Realtor says market growing in Pee Dee

Pee Dee real estate in 2017 trended upward, especially in Florence County, as progress and neighboring industries continued to grow in the area.

Keon Aldrich, president of the Greater Pee Dee Realtor Association, said the market is getting better, but it has never been bad in Florence.

“Florence has never stopped building and growing,” Aldrich said. “There was a time nationally where numbers were down, but our community has continued to grow, and now the outlook looks brighter than ever before.”

The association helps link Realtors together, provides education and looks to support the community.

“2017 was a good year because, overall, all of our agents did a really great job,” Aldrich said. “When you look at the different offices and numbers coming out, we had a lot of agents that have moved into the top 50 this year. Buyers also do a lot more research ahead of time, and that makes our job a lot easier.”

Jennifer King, the chief executive officer of the association, said the entire Pee Dee area is continuing to grow in line with the bigger metropolitan areas in the state.

“We are up 10 percent in the past year in the Pee Dee in terms of our total closed sales,” King said. “We continue to grow. Our listings received 95 percent of the price that they’re asking. That is right on par with all the big metro areas in the state.”