Landlord website considers the Lehigh Valley an ‘under-the-radar' market for investors. Find out why
It's no secret that many consider the Lehigh Valley a great place to relocate. With multinational corporations investing billions of dollars in the region along with a growing population, it's also not a surprise that the housing supply is still lacking, with many looking for a place to live.
It's a reason why the Valley was considered one of the top 10 "under-the-radar" metro areas nationally for rental investors, according to RentRedi, a website that helps landlords find and manage properties.
RentRedi said it looked at markets where job growth, population trends, housing affordability, rental demand and quality of life are creating opportunities for real estate investors beyond the usual expensive "hot markets."
"The ‘hot' and ‘trendy' cities that consistently generate the most noise often carry enormous premiums built on amenities that residents might only use a small fraction of the time," the report said. "For rental housing investors, those premiums compress returns before the first tenant even moves in.
"The smarter play is finding cities where people genuinely want to put down roots and where the housing market hasn't fully caught up to that reality yet. These are cities that people want to live in because of good jobs, decent schools, ample social opportunities, and the ability to build a nice life," the report said.
The Lehigh Valley Planning Commission has been reviewing an uptick of apartments in the first five months this year, with them making up 71% of residential development - or 1,276 of 1,787 housing units. For all of 2025, apartments took up 57% of reviews, or 3,460 of 6,056 units.
It’s also very competitive for potential renters. For its 2025 review of the nation's smaller metropolitan areas, RentCafe determined that the Valley is the second-hottest rental market. Despite a 2.58% increase in supply over the year, those in the market on average are competing with 14 others for each unit.
RentRedi said the Lehigh Valley was ranked third in the top 10 because it’s a growing market between New York and Philadelphia with a diversified economy. It is also more affordable than other Northeast markets.
Grand Rapids, Michigan, was ranked first because of its status as the top metro for jobs and new talent by Linkedin. It has been attracting young professionals at a higher rate than the national average.
Reno, Nevada, was second because of the state's lack of income tax and the attraction of such companies as Tesla and other tech companies.
The rest of the top 10 included Clovis-Fresno, California; Fargo, North Dakota; Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Manchester-Nashua, New Hampshire; Staunton-Waynesboro, Virginia; Abilene, Texas; and Spokane, Washington
For the Lehigh Valley, RentRedi mentioned Site Selection Magazine’s naming the region the top mid-sized market for economic development and its gross domestic product of $57.3 billion. It also mentioned Bethlehem for its education, amenities and safety while Allentown was lauded for its downtown revival.
The LVPC and Workforce Board Lehigh Valley say they expect the region's population to grow by 18.6% to 816,000 in the next 25 years. That comes with a 25% increase in jobs in the same period.
Morning Call reporter Evan Jones can be reached at ejones@mcall.com.
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This story was originally published July 1, 2026 at 7:29 AM.