CHESTER COUNTY, PA — While much of the U.S. housing market cooled at the end of 2025, Chester County continued to move in the opposite direction, delivering rising prices, fast sales, and a firm seller’s advantage that now sets it apart from national trends.
Local data for December show the median sale price reached about $550,000, up roughly 6 percent from a year earlier. Homes typically went under contract in about 10 days, and sale-to-list price ratios hovered near 100 percent, meaning sellers were largely getting what they asked. A total of 461 homes changed hands, a 6 percent increase from December 2024, even during what is usually one of the slowest months of the year.
Inventory ticked higher from a year ago, but supply remains well below pre-pandemic norms. Cash buyers continued to play an outsized role in 2025, giving sellers faster and more certain closings and leaving financed buyers struggling to compete in a high-rate environment. Submarkets including West Chester, Downingtown, Kennett Square, and Phoenixville remained some of the county’s strongest.
Those local conditions stand in sharp contrast to the broader national picture outlined in the Realtor.com December Monthly Housing Report. Nationwide, active listings were up 12.1 percent from a year earlier, marking the 26th straight month of inventory growth. Yet inventory still fell 8.9 percent from November on a seasonal basis, and overall supply remained 12.5 percent below typical 2017 to 2019 levels.
“Looking at the housing market through national or even regional averages can miss what’s really happening on the ground,” said Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com. “In 2025, some metros closely tracked their regional story, while others followed a very different narrative.”
That divergence was especially clear between regions. Northeast markets, including much of Pennsylvania, stayed tight and resilient, with price-per-square-foot gains of 4.1 percent in December. The Midwest also posted modest growth, while the South and West saw far stronger inventory growth and weaker prices, including outright declines in some markets.
Realtor.com’s analysis found that only nine of the nation’s 50 largest metro areas have fully recovered to well above pre-pandemic inventory levels, all in the South or West. By contrast, many Northeast markets remain deeply supply constrained. Hartford and Providence, for example, are still more than 50 percent below pre-pandemic inventory levels.
Chester County fits squarely into that Northeast pattern: limited supply, steady demand, and durable price growth. Even as the national median list price slipped to $400,000 in December, down slightly from a year earlier, Chester County prices continued to climb.
Looking ahead to 2026, the county’s housing market is expected to remain stable with modest price growth, supported by strong job centers, highly rated school districts, and persistent supply shortages. In a national market defined by uneven recovery and growing regional gaps, Chester County remains firmly in the camp of supply-constrained, seller-driven markets that continue to outperform.
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