February 9, 2024

Contact: Kim Walker, 704-940-3149

Residential Sales Trends in York, Lancaster, Chester and  Chesterfield Counties

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Canopy MLS reports on residential sales trends in the contiguous counties to Mecklenburg County, which includes York, Lancaster, Chester, and Chesterfield, South Carolina. Data included in this report is for single-family, condo, and townhome property types only, for the geographies mentioned above.

Sales at yearend for the four counties, just south of Charlotte, declined 18 percent year-over-year as 6,189 homes sold compared to 7,548 that sold in 2022, marking 23 consecutive months of year-over-year declines, that started in March 2022.

Notably, Chester County was the only county in the micro-region to end the year with sales increasing 27 percent year-over-year, as buyers chasing more inventory and greater affordability over the last two years, pushed growth further south. During the month of December 2023 sales for the York micro-region were also down by 18.8 percent compared to December 2022 with 397 homes sold during the month, compared to 489 sold a year ago, during the same period. 

Pending contracts for the year, a sign of buyer demand, were also down 13.7 percent compared to 2022, with buyers driving 6,154 homes into under-contract status last year. Buyer activity was largely dampened by rising mortgage rates throughout 2023 along with extremely tight supply which inched up to 1.8 months of supply at yearend. Contract activity during the month of December 2023 was only off by 3.8 percent compared to December 2022, as buyers moved to take advantage of falling rates before the year closed.

Both inventory and supply have been impacted by weakened new listing activity since July 2022 throughout the four counties.  New listings, which signal seller confidence only rose year-over-year in November 2023 and have been weak throughout the region since July 2022. As 2023 came to a close, sellers listed 7,221 homes for sale compared to slightly more than 8,500 listings in 2022, a decline of 15.4 percent. During the month of December 2023, sellers listed 353 homes for sale, with 28 listings being the difference between December 2023 and December 2022. Showing reports at yearend indicated that York with 4.6 showings per listing, and Lancaster with four showings per listing, were still areas with high buyer interest for the year. 

 “Inventory and supply continue to be the biggest obstacles for buyers and would-be sellers in the market, especially buyers looking to purchase in York and Lancaster, said Colleen Coesens, a Canopy MLS Board of Director representing South Carolina and a Realtor®/broker with EXP Realty, Fort Mill. “Lack of supply particularly in York has forced buyers further south, which is fueling growth in Chester County.”

Inventory and supply at report time showed an extremely tight market, with 913 homes for sale compared to 954 homes for sale in December 2022. Supply however increased 12.5 percent to 1.8 months of supply compared to 1.6 months of supply a year ago.

At yearend, the 2023 median sales price held steady, down only 1.8 percent year-over-year to $375,000 while the 2023 average sales price was unchanged compared to 2022, at $421,323. Buyers during December 2023 saw prices contract in their favor last month.  This was the second consecutive month of price declines. The median sales price in December 2023 declined 10.5 percent year-over-year to $347,995, while December’s average sales price dipped 7.7 percent to $397,301.  However, the list price-to-sales price ratio continues to show how much the market favors sellers ending the year at 98.9 percent, while sellers during December also received 98.3 percent of asking prices for their homes.

Coesens further added, "Though prices softened during the month of December, giving buyers a bit of relief, buyers shouldn’t expect major price declines in the market, because traditionally there’s always been enough demand to keep prices from falling too far. As small changes occur with inventory and supply, prices will continue to fluctuate before stabilizing. And because of these complexities, buyers need representation. The market this year still highly favors sellers. In fact, sellers throughout our micro-market last year secured nearly 99 percent of asking prices, which should be a great motivator to list this year.”

Days on market in 2023 increased 52.2 percent compared to last year and showed homes averaged 35 days on market until sale compared to 23 days on market in 2022. During December 2023, homes averaged 38 days on market until sale compared to 45 days on market in December 2022.

County Summaries reflect yearend/annual figures only. See data for December 2023.

York County ended 2023 with sales down 18.1 percent year-over-year as 4,114 homes sold compared to 5,025 that sold a year ago in 2022. Contract activity was also down at yearend, falling 12.4 percent compared to 2022, with 4,116 homes under contract last year. York had nearly 600 more contracts written in 2022 than last year. New listings were down by 15.8 percent compared to 2022, with sellers listing 4,681 homes for sale last year compared to 5,557 in 2022. Weakness in new listing activity continues to hamper inventory, which was down 8.4 percent in December to 536 homes for sale or 1.6 months of supply.  Supply rose 6.7 percent, up from 1.5 months of supply at yearend 2022. The 2023 median sales price in York was nearly unchanged, down 0.3 percent compared to $380,000, while the 2023 average sales price increased slightly to end the year at $436,390. The 2023 average list price was $457,042 an increase over 2022’s average list price. The original list price to sales price measure showed York County sellers received 97.3 percent of asking prices which is down from 99.9 percent in 2022, while homes averaged 34 days on market until sale in 2023 compared to 22 days on market in 2022.

