Greenwood Real Estate

Town and Country sends a newsletter to its rental property owners every month, and it has interesting information I believe is worth sharing.

Greenwood Market Current occupancy levels have improved since last month and are at 93%. Rental demand in the Greenwood market has improved for property managers and private landlords even though more and more applications are being rejected due to poor credit and rental history (Town and Country rejects about 80% of applications due to these reasons). Hidden Creek Condominiums has experienced an increase in move outs due to evictions and tenants turning keys in not being able to handle their rent payments. Our local Property Managers Association members, all report an increase in unexpected move outs over the past 6 months. The local economy continues to impact our rental business as tenants are finding they cannot handle their rents and are choosing to move back in with family and friends.

Economic Trends - On a national level there has been a hiring surge with new jobs being added thus lowering the unemployment to a recent low of 8.5%, the lowest rate in almost 3 years. Locally, South Carolina’s rate is at 9.8%, with Greenwood County currently at 10.4% and Anderson County at 9%. The local housing market continues to struggle even though buyers are seeing sub-4% loans. With banks enforcing stricter entry requirements, many buyers simply cannot obtain loans. We have seen a large increase in owners simply walking away from investment owned real estate (lots and rental properties). They can no longer support the debt payments as many of these were financed with 5 -7 year balloon payments. These are being done with a deed in lieu of foreclosure with the affected banks. These of course present good opportunities for buyers who have cash available for quick buys. This trend is only creating a further dismal future as banks push more foreclosures through the channel and dump properties in the coming 2-3 years. All of this adversely affects prices for residential real estate.

| Posted in » greenwood SC, real estate