Why Is The Columbia SC Market so Different?

The Columbia SC real estate market is really different from other areas based on my research and networking. In the Charleston market people will pay the price for the rich history and locations near the beach, in the Greenville/Spartanburg area you find that people love the area jobs pay a little more and being close to the mountains justifies the prices. Seller price their homes on what they believe is the value but Buyers ultimately determined pricing for an area because your best comparative market analysis is the last home sold.

In Columbia SC there is a totally different mindset amongst both real estate agents and buyers. Once a Buyer gets set on an area they immediately begin looking at the homes by price per square foot.  The biggest challenge I have to overcome is “How much is that per square foot,” this is by far the single most used phrase regarding the value of a home in this market. Price per square foot even drives Sellers because Realtors don’t educate their buyers. Realtors will even debate the value when they bring buyers based solely on the price per square foot without considering all things are not equal when they do their market analysis to put homes on the market. We know that in the Columbia market the first thing any Buyer does when they are looking for a house, land or investment property is check the price per square foot. In other markets it is not quite like this, bedrooms, bathrooms take a much grander role in the valuation of a property. But not here, maybe it is because the market is so saturated with new construction competing against resales. In the mind of the Buyer price per square foot is KING.

In my experience I have found that the Resale homes in the Columbia market are priced less per square foot than new homes and have bigger yards. Many people are the working class with growing families and they seek these homes. Homes that come to the market that are priced right will fly on and off the market before you know it in Columbia these days. Yet, builders are paying higher cost for land and the materials to build such as lumber have spiked in price. These homes tend to sit on the market longer. When we factor new construction homes into our market our days on the market get a little higher as builders put their homes on the market before they are complete in hopes that they will sell before they are complete and close as soon as they are. This makes this market difficult because with the over saturation of new homes in the market and all of the builders are building a similar product it often Buyers to wants “what they saw in another neighbor that has the same house”. The reality of our market is that price per foot will vary by community and the area. More often than not, this along with not having the right feature that a consumer values at that price point is why homes stay on the market longer than they should.

Are you looking for homes in the Columbia SC area? Do you know the price per foot in your neighborhood? Do you care? You should! Get to know your price/ft. and you will be able to tell what you should do to your house to maximize the value, without over doing it. Call one of our team members and we would be glad to sit down with you and discuss how you can get maximum dollar for your home, and find a new home at the right price for you! Price matters and we understand our Market is unique, let us share our expertise with you.

Tiffanie Flagler