More houses are selling in Carbon County, but there's one little problem - not enough inventory.

"We've had an extremely strong year," said Pat Reilly, president/CEO of Mauch Chunk Trust Co.Sales peaked in the second quarter of 2016, according to Greater Lehigh Valley Realtors."We are struggling with a lack of inventory for our buyers, which is a great sign of a seller's market on the horizon," said Cass Chies, broker and owner of ReMax Diamond 1st in Palmerton. "Any seller thinking of selling should be reaching out to a Realtor now to list and get ahead of the spring market."In the last quarter of 2016, the number of houses on the market was down 23.3 percent over 2015. The problem is worse in the Lehigh Valley where the inventory deficit reached 42.9 percent.According to the National Association of Realtors, the low inventory phenomenon is a national issue. At the end of 2016, the total housing inventory had dropped 10.8 percent to 1.65 million houses for sale nationwide. This was the lowest inventory since 1999.NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said, "Housing affordability for both buying and renting remains a pressing concern, because of another year of insufficient home construction. Given current population and economic growth trends, housing starts should be in the range of 1.5 million to 1.6 million completions and not stuck at recessionary levels."Justin Porembo, chief executive officer of GLVR, said he thinks the uncertainty of the election outcome kept people from putting their house on the market, but he also thinks the property tax issue and lack of new construction have impacted the housing inventory."School taxes have been complex - an Achilles' heel," Porembo said. And the lack of inventory "is the consequence of no new construction for three years. We need new construction, because of these gaps."Housing construction froze after the economic meltdown and hasn't warmed up yet.Chies said Carbon County hasn't seen much in the line of new housing construction for years, but that isn't really what her buyers want. They want land.Chies said they are people who have owned a house, can meet the mortgage requirements and want to move out of town, specifically New York, New Jersey and Philadelphia. With a drop in gas prices, moving further away from work isn't a problem."The lack of inventory is working in favor of some of those in higher-end houses," she said. Lower Towamensing Township has been the 2016 hot spot for real estate.But Chies thinks the property values are bound to increase for the houses along Little Gap Road once the new sewer line is completed."We've been waiting for that," she said. "It's going to significantly increase the property values along that route."The state Department of Environmental Protection approved the plans in late 2016 and engineering is expected to begin in 2017. The sewage system will service Aquashicola, Walkton, Little Gap, Red Hill Road and Weiner Mobile Estates.The route's proximity to Blue Mountain Ski Area is a plus as well, she said.One area that continues to suffer in Palmerton are the houses affected by the Federal Emergency Management Administration's redrawing of the flood maps.The area lies between Third and Fifth streets and Franklin Avenue. It was designated by FEMA as an AE or 1 percent annual chance flood plain, due to the possibility of an overflow from a small creek that runs through the Palmerton Borough Park.The designation made it a Special Flood Hazard Area in 2012, when the government passed the Bigger Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act. The legislation requires flood insurance, which has a high premium for high-risk areas."We've been working with our representative to reach out to FEMA," Chies said, but there hasn't been any change. "It has been detrimental. They're really sacrificing their properties."