Data released by the Lehigh Valley Association of Realtors (LVAR) Jan. 15 supports 2012 as a year of recovery for the local housing market.

As of December 2012, year-to-date sales were recorded at 5,701, up 13 percent over 2011 year-to-date sales of 5,046.

LVAR's research shows there were 6,374 pending sales year-to-date, which indicates transactions in process that have not yet closed. This figure marks an increase of 30 percent over 2011 year-to-date pending sales of 4,891.

The year-to-date average sales price reached $192,00, up 2.7 percent from the 2011 average sales price of $187,000.

"Home sales and pending home sales increased over the same time the previous year for the past eighteen months," said Ryan Conrad, CEO of LVAR.

The average sales price in December 2012 of $188,00 was down approximately 2.6 percent from December 2011 when the average sales price was recorded at $193,000.

"Our data shows that during the month of December 2012, 169 or 45 percent of the homes sold were priced at $150,000 or below." said Conrad. "LVAR's data shows that many homebuyers took advantage of housing affordability."

Since the average price is obtained by dividing the number of sales into the total sales dollars, the average sales price has decreased.