January home sales in Lehigh and Northampton counties inched up 0.4% from a year ago, a pace constrained by limited supply. 

The Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency launched a program today for eligible homeowners who need help with mortgage payments and other housing expenses because of COVID-19.

The Pennsylvania Association of Realtors reports that housing prices were up 16% in March compared to March of last year, mostly because housing stock was down 39% over March of last year.

Agents thought it would take three months to get up to speed again in the industry once some of the restrictions were lifted, such as the ban on in-person house tours, he said. Instead, pent-up demand lifted the market quickly, and activity has been busy ever since.

Thirty Alvernia students moved into the DoubleTree by Hilton Reading earlier this week to lower the number of students living on the university’s main campus, university officials announced. It also introduces students to downtown living, which is a goal of the university’s Reading CollegeTowne, a strategic model for economic development in Reading that was introduced last year.

As a relationship-driven, people-facing industry, real estate is facing the turbulent effects of COVID-19.

After seeing the success of its carriage-style homes in Lower Macungie Township and its other residential properties in New Jersey, a real estate firm plans to add more.

As companies look to the Lehigh Valley to move or expand headquarters and manufacturing operations, a key part of their decision-making is the question of workforce. If the workforce exists, that’s where they will go, and it’s a top reason many major companies recently announced plans to build in the region.

That’s according to a local economic expert who shared details of his economic forecast for the Lehigh Valley Business Real Estate & Development Symposium on Thursday at DeSales University.

Construction of market-rate apartments is surging across the nation in both urban and suburban areas, while construction of units for low to moderate-income renters has declined dramatically.