How expensive are Centre County homes? Realtors say median price grew yet again in March
The median home sale price in Centre County in March was more than 11% higher than it was the year before, according to data recently published by the county realtors’ association.
The median sale price last month was approximately $345,000, checking in above last March’s median price of roughly $310,000. That’s an increase of about 11.3%, according to the Centre County Association of Realtors’ residential market trend report for March.
Meanwhile, national real estate site Redfin reported a median home sale price of roughly $347,600 for Centre County in March. Here is how that stacks up against the rest of Pennsylvania:
Note: This graphic will automatically update as new data become available.
March’s median home sale price fell approximately 7.5% below February’s mid-point price of roughly $373,000. That month’s figure marks the highest monthly median home sale price of the past five years, according to the Centre County Association of Realtors.
The county’s median home sale price has generally increased over the last five years, though growth surged more steadily in 2022 and early 2023, despite a sharp fall in January.
Eighty-one property sales closed in March, the Centre County Association of Realtors said. That’s down about 14% year-over-year, but up 72.3% from February, when just 47 property sales were finalized.
Additionally, 140 new properties were listed through the association in March, down a bit from the month’s five-year average of 166 new listings. March’s number of active listings (154) was also down from the month’s five-year average (194), the association said in its report.
Properties left the market quickly last month, according to the monthly report. Units sold throughout the month spent an average of 24 days on the market, falling 53% below the five-year average of 51 days for the month.
The association observed a 52.1% month-over-month increase in new contract activity with 111 new pending sales, plus a 31.8% month-over-month increase in the “all pendings” category, which includes new contracts and contracts carried over from February.
Centre County’s real estate activity in March resulted in a contract ratio of 0.92 pending sales per active listing — an increase from February’s 0.86 contract ratio, but a sharp decrease from March 2022’s 2.11 pending sales per active listing.
Generally, a higher contract ratio reflects an increase in contract activity compared to the local supply, the Centre County Association of Realtors said in its monthly report. High contract ratios generally indicate a market is moving in the favor of sellers.
Elsewhere, Realtor.com reports the State College area reflects a buyer’s market, indicating the local supply of homes exceeds demand.
On average, State College’s home values have increased by about 5.8% over the last year, according to Zillow’s Home Value Index. The area’s average home value sits at about $377,000, according to data available through March 31.
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