CHESTER COUNTY, PA — The Chester County housing market closed out 2025 as one of Pennsylvania’s most expensive and fiercely competitive arenas, with rising prices continuing to outpace incomes even as inventory showed modest signs of life.
In the fourth quarter, median home sale prices in the county climbed to $561,232 in November, a 7.3 percent increase from a year earlier. Median list prices hovered between $568,300 and $585,000 as the quarter progressed, underscoring the county’s entrenched status as a seller’s market. Homes typically spent just 10 to 27 days on the market, reflecting sustained buyer demand even during what is usually a seasonal slowdown.
Active listings rose about 13.7 percent year over year, offering some relief to frustrated buyers. Still, housing experts say the increase has done little to loosen conditions in a market where supply remains tight and competition intense.
Affordability remains the central pressure point. Chester County is Pennsylvania’s wealthiest county, with a median household income of $123,041, yet even that buying power falls short of prevailing prices. Households earning the median income can typically afford homes priced around $433,000, while only about 34 percent of homes sold in the county fall below that threshold.
The strain is even more pronounced for renters and lower-wage workers. To comfortably afford a fair-market rent of $1,737, a household would need an annual income of $69,480, well above average earnings in some parts of the county. Nearly 27 percent of Chester County households are considered cost-burdened, spending more than 30 percent of their income on housing.
Rental prices continue to climb alongside home values. Average rents in the county reached $2,144, roughly 11 percent higher than the national average, adding pressure to residents unable to break into the ownership market.
Cash buyers remain a powerful force, often sidestepping mortgage rate volatility and outcompeting financed buyers. At the upper end of the market, affluent communities such as West Pikeland and Birmingham Township, where median household incomes exceed $230,000, continue to sustain strong luxury-sector activity.
Chester County’s trends mirror a broader national affordability crisis highlighted in ATTOM’s latest U.S. Home Affordability Report for the fourth quarter of 2025. The report found that in 99 percent of the 594 counties analyzed nationwide, median-priced homes were less affordable than historic norms, as the national median home price hovered near a record $365,185.
There was a modest silver lining. In 86 percent of counties, homes were more affordable in the fourth quarter than in the third, helped in part by falling mortgage rates. Average interest on a 30-year fixed-rate loan dropped from 6.34 percent at the beginning of October to 6.15 percent by year’s end.
“Many Americans were priced out of buying a home in 2025, and affordability remains worse than historic norms in most markets,” said Rob Barber, chief executive officer of ATTOM. “Still, modest, quarter-over-quarter affordability improvements in many markets at the end of the year offered some encouragement.”
Nationally, major homeownership expenses consumed 31.4 percent of the typical worker’s wages in the fourth quarter, above the 28 percent threshold commonly used to define affordability. In nearly 30 percent of counties, those costs exceeded 43 percent of wages, a level considered seriously unaffordable.
Philadelphia County stood out as one of the largest U.S. counties where ownership remained affordable by standard measures, with typical expenses consuming 19.2 percent of wages. Chester County, by contrast, continues to rank among the most expensive markets in the region, reinforcing its reputation as a place where demand, wealth and scarcity collide.
As 2026 begins, analysts say the county’s housing future will hinge on whether inventory can grow meaningfully, mortgage rates continue to ease and prices finally level off. For now, Chester County remains a proving ground for how far buyers are willing — and able — to stretch in one of Pennsylvania’s toughest housing markets.
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