SC home sales rise in some markets for 1st time in 2023 as prices fall. Here’s where

Patrick McCreless
·2 min read

Sales jumped in a few South Carolina housing markets recently for the first time in 2023, the latest statistics show.

The year-over-year sales increases for May come as median housing prices in several parts of the state have gradually dropped in 2023, following two years of spiking costs as demand rose and inventory shrank.

According to the latest South Carolina Realtors statistics, here are the South Carolina housing markets that did not see a year-over-year decline in home sales in May.

  • Greater Greenville: 0.4%

  • Hilton Head area: 0.0%

  • Western Upstate: 6.3%

The only other housing market that has seen a jump in sales this year was Spartanburg, which reported a 4.8% spike in March.

Sales in South Carolina overall are still in a slump, down 12.5% year-over-year in May. And total sales are down 27% for the first quarter of 2023, South Carolina Realtors statistics show.

SC housing prices

Overall, South Carolina has continued to see rising home sale prices this year. However, the rate of the increase has slowed dramatically.

For instance, the year-over-year median sales price growth for South Carolina was 1.5% in May, lower than 2.5% in April and a far cry from the 20.7% in May of 2022. Prices have begun to fall as demand has weakened, some experts have said about the state’s housing markets.

Here are the South Carolina housing markets that had median sales price drops year-over-year in May, according to South Carolina Realtors.

  • Charleston Trident: -1.2%

  • Cherokee County: -1.0%

  • Greater Greenville: -0.6%

  • Hilton Head area: -1.5%

  • Piedmont Regional: -2.0%

  • Sumter/Clarendon County: -10.4%

SC housing inventory

Part of why housing prices skyrocketed over the last two years was because of insufficient inventory. The availability of more homes this year has helped ease demand, helping lower prices and encourage more sales.

According to the latest data from Redfin, there were 24,713 homes for sale in April, up 6.9% year over year. Also, the average months of supply in April was three months, compared to two months a year prior.

Still, there were 6,929 newly listed homes in April, down 19.9% year over year, Redfin states.