Tightened Inventory in August in West Chester Borough

Only 7 Homes Hit the Market in West Chester Borough in August

After a competitive summer in West Chester Borough, August brought us something we haven’t seen much of lately: very few new listings.

Only 7 homes were listed in the Borough in August, down from 11 in July and 10 in June. Last August, 12 homes came onto the market.

And while new listings slowed, sales remained steady.

Eight homes sold in August, the exact same number that sold in July.

A Big Change From July’s Sales

July was an especially strong month for Borough sellers. The July median sale price reached $695,000, and those eight homes sold in an average of just 3 days.

August looked very different.

The eight homes that sold had a median sale price of $535,000 and spent an average of 18 days on the market.

That is a dramatic month-to-month change, but with only eight sales, I always caution against reading too much into one month’s average or median price in the Borough. A handful of higher or lower priced sales can completely change the numbers.

Inventory Is Up — But Context Matters

The Borough ended August with 16 homes on the market, just one fewer than July but almost double the 9 homes available at the end of June. Months of supply increased to 2.0, compared with 1.1 in July and just 0.7 in June.

Interestingly, that is also slightly more inventory than we had last August, when there were 18 homes available but 1.8 months of supply.

Still, 16 homes is hardly an oversupplied market, especially when only seven new properties came onto the market during the entire month.

What Does This Mean?

August was definitely quieter than the early summer market in West Chester Borough.

Homes took longer to sell, the median sale price came down significantly from July, and months of inventory increased. At the same time, new listings remain extremely limited, which continues to put a floor under the market.

And because the Borough is such a small, hyper-local market, I’m much more interested in watching whether this trend continues into September than declaring that eight August sales represent a major market shift.

Interetested in what that means for buying or selling in the borough? Fill out the form below to start the conversation.