Homebuyers in the Philadelphia region can finally breathe a little easier as the metro area’s home sales price went down four percent in January compared withvthe same month last year to $240,000, write Isaac Avilucea and Mike D’Onofrio for the Axios.

Compared to December, January prices fell by 6.7 percent.

Any relief is welcome, considering that mortgage rates have gone up slightly to 6.3 percent in recent weeks. However, they are still down from their 7 percent peak in November.

And while inventory has increased almost 15 percent year over year in January, home sales went down over 40 percent in the same period. Additionally, homes stayed on the market for an average of 53 days in January, which is an increase of seven days from last year.

According to Drexel University economist Kevin Gillen, the housing market continues to decelerate because the price growth has outpaced income growth, which has reduced affordability.

He expects that the housing market in the region will experience modest price declines this year.

“Now that sales have dropped sharply, when and how much prices could follow is the other big question,” said Gillen.

Read more about home sale prices in the Axios.

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Khalid Nathan Aleem, a Philadelphia real estate agent, discusses the real estate market in Philadelphia.