SPARTANBURG, S.C. (WSPA) – Home sales are slowing nationwide, but Spartanburg County’s market is doing better than most.
Brian Harry, a real estate agent with Coldwell Banker Cain in Spartanburg, said housing markets were booming everywhere in 2020.
“During the pandemic, the real estate industry was truly in the age of unicorns. Every for sale sign we put in front of a house had 20 buyers,” he said.
While the domestic market may have fallen precipitously since then, Spartanburg County has cooled at a slower pace.
“Our market is depressed like the rest of the world, but it hasn’t fallen in value or changed as drastically as other parts of the U.S.,” Hurley said.
Part of that is because Spartanburg is one of the areas people are moving to.
“During this difficult economic climate, 20.6 people have moved to Spartanburg every day this year,” said Spartanburg County Councilman David Britt.
Hurley said population growth will make a big difference in home sales. But that doesn’t mean it’s beneficial for everyone looking to sell.
“If you do your research and look at what’s for sale and what’s for sale, 45 percent of home sales are new construction,” he said.
New construction can be tough competition for existing sellers.
“They priced the house higher, gave them interest rate incentives and helped with closing costs,” Hurley said. “So how has that affected the market? It’s made it harder for homeowners to sell their homes because they can’t offer as many incentives as builders.”
But such development is necessary because the population continues to grow, Britt said.
“We currently have 5,000 homes under construction in Woodruff,” Britt said. “If we didn’t need this much housing, whether it’s single-family apartments or not, developers wouldn’t build it.”
There are nearly 1,500 listings and more than 700 pending sales in the county, Hurley said. The average home price in the county is $300,000.
Hurry up and say the best thing for sellers to do in this market is:
- List your home based on what other homes are currently selling for, not what your neighbors sold for months ago or what you’ve seen in the past.
- provide incentives
- Pay a fair fee to the buyer agent who sells your home
Hurry up said buyers must first decide what type of home they want to buy.
“Nearly half of our sales are new construction, and new construction only gets these incentives if you use a financial institution, so you really have to decide whether you want to buy new construction or buy existing construction.” he said.
If you choose Existing, you must qualify in advance.