WEST PITTSTON -- A new report out this week shows home values are generally increasing across the country, but not so much in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area where home values remain among the lowest in the U.S.
The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre/Hazleton market is in the bottom ten areas when it comes to the value of home sales. But numbers released this week also suggest it could be on the rebound.
Ron Good enjoys sitting on the steps in front of his home in West Pittston. But he's neither happy nor surprised the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre/Hazleton housing market is in the bottom ten in the nation when it comes to the value of homes being sold.
"When you spend a lot of money and put a lot of work and money into the home to fix it up and it's not increasing in value the way it did years before, yeah, it hurts!" Good said.
He isn't alone. A new report looked at home values in 150 areas in the country, finding on average, a little more than half increased in value last year. That's down about six percent from the year before.
"There's a lot of homes that just been abandoned," Good added.
Here in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre/Hazleton market, the outlook is mixed. About 40 percent of homes are appreciating in value, much less than the national average.
But home values from last year are up seven percent from the year before.
The report doesn't say why, but Jim Straub, a realtor who sold a house this week believes the housing market in the area is bouncing back from the recession.
"I think we did hit a bottom in '08," he said. "Prices have been down, now they're going up a little bit."
Charles Adonizio of Atlas Realty says business has been booming in recent months. He thinks the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre/Hazleton market offers a noticeably improving quality of life.
"It's a great place to live, safe place to raise kids, good schools, good activities and wonderful place to be."
Something else realtors believe but can't really explain: housing markets do generally well in presidential election years.