Spartanburg SC Real Estate Market

So, after spending the week reviewing the inventory of residential real estate in Spartanburg SC do you think we are in a buyers market or a sellers market?  Or do you think it is a balanced market with an equal amount of sellers and buyers?  This is the last post in the series exploring residential real estate inventory in Spartanburg SC.  This area is also called the absorption rate of Spartanburg SC residential real estate.

Here is the data again to refresh your memory:

Data Source: Spartanburg, SC MLS
Price Range	Current Active Listings	Sold Listings	Date Range	Solds per Month	# Months of Inventory
$0 – $100	816	1156	12	96.3	8.47
$100 – $125	343	421	12	35.1	9.78
$125 – $150	411	373	12	31.1	13.22
$150 – $200	528	423	12	35.3	14.98
$200 – $250	287	206	12	17.2	16.72
$250 – $300	219	100	12	8.3	26.28
$300 – $350	133	49	12	4.1	32.57
$350 – $400	130	35	12	2.9	44.57
$400 – $450	74	30	12	2.5	29.60
$450 – $500	71	26	12	2.2	32.77
$500 – $600	74	17	12	1.4	52.24
$600 – $750	41	8	12	0.7	61.50
$750 – $1 million	48	3	12	0.3	192.00
$1 million – up	40	2	12	0.2	240.00

After reviewing the inventory of homes in the Spartanburg and Boiling Springs areas what do you think?  Buyers market?, Sellers market?, or a Balanced market with an equal amount of sellers and buyers?

I’m betting most would say it’s a buyers market meaning there are more sellers in the Spartanburg market than there are buyers.  With more houses to choose from buyers have the chance to be more selective and sellers have to compete more aggressively to sell their homes creating a downward pressure on home prices.

But is this the right answer?  What’s my opinion you ask?  Well, at the highest level I would say it is more of a buyers market and slowly continuing to trend that way.  However there is a big but, and it’s a big one.  Just like the best home values always sell the fastest, it’s the same for the best areas as well.  A good clean, safe community with good schools and low crime will always sell faster than one that ranks lower on these same criteria.   With the economy continuing to tighten, despite what our president is trying to get us to believe, people are trying to secure monthly mortgage payments they can afford.  When we combine this trend with affordable houses in neighborhoods that meet the above description we get areas that are holding their home values extremely well.  Boiling Springs home values in the affordable price range, despite a high inventory measured in around 1 year, are doing very very well.  With so much talk of foreclosures in the news why are buyers willing to pay market prices for these homes?  The answer is simple.  Becuase they are worth it.  The home will provide a safe haven for their children, parents, spouses, pets, hobbies, etc.

On the other end of the spectrum are rental property with 2 bedrooms and 1 bath with differed maintenance  in downtown Spartanburg SC that once appraised at $70,000 and now are lucky to appraise at $30,000.  Banks have taken so many back in foreclosures that they do not want to loan money on more until they sell what they already own.  Investors then can’t get loans to buy these Spartanburg rental houses making the buyer pool smaller and limited to cash laden investors and cash laden home owners comfortable in that community.  With more time available it would be interesting to see a further breakdown of the sub-$100,000 Spartanburg residential real estate market as I suspect the under $50,000 houses are plenty but the over $50,000 houses are moving well overall.

I hope you enjoyed this look at the Spartanburg SC residential inventory.  We are much better off then many parts of the country and even here builders are still building and buyers are still buying new homes.  Sellers are still selling for every imaginable reason and home repair specialists are still repairing.  Economies will always have ups and downs and many think we are on our way to being at a bottom in the not too distant future.  While we cannot predict exactly what is next and when it will come, we can use the facts available today to make better decisions tomorrow.

You can search available Boiling Springs homes homes in all the price segments here.

God Bless and keep looking Up.

Boiling Springs SC and Spartanburg SC Luxury Homes Priced $400,000 and Up

As the price of a Spartanburg South Carolina home goes up the number of days it takes that home to sell goes up as well.  There is a direct correlation between Spartanburg home prices and days on market in a tight economy or at least an economy with so much uncertainty.   The Boiling Springs area offers a lot of home for the money in a great community, in a great location in “Upstate”, SC.  The luxury home market is no exception as we have a number of very good local builders that build homes that would sell for much more if located in some other markets.

