Median sale prices rose in much of the Delaware Valley/Lehigh Valley real estate market in April, according to the Long & Foster Market Minute reports. The Delaware Valley/Lehigh Valley region includes Burlington, Camden, Gloucester and Mercer counties.

Just one area of the Delaware Valley/Lehigh Valley region saw an increase in the number of homes sold in April. That increase was seen in Burlington County, where the number of homes sold rose by 8 percent. In Burlington County, median sale prices rose by 12 percent, while they increased by 6 percent in Gloucester County.

The entire Delaware Valley/Lehigh Valley region saw declines in active inventory in April, falling by 21 percent in Burlington County and by 19 percent in Camden County. Homes in the area sold at a solid pace last month. The days on market average ranged from 62 days to 70 days.

“Although inventory has been declining across the country for three years, the Delaware Valley/Lehigh Valley real estate market is in a relatively healthy place,” said Gary Scott, president of Long & Foster Real Estate. “Rising median sale prices cause some to worry that another real estate bubble may be on the horizon, but this market is very different than the one that led us into the recession.”

Scott said a number of factors made the pre-recession market susceptible, including the availability of credit and lack of regulations, the prevalence of adjustable rate mortgages, and home values that appreciated quickly in a very short time frame. Comparatively, it took 10 years of gradual increases for median sale prices to get to where they are now, he said.

The volatility of the stock market has resulted in many looking to the real estate market as a way to broaden their investment portfolio. Real estate investing is a great long-term strategy to build wealth that offers a number of benefits when planned well.

“There are a few key things to research and plan if you’re going to invest in real estate,” Scott said. “That includes trends in appreciation, vacancy rates, and supply and demand. You also need to establish clear goals and objectives.”

“Define your business rules and don’t deviate from them until it’s time to evaluate how your investments are performing,” he said. “Know what you can afford and what you can’t – consider the best case scenario, the worst case scenario and the most likely scenario. And have an appreciation and understanding that the real estate market changes.”

The Long & Foster Market Minute is an overview of market statistics based on residential real estate transactions for more than 500 local areas and neighborhoods and over 100 counties in eight states. The easy-to-read, easy-to-share reports include information about each area’s units sold, active inventory, median sale prices, list to sold price ratio, days on market and more.

Information included in this report is based on data supplied by TREND multiple listing service and its member associations of Realtors, which are not responsible for its accuracy. The reports include residential real estate transactions within specific geographic regions, not just Long & Foster sales, and they do not reflect all activity in the marketplace. Information contained in this report is deemed reliable but not guaranteed, should be independently verified, and does not constitute an opinion of TREND or Long & Foster Real Estate.