South Dakota realty drawing out-of-state interest

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) -South Dakota realtors say they are seeing an increased interest in people from out of state wanting to move to South Dakota. And they say the pandemic could have something to do with that.

Realtors in Sioux Falls say they thought the business was going to slow down due to COVID-19, but actually business is pretty steady right now.

According to Keller Williams Realty, the market is doing well. In June, their closed sales were up 25 percent from last year.

“People moving back, people moving in. The economics here is fabulous, so a lot of opportunities for young people in particular,” said Tony Ratchford with Keller Williams Realty.

“South Dakota in general is a really business-friendly state anyway. It’s great for entrepreneurs and small businesses. And a lot of freedoms still remain here and it’s a pretty city and Sioux Falls, in particular, has done a wonderful job of growing for the last forty years.”

Realtors have noticed that more people from out of state are showing interest in purchasing a house in Sioux Falls.

“I did an open house a couple of weeks ago just to see what the market was doing and talk to people and 50 percent of the people that came to that open house that particular day was from out of town and them from all over. I talked to somebody from New Jersey, somebody from North Dakota,” said Ratchford.

Some folks used to live in town and decided to move back.

“With this couple we worked with in Philadelphia, it felt better to be home, too much uncertainty and too much density of people,” said Ratchford.

While others are moving from more expensive states like California.

“That want to get to where there are more opportunities, they’re not as locked down, and they just want more space,” said Andy Kontz with EXP Realty.

Some are also looking to South Dakota for a second property.

“I think more so west river where they can get land and space and just have opportunities that they don’t have where they are currently at,” said Kontz.

In Sioux Falls, realtors say now is a tough time for first time home buyers.

“The first time home buyer market has one or two months of inventory, so prices are going sky high. You can hardly get anything under 200, you can hardly get anything under 250 and now I think it’s pushing up to the 300 mark,” said Ratchford.

“Just because there are so many people looking in that price range. So they’ve got to be ready to go as soon as something comes on the market, they don’t get the time to think about it. And with more and more people moving in all the time, I think we’re going to see affordable housing as an issue for several years to come,” said Kontz.

Realtors say that low-interest rates are another reason why now is a popular time for people to be buying a house.

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