The real estate market in Chester County had mixed results in the first half of 2008.

Median home prices remained steady at $310,000, the highest in the five-county Philadelphia area and the same as its mid-mark in 2007.

Meanwhile, far fewer homes sold in the county during the period compared to the first half of 2007, and it took longer to sell them, according to statistics from the Prudential Fox & Roach Realtors’ HomExpert Market Report.

The study, generated monthly by the realty firm and based on actual home sales tracked by the Multiple Listing Service, said in the first six months of 2008 the county saw 2,312 homes sold, down 25 percent, compared to 3,084 homes sold in the first half of 2007.

The average number of days a home remained on the market increased from 69 days in the first half of 2007 to 80 days in the first half of 2008.

Despite being down, the numbers are not all gloom and doom, said local industry watchers.

“People need to realize that what they read in the national press, when it comes to the local real estate market it is not near as bad as they would have you believe,” said Alan D. Reburn, senior vice president at Prudential. “Florida, Vegas, Southern California are on the news all the time but clearly those statistics do not apply to Chester County.”

Here, if a property is priced properly and in good condition, it will sell sometimes in 15 to 20 days, he said.

The report that prices are flat is a good thing, Reburn said. Sale prices in the other three Philadelphia suburban counties went down: Montgomery, off 1.9 percent; Bucks, down 3.8 percent; and Delaware, off 6.1 percent. Philadelphia County was the only county to have an increase in prices, at 2.1 percent.

Staying even is a testament to Chester County’s “livability and affordability,” Reburn said.

Reburn is bouyed by the market in Chester County. The huge run-up in prices of the early ’90s has stopped, interest rates are in the 6 percent range and there are more choices than in the last five years. For a buyer looking for a home, things couldn’t be better. It is good news for the seller, too, Reburn said. It means homes are affordable for the buyers.

In 1990-91, interest was 12 percent to 13 percent, twice what it is now, and time on the market was 180 days, nearly twice what it is now — and “we all survived,” Reburn said.

Cindy Dickerman, operating principal at Keller Williams Real Estate, said the region is fortunate to have a solid economy.

“I think one of the worst things is the media talks about a broad-brush national market. There are certainly places with severe issues but we have always had a very stable market here. We’ve had little bumps in the road in our area rather than large ups and downs,” Dickerman said.

“Last month we had one of the best months all year.”

Reality is setting in that housing prices have stopped going up and sellers have accepted the fact that they must make their homes desirable to sell, she said. Four years ago, people could probably sell much worse-looking homes. The region came out of a sellers’ market at the beginning of 2006 but it took a long time for consumers to realize that.

“We are in a buyers’ market now. We have an oversupply of new construction and thus an oversupply of resale homes, but houses in good condition that are priced fair continue to sell very quickly,” Dickerman said. “Buyers have lots of choices. Sellers are still making good money on their homes.”

Though Chester County was flat overall, some municipalities posted improved results.

Thornbury had the largest percent increase in median sale price in Chester County, increasing 47.9 percent in the first half of 2008 to $624,309, followed by East Bradford at 44.2 percent to $470,000, East Brandywine at 16.3 percent to $335,000, East Pikeland at 12.4 percent to $268,700 and East Vincent at 9.6 percent to $378,250.

Thornbury also posted the highest median sale price followed by Easttown, East Bradford, Kennett and East Whiteland.

At the highest end of the scale, results are mixed, as well.

Steve DiFrancesco, a broker at Hunter, Reed and Co., deals with the luxury market, a demographic of discretionary buyers looking for investment properties, not simply a place to live.

“In the high-end market ($1 million and above), we are seeing some movement, particularly in those areas of eastern and central Chester County which are close to both corporate centers and the Main Line - Easttown, Tredyffrin, Willistown, and Charlestown townships, for example,” DeFrancisco said. “There’s an excess of high-end inventory in those areas, but it’s being absorbed, though more slowly than two or three years ago.”

In other outlying portions of Chester County, particularly in far southern or far northern Chester County, DiFrancisco said, the company is seeing a somewhat longer and more difficult sales cycle for million - and especially multimillion - dollar properties.