SC home sales surge in April — many markets by double digits. Here’s where buying is rising most
Home sales spiked in multiple South Carolina markets in April after a big slump a month earlier, the latest statistics show.
Overall, there were 7,906 homes sold in South Carolina in April, a 7.2% jump from the 7,372 sold the same month a year ago, according to the latest South Carolina Realtors data.
The year-over-year sales increases for April come as median housing prices across most of the state continue to rise, albeit at a slower pace than recent years. The sales jump is also in line with U.S. sales for April, data shows.
According to South Carolina Realtors, here are the South Carolina markets ranked by biggest home sales increases in April.
- Beaufort: 27.2%
- Spartanburg: 18.5%
- Western Upstate: 17.1%
- Greater Greenville: 15.8%
- Hilton Head area: 14%
- Greater Columbia: 13.9%
- Charleston Trident: 8%
- Greater Augusta: 8%
- Aiken: 7.4%
- Coastal Carolinas: 2.1%
- Sumter/Clarendon County: 0.7%
- Piedmont Regional: 0.6%
SC markets with drop in home sales
- Greenwood: -5.7%
- Central Carolina: 6.9%
- Pee Dee: 17.1%
- Cherokee County: 18.8%
The state’s housing market in April was a complete shift from where it was in March. Only two markets, Hilton Head and the western Upstate, had increases in home sales in March. The state had a 9.9% drop in total home sales for March, year-over-year.
SC housing prices
South Carolina has continued to see rising home prices this year. However, the rate of the increase has slowed.
The year-over-year sales price growth for South Carolina was 5.4% in April for a total of $340,000, down from 5.7% in March and 7.5% in February.
Greenwood had the biggest median price increase at 32.3% in April, year-over-year. Below are the four South Carolina markets that had median price drops in April.
- Greater Columbia: -0.1%
- Greater Augusta: -2.6%
- Cherokee County: -3.2%
- Central Carolina: -33.2%
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, new home sales climbed 8.8% month-over-month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 693,000 units — the highest level since September, a realtors report shows. The median sales price in the U.S. rose 3.1% to $330,000 in April.
Market-wide, inventory levels jumped 40.7%. The property type with the largest increase was the condos segment, in which sales rose by 80.1%.
