York County home value bump nearly best in SC, but a neighbor tops the list, study says
One analysis puts Chester County atop the list for home value increases in South Carolina, just ahead of neighboring York County.
Online number crunching group SmartAsset ranked counties where home value rose the most the past five years. SmartAsset analyzes a variety of public data to create comparisons for use by financial advisors and the public.
The online study ranked Chester County at No. 1 and York County at No. 2. Lancaster County was No. 10.
The study used U.S. Census Bureau, Department of Education and Zillow data. Home value increase joined school performance and property tax rates to create an overall value listing to show how far tax dollars go. York County ranked No. 13 in the overall listing, with Lancaster County at No. 17 and Chester County at No. 18.
Chester County had a more than 56% growth rate in home value the past five years. York County scored 55%. No other county grew more than 48%. Lancaster County had a nearly 37% growth rate.
“Places where property values rose by the greatest amount indicated where consumers were motivated to buy homes, and a positive return on investment for homeowners in the community,” reads the study.
Recent census bureau data shows major population growth in Fort Mill and significant growth in Clover, Indian Land and other tri-county areas. Chester County hasn’t seen the overall population growth in recent years compared to York and Lancaster counties.
Piedmont Regional Association of Realtors and Canopy Realtor Association data shows Chester County doesn’t have the number of home sales its neighbors to the north do. But, those sales have increased in price. The 38 new listings in June is more than double what the same month had last year in Chester County. The average sales price is up almost 35% in that year, to more than $220,000.
This story was originally published August 2, 2021 at 12:00 PM.
