Home values keep climbing in Carbon County, but there is almost nothing left to buy.

Inventory shrank 21% in the second quarter, leaving under three months of supply, Michael Bernadyn of the Greater Lehigh Valley Realtors said this week at the 2026 State of the County address at Blue Mountain Resort.

“Inventory levels are the bane of our existence right now,” Bernadyn said. “We need to get more homes, more shovels in the ground to get things rolling.”

Carbon County recorded 677 closed sales in 2025, up just over 1%. Of the 920 listings that hit the market, only 134 were still active at year’s end. Sellers averaged 97% of list price. The median sale price rose almost 7% to $256,500.

“I don’t know if I ever would have dreamed of seeing that growing up, seeing Carbon County hit that at the end of ‘25,” Bernadyn said.

Across the county’s school districts, home values rose 20% to 50% between 2021 and 2025, he said.

The second quarter of 2026 tightened further. New listings fell 7%. Pending sales rose 20%. Inventory shrank 21%, leaving under three months of supply. The median sale price rose 3% to $243,000. Homes spent 41 days on the market in the quarter and 47 days year to date.

Bernadyn pointed to mortgage rates as the brake. One of his buyers went under contract last week at 7.875%. Homeowners holding loans in the 3% range are not listing.

“Why do I want to sell? It’s the golden handcuffs, as we call it,” he said.

Small builders are also sitting out, he said, because permitting escrows, variance hearings, architects and attorneys price them out before a shovel hits dirt. Larger firms are buying the land instead and building at higher price points.

Distress is nearly absent from the market. Carbon County has seen zero new lender-mediated listings in 2026 through the multiple listing service, with three closed transactions likely carried over from 2025.

Renters are feeling the squeeze too. The median rent was $1,150 in 2025 and $1,200 through the second quarter of 2026. Bernadyn cited a report ranking the Lehigh Valley, which includes Carbon County, as the second-most competitive rental market in the nation with about 15 renters competing for each available apartment.

“I’ll be shocked to see if that’s still at $1,200 next year,” Bernadyn said. “It’ll probably be closer to $1,300, possibly $1,350.”

Buyers are also older. The National Association of Realtors puts the average first-time buyer at 40 and repeat buyers at 62. Nationally, the median existing home price hit a record $429,300 in May, and the Northeast corridor averaged about $514,000, up 5%.

Bernadyn said demand in Carbon County is driven by more than price.

“People want the small town charm. The resurgence has continued, and it’s not just Jim Thorpe,” Bernadyn said. “One of the best kept secrets is Carbon County. So many people that work in the Lehigh Valley come from Carbon County.”

His concern is what comes next.

“How do we keep our young professionals here? How do we keep them here and growing? That is the biggest concern that we have at the Greater Lehigh Valley Realtors,” Bernadyn said.