Still, the time it takes a home to sell, or the days on market for Spartanburg SC homes increases considerably as the price goes up. Look at the “Sold Listings” column below to see the annual sales rate of Spartanburg homes in this price range.  As the price goes up the sales rate comes down even while the supply of homes remain consistent across the $400,000 to $600,000 prices range.  Not shocking new information but certainly interesting to see.  This of course translates into a higher months of inventory ranging from 2.5 years to 5 years and beyond.  Search for Boiling Springs SC homes and real estate priced at $400,000 and above.

If you are a seller of a $400,000 or greater Spartanburg home or Boiling Springs home it will be important to reach a buyer market outside of the local Boiling Springs real estate market.  You can review the highlights of a successful residential real estate marketing sales plan by clicking the link.  Of course some secret details are left off as proprietary sales strategies and tactics!!!

Source: Spartanburg, SC MLS
Price Range	Current Active Listings	Sold Listings	Date Range	Solds per Month	# Months of Inventory
$400 – $450	74	30	12	2.5	29.60
$450 – $500	71	26	12	2.2	32.77
$500 – $600	74	17	12	1.4	52.24
$600 – $750	41	8	12	0.7	61.50
$750 – $1 million	48	3	12	0.3	192.00
$1 million – up	40	2	12	0.2	240.00

Spartanburg and Boiling Springs Homes for Sale From $200,000 to $300,000

Today we will take a brief look at Spartanburg county homes selling in the price range of $200,000 to $300,000.  There are currently 506 Spartanburg homes for sale in the price range with 306 homes selling in the last year.  This converts to 25.6 homes sold per month for a 19.8 month supply of homes in the Spartanburg real estate market.  As seen in the chart below this inventory supply balloons to 26 months for homes prices from $250,000 to $300,000.  Clearly this speaks to our local market and income demographic as affordable monthly mortgage payments remain at lower levels during this economic environment.

It also tells us that lenders and builders did not do their economic home work well enough by clearly over targeting this price range.  These people are not dumb so market conditions can obviously  be tricky.  As square footage goes up profitability tends to go up as well attracting more builders to build larger and larger homes.

On the bright side this potentially represents a good buying opportunity for higher priced Spartanburg homes.  Those with secure and appropriately sized incomes might want to consider “watching” this price segement for bargains that would make a purchase in this range attainable or just more comfortable financially.  Click here to search Boiling Springs Real Estate from $200,000 to $300,000 . Call me if I can help in anyway.

Source: Spartanburg, SC MLS
Price Range	Current Active Listings	Sold Listings	Date Range	Solds per Month	# Months of Inventory
$0 – $100	816	1156	12	96.3	8.47
$100 – $125	343	421	12	35.1	9.78
$125 – $150	411	373	12	31.1	13.22
$150 – $200	528	423	12	35.3	14.98
$200 – $250	287	206	12	17.2	16.72
$250 – $300	219	100	12	8.3	26.28

Spartanburg, SC Homes for Sale from $125,000 to $200,000

The $125,000 to $200,000 price range of Boiling Springs homes and Spartanburg homes accounts for most of the “middle class” price range if you will.  Currently there are 815 homes listed for sale in the Spartanburg MLS for this price range.  The yearly sales rate is 796 or 66.4 homes sold every month.  This means that there is over a 14 month inventory of homes in the Spartanburg market for sale between $125,000 to $200,000.

This segment represents about 28% of all home sales in the county.  Combined with the lower priced homes looked at previous to today the group accounts for 83% of all homes sales in Spartanburg county.  As the price range of Spartanburg homes increased we saw the supply of homes increase as well with today’s group having a supply over 14 months based on current absorption rates.  This is very interesting because we will see this trend continue as we look at higher and higher priced homes.  Clearly the economy is making people think twice about larger mortgage payments.

If you are selling your mid priced home today, and know that there is a 14 month supply you have to take this into consideration as you determine your marketing elements of pricing, staging, etc.  If you don’t do all you can do the buyer has plenty of other homes to choose from.  Each showing needs to be maximized for it’s potential to sell before that buyer walks into another Spartanburg county home. Click here to search Boiling Springs homes in the $125,000 to $200,000 price range.

Next we will look at the $200,000 to $300,000 price range.

