This morning we had the pleasure of having Steve Gould and Peter Adams sit in at the last moment to give a detailed report of where the Lehigh Valley's Real Estate market is and where these two experts believe it is headed.  Steve is one of the founding partners of Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate | Valley Partners in Emmaus along with his wife Renee, Carl Billera and his father in Law Gordon Schantz.  Steve has been in the real Estate business for over 15 years.  His understanding of what is happening in our area is second only to his father in laws.  Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate | Valley Partners was just voted the 18th fastest growing business in the Lehigh Valley up from 25th in 2016.  Steve gave some statistics on the inventory in the Lehigh Valley in the fall of 2017.  He based this presentation on his perspective from his presentation from 2012.  2012 was a tough year for the real estate market.  He stated that a lot of the small and medium sized builders went out of business.  The real estate market was a buyers market, in 2012, prices were down, Mortgage rates were down, perfect time to buy.  Moving onto 2017 a great year to buy and a great year to sell.  Mortgage rates are low, inventories are the lowest in his real estate career.  The Millennials are the ones buying property in our area.  They do not want to mow grass and they are not interest in renovations, they are wanting a move in ready product.  Steve explained that new construction has different zoning and engineering requirements then they did just 5 years ago which makes building a lot more expensive than 5 years ago. 
          Prices are holding right now, FHA loans are the most popular loans right now....3.5% down with PMI.  Sellers assist is an important part of the home buying process today.  Home pricing are holding their own creeping up at around 2% per year as an average.  Average price for a home selling in 2017 in east Penn was around the $248,000 mark with a median of $220,000.
          Pete had a few seconds to discuss the Commercial market in the Lehigh Valley.  He described the trials and tribulations of the emerging market in Allentown.  Office space is renting at about $15 per square foot depending on Gross or triple net leases.  Pete's personal opinion is that the commercial real estate market is healthy at this time.  Downtown Allentown...we should have a feel in about 5 years if everything is working for Real Estate in the Allentown area.  We can all see the warehousing market that is moving along the I 78 corridor and extends from Easton to below Cabela's. 
          The You tube video will be up in about two weeks and you can listen to what Steve and Pete had to say.  Again thank you to Pete and Steve for stepping in when we needed them to.  Please see Steve or Pete if you have any real estate questions with respect to his presentation.