Realtor.com® Chief Economist Jonathan Smoke wows crowd in Harrisburg

According to realtor.com® Chief Economist Jonathan Smoke, 20 percent of the “hottest homes” in May 2015 on their site were in Pennsylvania.

And Smoke had many more positive things to add about the status of housing in Pennsylvania when he addressed Realtors® at the Pennsylvania Association of Realtors’® Spring Business Meetings in Harrisburg yesterday. “Home ownership is strong here,” he said.

Home prices are “nearly recovered,” with existing home prices near their peak in Pennsylvania, he said. He added that list prices are keeping momentum across the commonwealth.

Even though mortgage rates vary, Pennsylvania is close to the national average, said Smoke. But it will be a “more volatile ride forward,” he warned. Nationally, he said that both mortgage rates and home prices will be rising over the next several years.

Additionally, the unemployment rate is back down to pre-recession rates, and Pennsylvania has a lower rate of unemployment than the national average.

As for renting vs. buying, in 80 percent of counties in Pennsylvania, it is cheaper to buy than to rent. This mirrors the national average.

And, once again, just like nationally, he believes millennials will be making a difference in the housing market in Pennsylvania. “It’s only a matter of when, not if,” he said about millennials and home buying, especially due to rising rents, and an increase of income for millennials.

“Don’t dismiss the baby boomers,” he added, noting that the 55 and older age group is expecting to grow 12 percent in the next five years nationally.

However, inventory across the state is still tight, with the exception of Pittsburgh. Overall, there is less inventory this year compared to this time last year. Smoke said the demand is there for housing, just not the supply, which is “our biggest problem.”

Smoke deemed Philadelphia the “fastest-moving market” in the state, where inventory is snapped up quickly. Across the state, days on the market are dropping, just like the national average. “Affordability is strong in Pennsylvania,” he said. Most counties are priced within the range of salaries of its occupants.

“Today could not be a better day to buy a home,” he concluded.

Click here to access Smoke’s full report.