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Housing Supply Overview For the first time in a year, homebuilder confidence has increased, rising 4 points to 35 in January, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) / Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). Elevated sales prices, coupled with a surge in mortgage rates, caused demand for new homes to plummet in… Read more »

Hello REALTORS®, Your Board of Directors approved position statements on four issues that relate to several public policy issues in the Western Upstate: Three of them will help your Grassroots Government Affairs Team advocate for REALTOR® interests right away. Short-Term Rentals: Anderson County Council and Walhalla City Council both have discussed short-term rental legislation recently. … Read more »

Hello REALTORS®, Local governments in the Western Upstate are ramping up their agendas, but I would like to focus this week’s report on the state level.  The South Carolina General Assembly convened for the 125th session on January 10. Your REALTORS® Association, led by SC REALTORS®, has adopted a legislative agenda for the first half… Read more »

Monthly Indicators 2022 was a turbulent year for the US housing market, as inflation, soaring interest rates, and elevated sales prices combined to cause a slowdown nationwide. Affordability challenges continue to limit market activity, with pending home sales and existing-home sales down month-over-month and falling 37.8% and 35.4% year-over-year, respectively, according to the National Association… Read more »

Hello REALTORS®, It’s a new year and I am trying out a new report—weekly if there is news to share—less often when things are slow.  I don’t expect it to be slow for the next four to five months.  I will highlight three to five issues each week, hopefully one each from the three counties… Read more »

Monthly Indicators Housing affordability continues to be a major roadblock for market participants, with mortgage rates more than double compared to this time last year. Buyers are delaying home purchases in hopes rates will drop, while many sellers are holding off on listing their homes due to weakening buyer demand, unwilling to trade in their… Read more »

Your Western Upstate REALTORS® Association government affairs staff learned this week that an obscure technical change made by the EPA earlier this year removed the exemption for property managers from the EPA’s Lead Safe Renovation, Repair and Painting Program. If you are a property manager and manage housing or a child-occupied property built before 1978,… Read more »

In case you missed it, the elections were last week.  I hope you voted.  Before I give you a rundown of the Upstate races, here are some observations: Turnout was high-not quite as high as 2018-but still good.  Anderson County was 51%.  Pickens County was 53%.  Oconee County was 54%.  Go Oconee! Penny sales tax… Read more »

Monthly Indicators Existing home sales declined nationwide for the eighth consecutive month, falling 1.5% as of last measure, according to the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR), with sales down nearly 24% from the same period last year. Pending home sales also declined, dropping 10.9% month-to-month, exceeding economists’ expectations. Stubbornly high inflation and soaring borrowing costs… Read more »

Monthly Indicators The U.S. real estate market continues to slow as we move into fall, as rising consumer prices and higher mortgage interest rates squeeze homebuyer budgets and cool activity. With inflation showing little sign of abating, the Federal Reserve implemented another 75-basis-point hike in September, marking the third such rate increase this year. The… Read more »