State Real Estate Market Outlook
Realty Market Outlook Pennsylvania State Profile - Spring 2006
Pennsylvania’s housing appreciation remained strong, while the pace of sales activity eased
Pennsylvania’s housing boom has been less pronounced than other Mid-Atlantic states. Nevertheless, Pennsylvania has consistently recorded double-digit home price appreciation since mid-2004; the state’s fourth quarter 2005 rate of 12.4 percent was slightly below its cyclical peak reached earlier in the year.
Appreciation in Harrisburg, Scranton and York reached cyclical highs at year-end 2005. Conversely, in several areas, including Erie, Pittsburgh, and Lebanon, home appreciation rates eased and were less than one-half the national average.
Appreciation remained higher in the eastern Pennsylvania housing markets of Philadelphia and Allentown (and above the U.S. average); however, the inventory of unsold homes has risen, while listing periods have increased. A slowdown in home sales and higher inventory levels could portend an easing in appreciation rates in 2006. Firm employment conditions should help support the state’s housing markets in this cycle, in contrast to Pennsylvania’s 1980s and 1990s housing market downturns.
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