Sioux Falls South Dakota real estate, Prices are rising, homes sell faster
Talk about bucking the national trend. Home sales in Sioux Falls, the largest city in South Dakota, are on track to set a record this year. Prices are rising, too, yet remain affordable compared with most of the country.
“Our prices don’t wildly fluctuate; we see instead 3% to 4% increases” annually, says Barton Hacker, CEO of the Realtor Association of the Sioux Empire.
Another sign of strength in the market: The average home is selling in 88 days, down from 109 days last year.
Sales activity has really picked up in the past six weeks, after rainy and cool weather in the spring kept some home buyers indoors, says Jay Zea, an agent for HJN Team Real Estate.
He says homes priced for first-time buyers are selling well, as are those at the top end of the market, where prices range from $450,000 to $1 million-ish. But sales are “tough” in the midrange, from $200,000 to $350,000.
The real estate market has benefited as the economy in Sioux Falls has broadened from its traditional meat-packing and manufacturing roots. Hospitals and financial companies, particularly in credit card processing, have moved to South Dakota to take advantage of the state’s absence of a corporate income tax. Sanford Health is the largest employer in Sioux Falls, and as Zea notes, “Physicians — they’ve got the money to buy.”
