Northeastern Pennsylvania's Residential Market (Q4 '25 - Q1 '26) - Focus on Luzerne County

The Period at a Glance

From October 1, 2025 through March 31, 2026, 1,098 single-family homes, townhouses and condominiums closed in Luzerne County through the multiple listing service. The median sale price was ($217,750), up (11.0%) from ($196,250) over the same six months a year earlier. The number of sales slipped (3.9%), from 1,142 to 1,098.

Prices rose while activity cooled a little. The median home sold for (98.6%) of its final list price, against (100%) a year earlier, and spent a median of 22 days on the market, against 17. Even so, (26%) of the period's sales closed above asking, so a well-priced home in the right town still drew competing offers through the winter.

Most of the volume came before the holidays. The fourth quarter of 2025 produced 643 sales at a median of ($219,900), and the usual winter slowdown brought 455 sales at a median of ($215,000) in the first quarter of 2026.

Median Sale Price by Town

A countywide median hides the most important fact about this market, which is that price depends on where you look. The table below shows the twelve areas with the most closed sales in the period, grouped by mailing address. Smaller towns had too few sales to publish a median that means anything.

The older urban cores, Wilkes-Barre, Nanticoke and Pittston, remain the most affordable way into the market, with medians between about ($166K) and ($176K). Mountain Top, Drums, Shavertown and Dallas carry medians from about ($274K) to ($358K), reflecting newer housing stock, larger lots and school district demand. For a buyer, the town you choose moves the budget more than almost any other decision.

Sales by Price Band

Six in ten homes sold for less than ($250,000). The ($150,000) to ($250,000) band was the deepest at 443 sales, (40%) of the total. Only 127 homes, about (12%), sold for ($400,000) or more.

Multi-Family and Small Rental Property

The MLS tracks two to four unit buildings separately, as residential income property. 189 of them closed in Luzerne County during the period at a median of ($245,000), up (8.3%) from ($226,250) a year earlier on fewer sales, 189 against 226. They sold for a median (98.9%) of list price after a median of just 10 days on the market, and (31%) closed above asking.

Small multi-family trades close to the single-family median and moves faster than it. That is the backbone of local rental ownership, and investor demand for these buildings held firm through the winter.

A Note on Lackawanna County

Most Lackawanna County sales are recorded in the Greater Scranton Board of REALTORS® multiple listing service rather than the one this report draws from, so we do not publish a county median for Lackawanna. For reference, 72 Lackawanna homes closed through our MLS in the period, most of them in Scranton and Old Forge, at a median of about ($193K). Treat that as a sample, not a county figure.

The Longer Run Price Trend

For price direction over time, the most authoritative public source is the Federal Housing Finance Agency House Price Index, a repeat-sales index built from mortgage transactions. The county series for Luzerne shows steady long-run appreciation without the boom and bust swings of more speculative metros. FHFA publishes its county indexes as developmental index values rather than dollar figures, and they lag the current quarter, so we use them for direction rather than as a headline price.

That durability is the story worth telling buyers and investors. NEPA did not see the price spikes that priced families out of coastal and gateway markets, and it has not seen the sharp corrections either. For a buyer that means affordability relative to income. For an owner it means equity that builds steadily.

What This Means by Audience

For Buyers

The median home took three weeks to sell and a quarter of them sold above asking, so the well-priced ones still go quickly. Get pre-approved before you shop, and decide on the town first, because it sets the price range more than anything else.

For Sellers

Prices are up, but buyers are negotiating a little more than a year ago. Pricing to recent closed sales in your own town, rather than to an automated estimate or to the countywide number, is what keeps a home out of the price reductions that stretch days on market.

For Investors

Two to four unit buildings sold in ten days at close to list price. Entry prices below the national median are what make NEPA income property work for buy-and-hold investors, and the speed of these sales says the competition for them is real.

Methodology and Sources

Every residential figure in this report is a closed sale recorded in the Luzerne County Association of REALTORS® multiple listing service with a close date from October 1, 2025 through March 31, 2026, across all listing brokerages. The comparison period is October 1, 2024 through March 31, 2025. Residential covers single-family homes, townhouses and condominiums. Two to four unit buildings are reported separately as residential income. A property the listing agent entered twice under two property types is counted once. Nominal transfers recorded under ($1,000) are excluded. Medians are reported rather than averages. Days on market is the MLS figure for each listing. Town groupings follow the mailing address on the listing, which can span more than one municipality.

• Luzerne County Association of REALTORS® multiple listing service, closed residential and residential income sales, October 2024 through March 2026, retrieved September 23, 2026
• U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency, All-Transactions House Price Index for Luzerne County (ATNHPIUS42079A), via Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED)