Home values continue to rise in State College, and prices aren’t dropping off either
The real estate markets in State College and Centre County still favor sellers, but conditions are becoming more balanced in some areas.
But while some anticipate a market correction, hikes in local home values and sale prices haven’t dropped off at this time, according to data from Zillow and Realtor.com. Additionally, the U.S. housing market as a whole remains “quite resilient, and costly,” Forbes reported, as prices evade relief even as mortgage applications drop nationally.
The median home value in State College zip code 16801 has risen by 12.22%, to $375,419, from July 2021 to July 2022, according to Zillow data. Neighboring zip code 16803’s median home value increased by 12.56% over the same period, landing at $386,990.
Median home listing prices have seen even bigger jumps, according to data from Realtor.com. The median listing price in State College in July was $419,900, up 27.6% from the previous year.
State College homes are on the market for 46 days on average, Realtor.com reports, and selling for approximately list price. The municipality’s market is leaned completely toward sellers on Realtor.com’s scale.
The Centre County market as a whole is more balanced than State College’s, but it’s still in the seller’s favor, according to Realtor.com. The site says the median home listing price in Centre County has increased by 17.2% year-over-year, at $339,900 as of July.
Homes in Centre County sell after an average of 51 days, Realtor.com says, and they’re being sold around list price. There are currently 472 homes for sale in Centre County, with prices ranging from $12,000 to $6 million.
Here’s the change in median home values in the State College area from July 2021 to July 2022, using data from the Zillow home value index.
Note: This interactive graphic will automatically update as new data become available.
Data for additional surrounding zip codes were not immediately available.
Those renting housing rather than buying a home are far from exempt from price hikes. A 2022 National Low Income Housing Coalition report found people working full-time in State College have to make more than three times the minimum wage to afford a two-bedroom rental.
The report defined full-time work as 40 hours per week, and equated affordability with spending no more than 30% of one’s income on housing.
The rent affordability situation in the commonwealth as a whole isn’t much better. A full-time worker in Pennsylvania needs to work 115 hours per week at the minimum wage to afford two-bedroom rental housing.
Pennsylvania has the 27th-highest “housing wage,” defined by the NLIHC as the minimum hourly wage someone needs to earn to afford rental housing in the U.S.
