”Sellers remember 2005 … It is not the same market.”

From the Allentown Morning Call:

Home sales dip again

Home sales fell again in July, but average house prices continued to rise in the Lehigh Valley, an extension of trends that began last year.

The average price of an existing home in the Lehigh Valley rose 7.4 percent to $246,000 last month. At the same time, the number of homes that were sold fell year-over-year for the 14th consecutive month, according to statistics released by the Lehigh Valley Association of Realtors.

Other statistics suggest these trends will continue. New listings of available homes rose 9 percent last month to 1,615 units, after falling in June for the first time in 10 months. The number of pending sales contracts, an indication of future sales activity, fell to 554 homes, the lowest level since February.

The housing market in the Lehigh Valley has slowed this year, as the number of houses for sale has soared and the pool of prospective buyers has shrunk.
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Some real estate agents say the influx of buyers from the east has begun to slow. That’s because homes in New York and New Jersey are sitting on the market longer, and high gas prices and the lengthy commute are deterring some prospective buyers.

Another development that has limited the number of buyers is a tightening of borrowing regulations. During the boom years of 2004 and 2005, some buyers with shaky credit histories qualified for mortgages. That has changed as foreclosures have increased.

”It is eliminating probably 20 percent of the market,” said Jeff Burnatowski, an agent with ReMax Real Estate in Allentown.

Burnatowski and other real estate agents say the drop in sales has changed how they deal with their sellers. For example, sellers should consider all offers because, as Burnatowski said, ”who knows when the next will come by.”

”Sellers remember 2005, when homes were flying off the shelf,” he said. ”Sometimes they still expect that. It is not the same market.”