It’s a good time to be in York, Lancaster, Chester area -- if you’re selling a home.
Area real estate agents have good news and bad news for anyone wading into the home sale market. But it depends whether folks want to buy or sell.
Two metrics show the York, Lancaster and Chester counties corner of South Carolina is tops in the state for homeowners who want to sell. The average tri-county home that went on the market in 2020 spent 38 days there, lowest in the state. Tri-county homes brought in 99% of their asking price, highest in the state.
“The Piedmont Area (York, Lancaster and Chester counties) is definitely seeing a shortage of houses for sale and it is a seller’s market,” said Billie Prater, executive with Piedmont Regional Association of Realtors. “Our Realtors are hoping for more inventory on the market in the spring to help their buyers.”
The median price for a local home in 2020 was $295,000. That number is up 8.5% in a year and 26.6% since 2016.
South Carolina Realtors have released their final 2020 data on home sales. The association found pending sales statewide up 5% and closed sales up 2.4% in a year. The more than 101,000 total closed transactions is the most ever in a year for South Carolina.
“Because South Carolina Realtors fought for real estate to be deemed an essential service, Realtors were able to continue to work for homeowners throughout an unprecedented time,” said group president Morris Lyles.
There were challenges. The number of homes available in 2020 was down almost 37% in a year. New listings dropped 6%. The state has fewer than 17,000 homes for sale now, about half what it was in 2016.
Areas on and east of the Catawba River make up many of the home sales in York and Lancaster counties. Fort Mill, Indian Land, Tega Cay, Lake Wylie and Rock Hill all show significant community growth and increased home value. For many of them the much closer competition than other areas of South Carolina, is the Charlotte region just to the north.
Here’s a look at how at how this area fares on several key metrics compared to the rest of South Carolina and the Charlotte region:
This story was originally published January 28, 2021 at 8:12 AM.
