Pocket Listings and Our Weekly Real Estate Update
For years, private or “pocket listings” have been popular in the luxury home market around Lake Keowee. Sellers are often drawn to the idea because it promises privacy and fewer public showings. However, it is extremely important for a seller to fully understand the implications before deciding to take this route.
Most of the time, a pocket listing benefits the listing realtor far more than it benefits the seller.
The best way to achieve the highest possible price for a home is to create competition for that home. The more qualified buyers who see and become interested in a property, the greater the likelihood that it will sell at its highest possible value.
A pocket listing is a property that is marketed privately and not listed in the Multiple Listing Service (MLS). Because it is not in the MLS, it is not distributed to public home search platforms such as Zillow, Realtor.com, or Homes.com. It also limits the ability for other real estate agents to share the listing broadly with their buyers.
Ethically, a realtor cannot widely market a private listing outside of their brokerage without placing it in the MLS. That dramatically reduces exposure and limits the ability to create the competitive environment that drives price.
In many cases, pocket listings allow the listing agent to focus their own buyers on the home. As a result, these transactions often end with the listing agent representing both the buyer and the seller.
While private listings may reduce “looky-loos” or prevent neighbors from commenting on price, they also remove the leverage that comes from exposing the property to the open market.
There are other strategies that can protect privacy while still giving a home the full exposure it needs to sell. If you are considering selling your home in Pickens County or Oconee County, it is important that your realtor explains all available options so you can make the best decision for your situation.
Just as importantly, make sure your realtor is advising you based on what is best for you as the seller — not what may be most convenient for them.
National Real Estate Market Update
This week brought several notable developments in the national housing market.
Mortgage rates increased slightly, rising to 6.11% for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, according to Freddie Mac. Last week the average rate was 6.00%, and at this time last year rates were approximately 6.65%.
Even with this increase, mortgage rates remain significantly lower than they were one year ago.
Home prices continue to rise nationally, although at a slower pace. According to Redfin, the median list price rose 2% year-over-year to $417,475 in the four weeks ending March 8. However, buyers are negotiating more aggressively, bringing the typical sale price down to approximately $385,125.
Homes are also taking longer to sell. The median time on market has increased to 63 days, about eight days longer than the same time last year.
Existing home sales also showed an encouraging sign for the market. Sales rose 1.7% in February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.09 million homes, according to the National Association of Realtors. This unexpected increase suggests that slightly lower mortgage rates earlier this year helped bring buyers back into the market as the spring season begins.
Another interesting development is the return of sellers. Nearly 45,000 homeowners who removed listings last year put their homes back on the market in January, the highest number seen in a decade according to Redfin. More than one-third of those sellers also reduced their asking price.
Outside influences are also impacting the housing market. Mortgage rates increased this week partly due to rising oil prices and growing geopolitical tensions following the conflict between the United States and Iran. When global uncertainty increases, financial markets often react quickly, and mortgage rates can move just as fast.
At the same time, recent economic reports have shown some encouraging signs. Over the past month we saw a decline in payroll growth, stronger demand for U.S. Treasury bonds, and the most encouraging inflation reading since 2021 in the Consumer Price Index report released on March 11.
These trends suggest inflation pressures may be easing, something both the Federal Reserve and mortgage markets will continue watching closely.
Lake Keowee Real Estate Market Update
Here at Lake Keowee in Upstate South Carolina, the spring market is beginning to take shape.
Across the four major luxury communities on Lake Keowee — The Cliffs communities and The Old Edwards Reserve at Lake Keowee — inventory is gradually increasing as warmer weather arrives and sellers begin preparing their homes for the spring and summer buying season.
There are currently 64 active listings across the three Cliffs communities and The Old Edwards Reserve, with prices ranging from approximately $10 million down to just over $1 million.
For buyers, that means there is currently something available at nearly every price point — something we have not seen consistently in the Lake Keowee market over the past six years.
At the moment there are no properties in these communities showing as pending, but we expect that to change in the coming weeks as spring activity accelerates.
We are also seeing an important shift in buyer behavior. While the total number of buyers may not have increased dramatically from last year, the buyers who are actively looking are showing greater intent to purchase rather than simply watching the market.
This mirrors the national trend toward a market that is gradually shifting toward a buyer-leaning environment.
For sellers in Pickens County and Oconee County, this means three things are more important than ever:
Pricing strategy
High-quality marketing
Consistency and patience
The Legacy Lake and Mountain Living Advantage
In today’s market, selling a home on Lake Keowee requires much more than simply putting a sign in the yard.
At Legacy Lake and Mountain Living, our strategy focuses on creating maximum exposure through a layered marketing approach that reaches buyers locally, regionally, nationally, and globally.
Through our affiliation with Herlong Sotheby’s International Realty and the global Sotheby’s International Realty network, we connect properties in the Lake Keowee area with buyers from across the country and around the world.
Combined with our local market knowledge of Lake Keowee real estate, luxury homes in Pickens County and Oconee County, and the Cliffs and Reserve communities, our goal is always the same — to create the strongest possible opportunity for our clients to achieve the best result when selling their property.
If you would like to learn more about the Lake Keowee market or are considering buying or selling property in the area, visit us at: