Homes are selling quickly across parts of central Pennsylvania, even though median prices continue to rise, real estate agents in the region said.
For Lancaster County, median prices grew to $360,000 last month, a 4.7% increase from July 2024, according to a market report from the Lancaster County Association of Realtors. Meanwhile, near Harrisburg, median prices rose 15.4% year over year in July to $340,500 in Cumberland County and rose 16.3% year over year in July to $319,900 in Perry County, according to the Greater Harrisburg Association of Realtors. Prices dropped, however, in Dauphin County in July by 5.8% to $263,750, the Harrisburg real estate agent group said.
"July brought steady sales across the Greater Harrisburg region, with prices holding strong in most markets," Jimmy Koury, president of the Harrisburg association and an agent with RSR, Realtors, said in a statement. "Cumberland and Perry counties saw notable year-over-year gains, while Dauphin remains stable despite a slight dip."
Statistics from both groups show that homes on the market last month typically found a new owner between two weeks — as is the case in Lancaster at 15 days — or roughly a month, like in Perry County. Those figures give real estate agents a hint at how aggressive buyers are these days, Koury said.
"Across our region, well-priced homes are still moving quickly, highlighting the importance of preparation and strategic pricing for both buyers and sellers," he said.
Closed sales were a mixed bag in July — falling 1.3% and 3.8% respectively in Lancaster and Dauphin counties while rising 15.6% and 11.7% respectively in Perry and Cumberland counties.
New listings fell for most of the four-county area with the exception of Perry, where they grew from 39 in July 2024 to 54 last month, a 38.5% increase. Cumberland, Dauphin and Lancaster saw dips of 2.2%, 5.3% and 4.6% respectively, the real estate agent groups said.
Still, the region has several homes on the market right now — including a 10-bedroom, castle-like estate in Lancaster for $2.49 million, a three-bedroom rambler in Harrisburg for $279,000 and a four-bedroom Colonial in Carlisle for $520,000.
The July figures "brought a bit of realism to recent market performance" in Lancaster, Mike Julian, the group's president, said in a statement. He noted that listings, pending sales and closed sales fell slightly between June and July this year but said "each have outperformed the year-over-year numbers from July of 2024."
"With the very strong first half of 2025, it's too early to call these numbers a trend," said Julian, an agent for Realty One Group Unlimited.
