Prices Continue to Climb Even as the Market Stabilizes

Greenville’s spring housing pulse is back—and it’s surprisingly steady. In a new episode of Selling Greenville, the host digs into March market stats from the Greater Greenville Association of REALTORS® and surfaces a theme buyers and sellers both need to hear: demand has cooled from the frenzy of 2021–2022, but tight inventory and quick-moving listings still tilt the Upstate toward sellers. Translation: pricing power hasn’t vanished—just matured.

Below is a plain-English walkthrough of what changed, what didn’t, and why “stable” in Greenville still looks a lot like “competitive.”

Prices Continue to Climb

If you’re benchmarking Greenville’s current cycle, “Prices Continue to Climb Even as the Market Stabilizes” is the headline that actually matches the data. Median prices are up year over year, the percent of list price received just ticked higher, and multiple offers have reappeared. At the same time, key pacing metrics (like days on market and months of inventory) are behaving more like a normal spring than a runaway train.

New Listings: A Needed Lift

• March new listings: 1,929

• Year-over-year change: +8.8% (from 1,773 in March 2022)

  
  

Greenville needed a fresh supply, and March delivered. It’s the strongest year-over-year pop in new listings since last September and marks the third straight month of gains. More options help unlock move-up/move-down activity—especially important because most buyers also need to sell.

Pending & Closed Sales: Contraction, But Not Collapse

Pending sales trail one month in these reports, so February is the latest clean read:

• February pending sales: 1,216

• Year-over-year change: –10.9% (1,365 a year prior)

That’s a contraction, yes—but far milder than late-2022, when YOY drops ran from roughly –25% to –29%. The trough is behind, and the slope is easing.

Closings (which reflect contracts inked in prior months) showed the same moderation:

• March closed sales: –7.6% YOY

It’s the first time since last August that Greenville avoided a double-digit decline in closings. For a market digesting rapid mortgage-rate increases, that’s resilience.

Days on Market: Surge Stalls, Spring Heat Returns

• March days on market (DOM): 58

• March 2022 DOM: 29 (that’s a 100% YOY lift)

• Change from February to March 2023: 57 → 58 (essentially flat)

  
  

DOM doubled versus last year’s lightning pace, but here’s the tell: month-to-month, it barely budged. Why? Because a wave of long-sitting, overpriced listings finally adjusted and sold, while well-priced new listings started moving immediately (often with multiple offers). Those fast wins offset slow legacy inventory, keeping DOM from spiking further. If this holds near the high 50s/low 60s, or even begins trending down, it signals a spring warm-up without a return to chaos.

Price Picture: Median Up, Average Down (Here’s Why)

• Median sales price (March 2023): $299,900

• YOY change: +1.7%

• February 2023 median: $290,000 (essentially flat YOY at the time)

  
  

The host has long flagged $285K as the line that would indicate non-seasonal price declines. The market never crossed it. Instead, March’s median bounced nearly to $300K and posted a modest year-over-year gain. That’s what “climb while stabilizing” looks like: price growth in the low single digits, not the eye-popping 15–20% gains of 2021–2022.

Meanwhile:

• Average sales price: -1.4% YOY

  
  

The average price is more sensitive to what sells at the top and bottom. Fewer higher-end closings in March (relative to last year) pulled that average down slightly. It doesn’t contradict the median; it just says the mix skewed less luxurious this time.

Percent of List Price Received: A Quiet but Crucial Turn

• February 2023: 97.8%

• March 2023: 98.3%

• March 2022: 101.2%

  
  

Pre-pandemic norms hovered around 98%. Greenville just snapped back up to 98.3%—a half-point month-to-month jump. That’s a meaningful spring signal. Sellers aren’t commanding 101% like last year’s peak, but buyers no longer enjoy the brief window of deeper under-ask wins either. Well-priced homes are landing very close to the asking price (and sometimes entertaining more than one offer).

Affordability: Method Reset, Reading Still Tight

The local association retooled the Housing Affordability Index methodology, but the takeaway is straightforward: the index hovered at or above 100 in recent months and printed 98 in March. That’s right on the line where the median household income can almost afford the median-priced home. It’s tight, but not dire, and it reflects the same stabilization seen elsewhere.

Inventory: Up From 2022, Still Below Pre-Pandemic

• Reported March active inventory: ~3,530

• On-the-ground search feel: closer to ~2,600

• Pre-pandemic “normal”: ~4,000 active

  
  

Active listings are higher than a year ago but still well shy of pre-2020. New construction makes up a larger share of what’s actually on the market than it used to, and many buyers prefer existing homes—so inventory feels tighter than the headline number. That gap matters when you’re trying to write offers that stick.

Months of Supply: Still a Seller’s Market

Months of supply are pegged to pending sales, so February is the clean reference:

• February months of supply: 2.3

• Trend since November: 2.7 → 2.5 → 2.4 → 2.3

  
  

Greenville remains firmly in seller’s market territory. For context, a balanced market typically lands around 5–6 months of supply; Greenville’s been oscillating in the 2s. Expect competitive conditions to persist until this climbs materially.

What’s Actually Selling: Two Sweet Spots

• Price range with strongest sales: $500,000–$750,000 (up 29.3% YOY)

• Bedroom count with strongest relative performance: Two bedrooms or fewer (still down YOY—but least down versus other bedroom counts)

  
  

Why the two bookends? Affordability has pushed many buyers toward smaller footprints (condos are the top-performing property type right now), while well-qualified move-ups are targeting mid-to-upper brackets where selection has improved.

Multiple Offers: They’re Back (With Caveats)

The fourth-quarter “seasonal slumber” extended longer than usual, but as spring approached, Greenville started seeing clean, well-priced listings draw immediate attention—including multiple-offer scenarios. This isn’t the 2021 feeding frenzy; it’s a disciplined competition: price it right, prepare it well, and the market responds quickly.

Big Picture: A Housing Recession That Still Favors Sellers

Nationally, talk of a mild recession later this year is common. Locally, the housing market has been in a recession since last June by activity metrics (pending/closed volume), yet Greenville still behaves like a seller’s market because inventory is so scarce and demand—while lower—is steady. That odd combo explains why:

• Median prices are rising modestly, not falling

• List-to-sale percentages are inching up

• Months of supply stay in the 2s

• Days on market stopped climbing

  
  

In short, normalization—not capitulation.

Strategy Snapshot (Buyers & Sellers)

For buyers: Be ready to move on day one on listings that are well-priced and turnkey. Expect ~98% of the list as the clearing price right now, and be realistic about concessions—some sellers will help, but many don’t need to.

For sellers: You no longer need to price 5–10% over reality and “let appreciation catch up.” That playbook expired. Price precisely at market, prepare thoroughly, and you can still sell quickly—and close to ask.

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Bottom Line

Greenville’s housing market found a new gear: slower than the boom, stronger than the headlines. New listings are rising, pending and closed sales have stabilized from late-2022 lows, and multiple offers are back on the best-presented homes. Median prices climbed to $299,900 in March (+1.7% YOY), sellers captured 98.3% of the list on average, and months of supply held in the low 2s. That’s why prices continue to climb even as the market stabilizes—and why smart pricing and fast, prepared execution still win here.

Ien Araneta

Journal & Podcast Editor | Selling Greenville