As the summer heated up, so did real estate prices in Carbon County.

The average sales price for a house in June was $242,108. But come July, it rose to $277,110, according to the monthly indicator report from the Greater Lehigh Valley Realtors.

With prices and interest rates going up, the housing affordability index (which is basically how easily the median homeowner can afford housing-related costs) dropped 20% since last year.

According to year-to-date data, there have been 514 new listings in Carbon County compared to 622 last year at this time. Pending sales and closed sales are also dropped, but the days on market increased from 28 days to 35 days - not the plus homeowners want. When that offer did come in, homeowners were still getting 98.3% of their asking price.

“Prices are still on the rise so far this year compared to previous years,” said Jim Christman, a broker and owner of The Jim Christman Team - Keller Williams Real Estate in Palmerton,

Christman analyzed data from Jan. 1 to July 27, 2020, to that same time frame in 2021, 2022 and 2023.

He found that the average sales price during the first seven months of the year in 2020 was $175,041. It went up to $208,182 in 2021, then $222,758 in 2022, and $240,326 in 2023.

As prices went up, the number of closed sales dropped.

In 2020, there were 372 closed sales, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Closed sales jumped to 442 in 2021, and 446 in 2022, but have since dropped to 359 in 2023, Christman said.

“Mortgage rates have approached 7 percent in recent months, leading many prospective buyers to put their home purchase plans temporarily on hold,” said GLVR CEO Justin Porembo. “But higher rates have also kept many existing homeowners from listing their homes for fear of giving up the low-rate mortgages they locked in a few years ago, when rates were significantly lower.”

For those buyers who stepped into the real estate pool, a few bidding wars erupted just like in the Lehigh Valley.

“Yes, we have had and still have many properties go to ‘highest and best’ in bidding wars and multiple offer situations,” Christman said. “This is because we have extremely low inventory in our area.”

Cass Chies, a real estate broker and owner of Diamond First Real Estate in Palmerton, said she isn’t seeing the bidding wars, but definitely an escalation in prices.

“There’s not enough homes to fit all classes of people. This is one of the main reasons my buyers are purchasing land and building. For the price, they can build the home they want staying inside their budgets,” she said.

Christman said lower priced houses sale the fastest due to their affordability.

“However, the middle price ranges often go far above their listed price,” he said.

It is the higher end properties that “feel the economic impact before the lower and middle price ranges,” Christman said. They are the slowest to sale.

School back in session and cooler temperatures not too far away, but Christman said that doesn’t necessarily mean cooler real estate sales.

“The two slowest times for real estate yearly are Thanksgiving to Christmastime,” he said. “September, October and most of November can be very busy for real estate historically.”