Housing expected to spring forth

March 28, 2019

Rick Shrum
Observer Reporter

It’s spring and the real estate business is about to spring forth. Not that it’s been lagging in recent months.

The housing climate in Western Pennsylvania was promising the first two months of the year, according to West Penn Multi-List Inc.’s monthly residential real estate report. A comparison of January-February 2019 figures with the same months of 2018 shows:

• Closed sales have increased 4.57 percent (3,275 units from 3,132 in 2018);
• Closed sales volume to be up 3.70 percent ($583,539,500 from $562,691,988);
• Home listings have risen 4.24 percent (5,069 units from 4,863);
• Average sale price has fallen a slight 0.82 percent (to $178,180 from $179,659).

“Spring is typically a busy season for residential real estate, and we expect increased activity,” George Hackett, Multi-List president and president of Coldwell Banker Real Estate Services, Pittsburgh, said in a statement.

West Penn Multi-List Inc. tracks residential real estate information for its 17-county service area – Washington, Greene, Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Cambria, Clarion, Crawford, Fayette, Indiana, Jefferson, Lawrence, Mercer, Somerset, Venango and Westmoreland.