Here is the table we have discussed to this point:

Source: Spartanburg, SC MLS
Price Range	Current Active Listings	Sold Listings	Date Range	Solds per Month	# Months of Inventory
$0 – $100	816	1156	12	96.3	8.47
$100 – $125	343	421	12	35.1	9.78
$125 – $150	411	373	12	31.1	13.22
$150 – $200	528	423	12	35.3	14.98

Spartanburg County Homes from $100,000 to $125,000

Source of Data: Spartanburg, SC MLS
Price Range	Current Active Listings	Sold Listings	Date Range	Solds per Month	# Months of Inventory
$100 – $125	343	421	12	35.1	9.78

Today we will look at Spartanburg county homes priced in the $100,000 to $125,000 price range.  This is a range of homes attractive to first time home buyers and budget priority households. (note – this does not mean lack of money, I myself live in a house much below what I am able to afford).  It is the 3rd largest price segment of Spartanburg homes for sale.  To generalize this and the next few Spartanburg price segments we look at will be a good gage of “working America” and the economy as a whole.  As you will see every segment will give us insight into our local economy and together paint a great picture of the current state of real estate in the Spartanburg and Boiling Springs areas.

If you are selling a home in this price segment you are competing with 342 other homes (of course not all homes are competing directly with your Spartanburg area home) with a sales rate of 421 homes per year.  This breaks out to 35 Spartanburg area homes selling per month resulting in a 9.78 month supply of homes on the market.  This means that if not another home was offered for sale the current homes on the market would accommodate home buyers for the next 10 months!

Of course we know there will be more Spartanburg area homes coming onto the market every day and homes selling everyday.  Our hope is that the rate of sales out paces the rate of people selling their Spartanburg real estate from $100,000 to $125,000.

Again, the best homes sell the fastest.  “Best” is a relative term and is a combination of “product”, your property, and price.  The best home, if priced incorrectly, will not sell quickly.

Buying a home in this price range demands attention to other areas that you cannot control more so then the higher price levels we will look at later.  For example, while you might keep your yard nicely manicured it might not be your neighbor’s highest priority.  Subdivision, a function of location, is even more critical in mid-level housing price ranges.

If you would like to sell or buy a home in the Spartanburg and Boiling Springs market in this price range there are specific things you can do to improve your chances of selling and making sure you buy correctly.  I can make sure all those “things” are considered. Search here for Boiling Springs homes priced $100,000 to $125,000.

Next we will look at the $125,000 to $150,000 price range segment of homes for sale in Spartanburg, SC

NEW Spartanburg and Boiling Springs Foreclosures

I can now offer for sale government foreclosures in the Spartanburg and Greenville SC area. Click on the below house icon to review government foreclosed homes in the Spartanburg and Boiling Springs real estate market. This search has been added to the homes search page. Happy home hunting!

Spartanburg County Residential Inventory $0 to $100,000

Over the next few days I would like to look at the “inventory” of Spartanburg county homes on the market right now so we can have a better understanding of what to expect in the future.  Today we are going to look at homes priced from $0.00 to $100,000.If you are selling a home under $100,000 in Spartanburg county then you have 815 other Spartanburg homes for sale competing with you.  Now of course they do not all directly compete with yours as some will be 1 bedrooms, 2 bedrooms, old, new, other side of town, etc.  However, with 816 homes for sale in Spartanburg county under $100,000 and 1,156 homes selling in 12 months, there is a 8.47 month supply of Spartanburg homes under $100,000 on the market right now. (See the table below)  Click here to search for Boiling Springs homes priced up to $100,000. This means that if you have a home for sale under $100,000 it is taking 8.5 months to sell it.  The Spartanburg homes that sell first are the best ones that are priced correctly  or even below market. What’s the lesson in this table below.  We are in a buyers market right now.  There are more sellers then there are buyers.  Since buyers have a lot of choices right now the seller has to take an active role in selling their home.  This means making your home look better and nicer then your competition down the street. It is no coincidence that one of the top jobs out there right now is a home staging professional.  For less then 1/2 of a mortgage payment sellers can maximize their selling chances by getting their house to appeal to buyers.  Don’t know who to call for help to spruce the place up?  Feel free to give me a call. 864-621-7900 Source: Spartanburg, SC MLS
Price Range	Current Active Listings	Sold Listings	Date Range	Solds per Month	# Months of Inventory
$0 – $100	816	1156	12	96.3	8.47