Red For Sale Real Estate Sign and New Home

Tim Schooley
Reporter- Pittsburgh Business Times

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It’s been a persistent concern that I’ve heard residential real estate professionals mention for the past few years: a diminishing number of homes available to sell.

That’s beginning to change, according to the June report by the West Penn Multi-List.

George Hackett, president of the West Penn Multi-List Inc. and president of Coldwell Banker Real Estate Services, Pittsburgh, said the number of new listings increased in 12 of the 13 counties in its territory from June 2013 through last month.

“We are finally starting to replenish our inventory of houses for sale in the area,” said Hackett in a prepared statement. “There has been a demand for houses, but we just haven’t had an increase in new listings this year until now.”

New listings increased from 3,742 homes in June 2013 to 4,128 last month, a 10.32 rise.

Yet the new report’s other indicators suggest homes are still selling briskly in the region:

• Homes placed under agreement increased 8.14 percent
• Average home sale price rose slightly by 0.63 percent from $186,627 in June 2013 to $187,806 last month.
• Average number of days on the market decreased by a day, from 80 days to 79 days.

Hackett expects the new homes listed for sale will find buyers in a market demonstrating strong sales activity. We’ll watch for whether the one-month jump in homes listed for sale becomes a longer term trend or is a function of a peak month for real estate sales.

Tim Schooley covers retail, real estate, construction, hospitality, arts and entertainment, and government. Contact him at tschooley@bizjournals.com or 412-208-3826.