What’s up with home sales in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania?  October 2009 was the first month of our fourth quarter and there are some new developments.   I’m here to tell you…Home sales figures in October looked fairly good compared to 2008, as has been the case throughout the summer and fall of 2009.  Closings were up 35% and contracts on homes were up 18%, two key indicators of market activity.  New listings were about the same and expired listings tailed off 6% versus last year, respectively.

Thankfully, average home prices in Lancaster County remained down slightly for October 2009.  Why do I say thankfully?  Because the sooner we bottom out the better.  The seasonally-adjusted home sales price is down $183,584 for Lancaster County, off about 6.5% from December 2007.

We had seen a surge of new listings against 2008 since July, but that came to a screeching halt in October as new listings fell to a three-year low.  

The price range breakdowns historically are as follows in the chart.  Homes selling between $100,000 and $200,000 make up over 50% of the market alone.  Homes priced over $300,000 are in decline.

Overall I think October showed that the market rally continued.  November historically shows a big falloff in sales, though, so we’ll be looking to see how the tax credit news affects things this year.

As always, if you have market questions or would like data for specific locations let me know – I’d be happy to help.  And of course if you’re ready to buy or sell please consider our professional real estate services – call us first!