Lancaster County ended 2023 with sales down 22 percent compared to sales in 2022, with 1,596 homes closed last year. There were 450 more sales in 2022 than in 2023.  Pending contract activity which signals buyer demand, was down by 20.3 percent year-over-year as 1,567 homes entered under contract status in 2023.  New listing activity also contracted deeply at yearend, falling 23.9 percent year-over-year as sellers listed 1,840 homes for sale compared to 2,419 listed in 2022.  Inventory at yearend fell 6.9 percent to 255 homes for sale and two months of supply.  Supply is up 17.6 percent compared to 2022, when there was only 1.7 months of supply.  Prices declined year-over-year.  The 2023 median sales price declined 5 percent year-over-year to $415,000, while the 2023 average sales price declined 4.4 percent to end the year at $433,641. The 2023 average list price in Lancaster also dipped by 3.5 percent to end the year at $436,749. This brought the original list price to sales price measure down 2.7 percent at yearend to 97.3 percent for the county, while days on market showed homes averaged 36 days on market until sale last yar compared to selling in 23 days in 2022.

Chester County home sales at year end rose 27 percent year-over-year as 367 homes sold in 2023, compared to 289 that sold in 2022. Contract activity was also positive at yearend 2023, as buyers drove 369 homes into under contract status last year compared to 289 during 2022, an increase of 27.7 percent.  New listings showed seller confidence in the county was strong in 2023, rising 48 percent year-over-year as 561 homes sold compared to 379 that sold in 2022.  Inventory at year end rose 9.6 percent to 80 homes for sale or 2.6 months of supply.  Supply is down from December 2022, when there was three months of supply. The 2023 median sales price increased 22.1 percent compared to end the year at $250,250 while the 2023 average sales price increased 12.5 percent to $249,692. This brought the original list price to sales price measure to 95.6 percent for the year, while homes averaged 35 days on market in 2023, which is unchanged compared to 2022.  

Chesterfield County home sales for the year declined 29.9 percent year-over-year as 101 homes sold compared to 144 that sold in 2022. Contracts for the year showed 105 homes went under contract in 2023 compared to 137 that were under contract during the previous year, a decline of 23.4 percent.  New listing activity at yearend showed sellers listed 132 homes for sale compared to 148 that were listed for sale in 2022, a decline of 10.8 percent year-over-year. Inventory at yearend showed 37 homes for sale, an increased of 42.3 percent and 4.2 months of supply, almost a buyer’s market for the small county.  The 2023 median sales price increased 6.5 percent to end the year at $244,900 while the 2023 average sales price increased 9.3 percent to $238,150.  The 2023 average list price increased 11.5 percent to $253,754.  This brought the original list price to sales price measure for the year to 95.5 percent while days on market showed homes averaged 58 days on market until sale compared to 52 days on market in 2022. (Due to small sample sizes, percentage of change may seem extreme)

Canopy Realtor^® Association provides monthly reports on residential real estate market activity for the Charlotte region based on data from Canopy MLS. This report is based on the four South Carolina counties that are also included in the Charlotte region (Chester, Chesterfield, Lancaster and York Counties).  For more details, visit the monthly report this release is based on, and search for “Piedmont Regional Association of Realtors®". 

See also Charlotte region reports and individual county reports for York, Lancaster, Chester and Chesterfield.

For more residential-housing market statistics, visit www.CarolinaHome.com and click on “Market Data.” For an interview with Canopy MLS South Carolina representative, Colleen Coesens, Realtor®/Broker-in-charge with EXP Realty, Fort Mill, please contact Kim Walker.

Canopy MLS is a wholly-owned subsidiary corporation of Canopy Realtor® Association and is the private broker cooperative used by Realtors® to bring buyers and sellers together with access to thousands of residential listings in a multicounty service area, including Charlotte, Asheville and Catawba Valley regions spanning across North Carolina, South Carolina and outside of the Carolinas. Canopy MLS, which has 21,000 subscribers, provides the most trustworthy, timely, accurate and complete property data along with proprietary tools for showings, market stats, predictive analytics, and more. Canopy MLS is used by its members to support consumers in their residential real estate transactions, whether selling, buying, investing or renting.

Original Publish Date: 2/9/2024