From the Morning Call:
Lehigh Valley’s housing market no longer white-hot
The number of homes sold in the Lehigh Valley continued to fall last month, the rate of home appreciation slowed to 1 percent from the year before, and homes stayed on the market longer.
The January statistics confirm trends that began last year. Home sales fell 3.5 percent in 2006, while the average time homes sat on the market lengthened. The Lehigh Valley remains attractive to homebuyers, particularly those relocating from New Jersey.
But real estate agents say the market has reverted to normal, after the white-hot sales atmosphere of 2004 and 2005.
The average price of an existing home in Lehigh and Northampton counties was $215,000 in January, up 1 percent from the year before, according to the Lehigh Valley Association of Realtors.
The number of homes sold fell 16 percent, compared with the same period last year. It was the eighth consecutive month home sales fell in the Valley.