How Greenville RE Is Shifting

Greenville’s housing market isn’t just riding the waves of higher mortgage rates—it’s quietly redrawing the map of what homeownership looks like. The last three years have transformed everything from lot size and construction age to how long listings linger on the market.

This episode of Selling Greenville digs into three years of MLS data—2022, 2023, and 2024—to uncover how Greenville real estate has evolved since the post-COVID boom. What’s emerged is a story of smaller lots, newer builds, longer timelines, and a slow tilt toward affordability tactics that don’t always feel so affordable.

What follows is a grounded look at how Greenville RE is shifting, why it matters, and what it means for buyers, sellers, and anyone trying to make sense of this next chapter in the Upstate housing story.

Greenville RE Is Shifting

The Upstate market has entered a new phase—call it the high-rate era. Mortgage News Daily reports rates holding in the low sevens, and the 10-year yield isn’t offering much relief. That environment, combined with tighter lending and fading COVID memory, has rewritten local patterns: what sells, how fast, and for how much.

Here’s how those changes are showing up in the numbers—and the neighborhoods.

The Shrinking Lot Line

The data tells a clear story.

• 2022: The average lot size for sold residential properties sat at 1.89 acres (with a median of 0.30).

• 2023: It dropped to 0.84 acres (median 0.29).

• 2024: It dipped again to 0.78 acres (median 0.27).

That’s not a fluke; it’s a shift. Developers are carving land into smaller parcels to keep pricing even remotely within reach. COVID briefly made large acreage glamorous—room to roam, garden, or hide—but maintaining all that space proved more work than fantasy. As life normalized, many owners downsized, and buyers leaned toward efficiency over expanse.

Counties like Greenville, Pickens, and Spartanburg would rather see larger lots, but they haven’t solved the affordability math. Until they do, small is the new standard.

The Price-Per-Square-Foot Reality

At a glance, it might seem like prices have softened. But price per square foot tells the truth—and it’s climbing.

• 2022: $160 median per square foot

• 2023: $165

• 2024: $168

That’s a steady 2%-per-year climb. The average price per square foot (skewed by luxury builds) even jumped from $192 to $271 in 2024.

In short, homes may look “cheaper” because they’re smaller, not because the market’s easing. Greenville is seeing its own version of shrinkflation—less land, less house, more dollars per foot.

Concessions: The Quiet Comeback

Remember 2020 through mid-2022? Sellers ruled. Concessions were rare enough to sound mythical. Not anymore.

• 2022: $1,394 average concession

• 2023: $2,987

• 2024: $3,469

Even though the median concession stays at zero, the average shows a different landscape. Roughly 1% of the typical sale price (around $3,500 on a mid-$300K home) now comes back to the buyer as a seller-paid credit or rate buy-down.

That’s good news for buyers—but a sign for sellers to adjust expectations.

Younger Homes, Older Listings

One of the most striking shifts? The average year built for homes sold.

• 2022: 2008

• 2023: 2015

• 2024: 2017

In two years, the average home sold got nearly a decade younger. Builders’ rate-buydown incentives made new construction irresistible—sometimes cheaper month-to-month than older resales. For homeowners listing pre-2010 houses, this means stiffer competition from brand-new inventory, modern finishes, and builder financing perks.

But newer homes aren’t the only change. Homes are taking longer to move.

Year	Avg. Days on Market	Median Days on Market
2022	30 days	8 days
2023	53 days	23 days
2024	59 days	31 days

Homes are spending twice as long on the market as they did in 2022. A listing lasting 30 days isn’t “stale” anymore—it’s typical.

Space, Garages, and the Death of the Basement

Garages: The average garage capacity climbed from 1.48 to 1.55 spaces between 2022 and 2024. Two-car garages are now the default, even for townhomes. Anything less is a disadvantage.

Basements: Meanwhile, basement homes are disappearing:

• 8% of sold homes in 2022 had one

• 6.5% in 2024

Builders rarely design full-basement neighborhoods anymore; the topography has to demand it. Buyers love them. Appraisers don’t. Supply stays thin.

Square Footage: The median home size ticked upward—from around 1,868 sq ft in 2022 to roughly 1,900+ by 2024. People want more indoor space, even if the yard shrinks to make room for it.

The HOA Tradeoff

If you think you’ll escape an HOA, the odds say otherwise.

• 2022: 55% of sold homes had HOAs

• 2023: 57%

• 2024: 59%

No-HOA homes are officially the minority—and therefore, the premium.

Among HOA properties, annual dues are winning the tug-of-war over monthly fees. By 2024, 77.5% of HOAs will be billed annually, not monthly. Buyers clearly prefer one yearly check over another $150-$200 a month eating into cash flow.

Who’s Buying (and How)

The financing mix paints a picture of who’s active and who’s waiting.

Cash: Still about a quarter of all transactions—sliding slightly from 25% to 23.5%.

Conventional Loans: Down from 55% in 2022 to 48% in 2024. Step-up buyers with low fixed rates are staying put—the classic “golden handcuffs.”

FHA Loans: Up from 11.9% to 19.7%. First-time buyers are finally competitive again as sellers accept FHA offers.

VA Loans: Climbing modestly from 6.4% to 7.3%.

USDA Loans: Down to 1.28%, reflecting fewer rural purchases as more buyers stay near Greenville’s core.

In short, the entry-level buyer is regaining ground, while middle-tier movers wait for mortgage math to make sense again.

The Foreclosure and Short Sale Story

Yes, foreclosures and short sales are up—but only slightly.

• Foreclosures: 51 → 63 → 69

• Short Sales: 8 → 14 → 16

Those increases sound sharp in percentage terms but remain tiny in raw numbers. The takeaway: distress exists, but it’s not defining the market.

Watch Or Listen To The Selling Greenville Podcast

Subscribe to the Selling Greenville podcast for real-time insights, bold perspectives, and unfiltered takes on the Upstate housing scene. Whether you’re buying, selling, or simply watching the market unfold—this is where Greenville goes to stay informed.

Bottom Line

Greenville’s real estate market isn’t collapsing—it’s maturing.

Smaller lots, tighter margins, longer sales cycles, and younger homes all point to a market recalibrating after the pandemic surge. Builders are driving much of the change, offering incentives that tilt buyers toward new construction. Sellers of older homes need patience and flexibility.

Meanwhile, the financing mix says plenty: cash and conventional are easing, while FHA and VA are re-emerging.

That’s a sign of balance returning, not breakdown.

The Greenville market is evolving—subtly, steadily, and smartly. Understanding how Greenville RE is shifting helps buyers spot opportunities others overlook and helps sellers price with realism instead of nostalgia.

Ien Araneta

Journal & Podcast Editor | Selling Greenville