Rising mortgage rates and current economic uncertainty have helped put the brakes on the Chester County housing market, writes Michaelle Bond for The Philadelphia Inquirer. 

Prices remain high, but sales are slower as fewer buyers are searching for homes. While the market still favors sellers due to tight housing supply, buyers deal with less competition and have more room for negotiation. 

In Chester County, the number of new home sales has dropped compared to last year’s fast market. There were 443 new pending sales in September 2022, which is 32.8 percent lower than for the previous September. 

Despite less buyer demand and growing mortgage rates that are affecting buyers’ purchasing power, prices are continuing to increase. The median sales price in Chester County in September 2022 was $447,000. That is 6.3 percent higher than in September 2021. 

Meanwhile, the number of new listings continues to go down. There were 592 new listings in the county in September, which is a 23.2 percent drop compared with the same period last year. 

Read more about the Chester County housing market in The Philadelphia Inquirer.