Decade of underbuilding leaves PA short 185,000 homes as prices climb

Dated: August 11 2026

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Pennsylvania's median home sale price has climbed to $340,000, a 6.2% jump from a year ago, as a persistent housing shortage — rooted in over a decade of underbuilding since the 2008 recession, restrictive local zoning across the state's 2,555 municipalities, labor shortages and rising material costs — continues to outpace supply. As a result, more than 1 million Pennsylvania households spend over 30% of their income on housing and average rents are up 46% since 2017. The state needs 450,000 new units by 2035 but is on pace to fall roughly 185,000 short. Gov. Josh Shapiro's administration has rolled out its first-ever Housing Action Plan and expanded affordable housing funding, but industry leaders say a $1 billion housing bond proposal was left out of the state budget and that little meaningful reform has emerged to loosen zoning or spur the construction needed to bring prices down.
Source: Bucks County Courier Times; 8/3/2026

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Pete McGuinn

Pete McGuinn - Your Trusted RE/MAX Main Line Real Estate Expert With over 22 years of experience as a full-time REALTOR® at RE/MAX Main Line, Pete McGuinn is a distinguished real estate professional....

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