Real Estate
This chapter explores real estate characteristics, including residential construction, housing sale prices, nonresidential construction, office market conditions, industrial market conditions, and retail market conditions.
Housing Construction
2022 had fewer new units than in 2021, which had the highest number of new units constructed since 2006.
Chester County had a housing construction boom in the late 1990s through early 2000s, with an annual average of 1,271 new units added from 1997 through 2008. New construction fell after the housing market crash in 2008, with an average of 646 new units added from 2009 through 2020. New unit construction in 2021 was the second highest from 2000-2022, with only 2001 seeing higher numbers of new unit construction. This was mainly due to the addition of 1,963 new multi-family apartment units. New apartment units remained high in 2022, with the addition of 774 new units.
Chester County collects data through Assessment on built units; units are considered built once fully assessed, which occurs upon 50 percent occupancy. For more detailed housing data visit the 2022 Chester County Housing Cost Profile.
Figure 56 — New Housing Units
Figure 57 — Housing Type
| Year | Total | Single Family Detached | Single Family Attached | Apartments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 2,537 (100%) | 925 (37%) | 838 (33%) | 774 (31%) |
Figure 58 — Multi-Family Construction (Percent of Total New Units)
Home Sales
2021 had the highest number of home sales since 2005. Home sales in 2022 decreased back to sales ranges seen in 2017 through 2020.
Chester County home sales increased drastically in the early 2000s but began decreasing in 2004, hitting a low point during the Great Recession. Home sales continued to decrease through 2011, but have been mostly increasing since, with more than 7,000 sales each year. In 2022 home sales decreased by five percent form 2021, to 7,134 sales.
Figure 59 — Annual Home Sales
Housing Values
Chester County's median housing value is the highest in the state, and in 2022 was the highest in over 30 years — even when accounting for inflation.
Chester County's inflation adjusted median housing sale price has increased by 45 percent since 2000. Median home sale prices have been steadily increasing since 1990, with only an exception of significant declines in 2009 after the 2008 recession. The median home sale price reached a peak in 2022 at $466,480.
Figure 60 — Annual Home Sales Median Price
Figure 61 — Change in Home Sales Median Price
Non-Residential Construction
The amount of square feet added in 2022 was slightly lower than 2021, but remained consistent with prior years.
Non-residential projects and square feet increased from 2016 through 2018, before dropping in 2019. The number of annual projects has been decreasing over the past three years. Institutional projects made up the majority of nonresidential square feet added between 2016-2022, with 3,246,954 square feet added, followed by commercial with 3,187,757 square feet.
Figure 62 — Total Non-Residential Projects
Figure 63 — Total Non-Residential Square Feet by Type
Figure 64 — Largest Non-Residential Construction Projects, 2016-2022
| Building Square Feet | Project Name | Municipality | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 296,010 | Avon Grove High School | Penn Township | Institutional |
| 88,000 | John Rock — Building | Sadsbury Township | Industrial |
| 64,400 | DE Storage Avondale | New Garden Township | Commercial |
| 52,200 | Ridgewood Corporate Center — Madina Building 2 | East Caln Township | Industrial |
| 50,000 | Ridgewood Corporate Center — Madina Building 2 | East Caln Township | Industrial |
| 41,389 | AGC Chemicals Americas Inc | Caln Township | Industrial |
| 39,736 | J. D. Eckman Shop Building | West Sadsbury Township | Industrial |
| 32,000 | Goshen Leisure Development | West Goshen Township | Commercial |
| 26,573 | Byers Station | Upper Uwchlan Township | Commercial |
| 26,396 | Jaguar Land Rover West Chester | Birmingham Township Commercial | Commercial |
| 25,992 | Windsor Baptist Church | Upper Uwchlan Township | Institutional |
| 22,760 | Phoenixville Fire Station | Phoenixville Borough | Institutional |
| 20,000 | Lincoln University | Lower Oxford Township | Institutional |
| 17,416 | Agricultural Commercial Project | West Nantmeal Township | Agricultural/Commercial |
| 16,476 | 3 TUN Industrial Park | East Whiteland Township | Industrial |
| 16,000 | SF Health Building | West Goshen Township | Commercial |
| 15,394 | Glen Acres Elementary School | West Goshen Township | Institutional |
| 15,369 | Immaculata University — School Building | East Whiteland Township | Institutional |
| 14,000 | Kennett Gateway | Kennett Township | Commercial |
| 12,750 | 353 W. Lincoln Highway | West Whiteland Township | Institutional |
| 11,250 | Hoover Treated Wood Products Inc. | East Nottingham Township | Industrial |
| 11,150 | Builders Inc. Corporate Headquarters | East Whiteland Township | Industrial |
Source: Chester County Non Residential Reports
Office Building Market
Chester County has a strong office market, although the vacancy rate of 10.5 percent is high.
The Philadelphia area office market is reasonably strong, with rents around $28.5 a square foot per year. Much of Chester County is part of the Philadelphia market, making it an attractive location for companies looking to expand or relocate.
Overall, Chester County has a large and competitive office market, with concentrations of offices in Chesterbrook, the Main Line, Great Valley/Malvern, the West Chester area, and Exton/Lionville. There are also scattered offices in developed parts of southern, western, and northern Chester County. These offices are typically owner-occupied. Like Montgomery County, Chester County has a relatively high vacancy rate. Some of this vacancy is due to the many offices built in the 1980s and 1990s that are now being retrofitted and modernized to address demand for new technology and collaborative work environments. The office vacancy rate has been increasing, at least partially due to changes caused by COVID-19 and people working from home.
Neighboring Lancaster County to the West has a different, generally more agricultural and industrial economic market. This is reflected in the lower overall square footage, rents, and vacancy rates than both Chester County and the Philadelphia MSA.
Figure 65 — Office Building Characteristics, October 2022
Figure 66 — Office Building Vacancy Rates
Retail Building Market
Chester County's retail primarily serves local community needs.
The retail market in Southeastern PA is dominated by Montgomery County and Philadelphia, with the other counties in the region primarily having smaller malls and shopping centers that are focused on community needs. Chester County falls into a community-focused retail category, with retail centers scattered around major population hubs. Exton is the largest retail area for the county. Chester Ccounty is surrounded by major shopping areas to the north, east, and south, including King of Prussia, the Route 422 Corridor with its outlets and new centers, Concordville in Delaware County, and malls and shopping centers near Wilmington.
Figure 67 — Retail Building Characterisics, October 2022
Figure 68 — Retail Building Vacancy Rates
Industrial Building Market
Chester County has a varied industrial market, with the second highest rents in the region.
The industrial market remains an important part of the Philadelphia region's commercial real estate sector. Over time, industrial uses have shifted from heavy industry to lighter industrial and manufacturing, although some heavy industry remains, such as steel production in South Coatesville and Coatesville. Much of Chester County's modern industrial space is advanced manufacturing, such as medical products, pharmaceuticals, and other specialized manufacturing. Industrial uses are spread around the county, with major concentrations of newer buildings in corporate parks, including ones in Exton, West Chester, and Lionville. Around the country, mega-warehouses have been a major driver of new industrial construction, but, locally, these warehouses have mostly been locating in south-central PA, the Lehigh Valley, and southern New Jersey. Chester County has not had major new warehouse space delivered recently, which could be due to the county's price of land and relative lack of interstate highway interchanges; however construction has begun on new warehouses near the Route 100 and PA Turnpike interchange.
Figure 69 — Industrial Building Characteristics, October 2022
Figure 70 — Indistrial Building Vacancy Rates
