SUMTER, S.C. — Stephanie Humphreys can sit peacefully on her new front porch now, but it wasn’t always this way.
Just months ago, she and her husband, who works at Shaw Air Force Base, were searching for a new home.
“It was exciting, and you think that it’s going to be easy,” Humphreys said. “You never think that, oh, it’s not just going to be, hey, I want to pay this, and I’m going to get it, and it’s all just going to be fine.”
They made multiple offers.
“You end up in the back and forth bidding war.”
They’re not alone. Vince Watkins is her real estate agent.
He said the housing market has few homes available with surging demand, giving sellers an advantage.
“If you are a seller right now, it’s a great time for you,” Watkins said, “and if you are a buyer it’s kind of tough because we have a shortage of inventory here. We have more buyers than we have sellers.”
According to Jay Linginfelter with the Sumter Board of Realtors, it’s a nationwide issue that’s hitting closer to home. Agents are coming to cities like Sumter looking for properties to buy, and buyers are willing to commute further for more choices.
“There are cycles as far as things go from buyers to sellers’ market” Linginfelter said, “but I don’t think we’ve experienced anything in the country like we are right now, at least in a very, very long time.”
Low mortgage and interested rates are the likely cause, he said. Also, more millennials are looking to buy.
“If you’re looking to buy a home right now, you need to have all your ducks in a row,” Linginfelter said. “You want to have your finances in order, have your preapproval with your mortgage lender and everything in place, so when you see that house that you want don’t hesitate you got to be ready to put that offer in.”
Today, Humphreys is just feeling thankful and hopes others can find their dream home too.
“I was so ecstatic,” Humphreys said. “I love my home.”