Pennsylvania Housing Market Sees Largely Positive Q3

Despite an uptick between the second and third quarters, home sales in the state of Pennsylvania failed once again to hit year-ago levels, according to data released Monday by the Pennsylvania Association of Realtors (PAR).

PAR's latest quarterly housing report shows closed sales statewide totaled 41,371 in Q3, up 5.1 percent from the previous quarter. Year-over-year, third-quarter sales fell short 1.1 percent.

Though sales in Pennsylvania have been down annually for every quarter so far in 2014, the gap has narrowed over the year, halving from 4.3 percent in Q1 to 2.0 percent in Q2 and again to 1.1 percent in Q3.

"Throughout Pennsylvania we're seeing continued signs of a stabilizing market," said PAR President Kim Skumanick. "Although home sales across the commonwealth remained relatively unchanged, we still see positive signs in the marketplace."

The median home sale price in the state last quarter was $176,000, up 3.5 percent quarter-over-quarter and only 0.6 percent year-over-year. The median sales price reached $175,000 in Q3 2013 before slipping for the next two quarters, PAR reported.

On the inventory side, the stock of for-sale homes in the state climbed 7.3 percent compared to last year, hitting a recovery high of 116,346. The increase came even as new listing activity slowed down, dropping 16.5 percent from the second quarter as the summer came to a close. Compared to last year, listings were up 5.2 percent.

Meanwhile, demand remained steady among Pennsylvania homebuyers: Throughout the quarter, the average number of days between a property's listing and its sale was 75, down 3.8 percent year-to-year and 10.7 percent quarter-to-quarter.