COLUMBIA, SC — A South Carolina real estate agent says the housing market is only getting tougher.

Graeme Moore of The Moore Company says that for those buying or looking to buy a home, things are going to be a lot tougher.

Compared to last year, Moore says there are far fewer homes on the market.

“It’s gotten a lot worse than 2021,” Moore said. He went on to say that the number of properties listed right now is historically low.

According to market reports from South Carolina Realtors, the number of homes listed for sale in Colombia fell 41.6% from February 2021 to February this year.

“We all thought that when rates started going up it might have a calming effect on the market, but that’s not the case and rates are going up along with values ​​right now,” Moore said.

Moving from Salt Lake City to Columbia, Moore’s client Ian Adams says he spent months frantically looking for a place to call home.

“It’s frustrating to start seeing yourself in a house and losing bidding war after bidding war,” Adams said.

The ripple effect, the demand for new homes is astronomical.

Builder Lukas Bunch says each county’s zoning regulations differ, including whether there are limits on the number of homes that can be built in a development.

“If you’re in a jurisdiction that’s more growth-friendly and more development-friendly, then that density factor isn’t an issue,” Bunch said.

There is good news for Ian. The offer he made on a house was recently accepted.

“If you don’t have the right level of patience, you’re going to have a really bad time,” Adams said.