Want to buy a SC home in 2024? Here are cities where prices have risen fastest — and by how much
.jpg "Here are the South Carolina cities that had the biggest housing market price increases in 2023.")
It’s a new year, meaning many couples and families will again be trying their luck at buying a home in South Carolina.
But location matters greatly when it comes to finding a home for the best deal. Like many other markets across the U.S., there was a surge in home prices as mortgage rates rose in South Carolina. And some cities in the state had bigger price jumps than others, housing market data shows.
Industry sites like realtor.com and redfin.com predict that 2024 will become more of a buyer’s market because of easing inflation and mortgage rates.
Still, those big price jumps from last year won’t just disappear in 2024. To help potential homebuyers shop for the best prices, here’s a list of the South Carolina cities where home prices rose the most in 2023 — as well as how big the increases were for each city, according to the latest data from realtor.com.
| Metro | Dec. 2023 median listing price | Year-over-year price per square foot change | Dec. 2022 price per square foot | Dec. 2023 price per square foot |
| Charleston-N. Charleston | $500,000 | 9.9% | $234 | $257 |
Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach | $325,078 | 7.1% | $216 | $232 |
Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal | $571,908 | 6.3% | $326 | $347 |
Greenville-Anderson-Greer | $359,000 | 5.9% | $165 | $175 |
| Columbia | $299,900 | 5.3% | $143 | $151 |
| Florence | $257,450 | 5.2% | $130 | $137 |
| Spartanburg | $305,8122 | 2.2% | $158 | $161 |
Housing market predictions 2024
Realtor.com predicts a return to pricing in line with financing costs in 2024, spurred by home prices, mortgage rates and income growth.
“Home prices are expected to ease slightly, dropping less than 2% for the year on average. Combined with lower mortgage rates and income growth this will improve the home purchase mortgage payment share relative to median income to an average 34.9% in 2024, with the share slipping under 30% by the end of the year,”Realtor.com states.
The real estate site also forecasts that similar forces will keep total home sales relatively unchanged.
“Although mortgage rates are expected to ease throughout the course of the year, the continuation of high costs will mean that existing homeowners will have a very high threshold for deciding to move, with many likely choosing to stay in place,” Realtor.com states.
Redfin predicts home prices will fall 1% in the second and third quarters of 2024, when the home-selling season is in full swing.
“Home prices will still be out of reach for many Americans, but any break in the affordability crisis is a welcome development nonetheless,” Redfin states.
Unlike Realtor.com, Redfin says it believes sales will increase overall across the U.S. and will end 2024 up 5% year-over-year. Sales will improve in part because of a steady decline in mortgage rates. Also, more people will start trying to sell homes as they begin to realize prices have begun to fall, Redfin predicts.
“Home sales will speed up throughout 2024 as affordability improves and more homes hit the market,” Redfin states.
