Delco is one of only five counties in the Mid-Atlantic where the typical home is affordable for the typical buyer

If you made the typical income in your community, could you afford to buy the typical home for sale there?

Across the Mid-Atlantic, “the answer is a resounding no in most places,” said Lisa Sturtevant, chief economist at the multiple listing service Bright MLS.

But in a region where buying a home can be challenging, Delaware County stands out.

It was the only county in the Philadelphia region where a household making the median income could afford to buy a median-priced home for sale at the end of last year, according to an analysis by Bright MLS. In Delaware County, the median asking price of homes in the last quarter of 2025 was $289,450, and the median household income was about $89,500.

Bright MLS calculated affordability based on a homebuyer’s ability to qualify to purchase a median-priced home, assuming a 10% down payment with the average interest rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage and average payments for property taxes and insurance.

Of the roughly 90 counties in the company’s service area across Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and the nation’s capital, Delaware County was one of only five counties where the median-priced home was affordable for a household making the median income in the last quarter of 2025. The city of Baltimore also made the affordable list.

Sturtevant said everyone knows housing affordability is a challenge, but “when you see the data so starkly like this, it really brings the point home.”

Across the Mid-Atlantic, median home prices are up 35% since 2020. The five counties that are most affordable are generally places with lower costs of living where the housing stock is older, she said.

Michael Maerten, a real estate agent on the board of directors for Tri-County Suburban Realtors, which represents members in Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery Counties, said Delaware County’s dense housing and smaller homes also help keep costs down.

He’s seen homebuyers in Chester and Montgomery Counties have a harder time affording homes. He said he’s working with a homebuyer who was originally focused on the area around Abington Township in Montgomery County and is now looking in the Haverford Township area of Delaware County where they can get what they want with the money they have.

In addition to affordability, homebuyers are choosing Delaware County because of the culture, pride, and family ties, said Maerten, an agent with Keller Williams Real Estate based in Blue Bell.

“The running joke about Delaware County is people don’t leave,” he said.

But Delaware County’s spot on Bright MLS’ affordable list doesn’t mean households aren’t struggling to afford homes. It’s still challenging for many people, Sturtevant said.

First-time homebuyers in particular have it rough. Bright MLS found that across the about 90 counties it tracks, renters are effectively priced out of becoming homeowners. There is no county where a renter who makes the median income could afford to buy a starter home.

“That’s crazy to me,” Sturtevant said.

Bright MLS defines starter homes as those priced at the 35th percentile, meaning 35% of homes are priced below that level and 65% are priced above.

Sturtevant said high construction costs have made building starter homes more difficult. At the same time, homeowners are holding onto smaller, more affordable homes instead of selling for a larger home because of elevated mortgage interest rates and uncertainty in the economy. So first-time buyers have fewer options and more competition.

Still, Maerten said a “good percentage” of his buyers are purchasing for the first time.

“They’re going through their struggles of making offers and competing in the suburbs,” he said.

Maerten said that in his experience, homebuyers know exactly where they want to purchase and are more likely to save money until they can buy where they want rather than buying in an area just because it’s more affordable.

First-time buyers often don’t know about the resources that are available to help them become homeowners, he said. Those include down payment assistance and programs that can lower up-front costs and mortgage rates.

Real estate agents and housing counselors can work with aspiring homeowners to get them ready to purchase.