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The Allentown Housing Authority is listing homes for sale below market value. Here is what to know.

By Lindsay Weber, The Morning Call The Tribune Content Agency

Updated May 1, 2026 7:40 AM

The Allentown Housing Authority puts a home up for sale at 516 West Gordon Street in Allentown, at an affordable price for a low-income family. Photo taken on Wednesday, April 29, 2026. (Monica Cabrera/The Morning Call) Monica Cabrera TNS

The Allentown Housing Authority is putting some of its long-vacant properties up for sale at below-market value for prospective eligible low-income buyers.

On its website, the housing authority has listed a three-bedroom, one-bathroom on Gordon Street for $175,000 - well below the $255,000 median sale price in March 2026, according to data tracked by real estate brokerage Redfin.

Julio Guridy, executive director of the housing authority, said the authority plans to list at least three more affordably priced houses for sale this year, and will continue to list more in the future via its "scattered sites homeownership program," which rehabilitates and sells homes at below-market value to people who qualify.

"We fix them, we invest a lot of money into it, and then we sell them for this homebuyers program," Guridy said. “We wanted to do this program for a while when I was on the board of directors, I kept pushing for this, for 10 to 15 years, this home ownership program.”

According to public records, the housing authority acquired the Gordon Street home in 1981 for $5,000. Guridy, who was appointed the housing authority's director in 2023, believes that the home sat vacant until now. The authority spent thousands getting the building renovated and up to code before putting it up for sale.

The authority sold two homes through the homebuyers program around two years ago, and is now looking to revamp and expand the program and public awareness of it so those who qualify can apply. The authority owns at least a dozen more vacant homes throughout the city.

Those who qualify to buy a home through the program must be a first-time homebuyer, be pre-approved for a mortgage and make less than 80% of the area median income. The authority may be able to approve a "soft mortgage" with low interest rates for some qualified buyers.

The idea of the program, Guridy said, is to allow more low-income people and families to become homeowners, building equity and improving the surrounding neighborhood.

“Creating equity for your family in the future, that is part of the American dream, so that is why I personally, one of the reasons why I kept pushing for [the homebuyer program],” Guridy said.

Those interested can find more information about homes for sale on the housing authority's website, AllentownHousing.org.

This story was originally published May 1, 2026 at 7:28 AM.