When we got home I told her she was wasting her time, prices were too high and taxes went up and don’t bother looking again. So we went to De. Got a Better Deal and very low tax. 500 annual tax and when she turns 50, she only pays 250.
Although the market in many areas in the country are slow down, the market in Summit and Shorthills (NJ)are not slow at all. You can see a lot of multiple offers cases. Can you believe a house got 10 – 15 offers, the offer at 20% higher than asking price won?