The number of homes for sale in the 13-county southwestern Pennsylvania region is not keeping pace with the number of people looking to buy homes.
That’s according to a January 2014 report from real estate group West Penn Multi List Inc., which showed new listings in 12 of the 13 counties it covers decreased in the first month of the year.
President George Hacket said overall, the housing market in the region is strong.
“If the house is priced right, they’re selling,” Hackett said. “Last year there were many, many offers that were multiple offers where there were two, three, four offers coming in on houses. So if a house is priced right, you’re going to sell it pretty quick.”
That, he said has led to the current situation in which housing inventory is being depleted more quickly than it’s being replenished. Hackett said this is a growing issue as the housing market recovers nationally.
“It’s not just in Pittsburgh,” he said. “It’s all over the country. Everybody has got the exact same problem. There’s not one place where people are saying, ‘oh yeah, we have too many houses on the market,’ everybody is dealing with not enough homes for as many buyers at there are.”
According to West Penn Multi List, new listings of homes for sale decreased 13.09 in January 2014 compared to the same month a year ago; average sale price increased 4.16 percent and average number of days on the market decreased for the same time period. Hackett said he expects demand will pick up even more in the spring.
“We’ve just enjoyed our best market ever here in Pittsburgh, as a whole industry,” Hacket said. “It’s been a great market, it’s continuing to be a great market, this is going to be a really good real estate year.”
West Penn Multi List represents Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Washington, Westmoreland, Fayette, Greene, Clarion, Lawrence, Mercer, Somerset and Indiana Counties.
