For prospective buyers looking for an affordable new home near Greenville, the search now rarely includes the city of Greenville itself. The net instead is cast far and wide — from Piedmont and Pendleton, to Boiling Springs and Woodruff, to even Laurens and Union counties. In addition to a down payment and preapproval letter, a buyer’s most important tools are a GPS app and a full tank of gas.
At least, that’s the trend that Taylor Lyles, CEO of the Home Builders Association of Greenville, is seeing. With tariffs negatively impacting new home prices and some municipalities lukewarm to growth, homebuilders are striking out into areas where land is less expensive and local governments are more welcoming.
For buyers, that can mean a longer drive into downtown Greenville — but also a lower sticker price on a new home.
Taylor Lyles, CEO of the Home Builders Association of Greenville
“People are realizing they can’t afford to live in the area they want to live in, so they’re picking up that 30-minute commute or that 45-minute commute,” Lyles said. “People start driving, and they’re hitting Fountain Inn, they’re hitting Pelzer, they’re hitting Spartanburg, they’re hitting Union, they’re hitting Clinton and Laurens County where the land costs are significantly less. They can get an affordable house, a true starter home, in an area where the builder can put a relatively attainable product in the ground.”
In some of those area, Lyles said homebuilders can find land for $25,000 or $50,000 an acre, as opposed to $100,000 closer in to Greenville itself.
“There also aren’t as many regulatory restrictions,” he added. “If you’re in Greenville County, before you build a house, you’re already $125,000 in between land, a lot and regulatory fees. So if you’re trying to hit a $225,000 house price point, there’s no way to do it.”
Copper and lumber
It’s no secret that metro Greenville is becoming a more expensive place to live — particularly since the pandemic, which prompted an influx of cash-rich buyers from areas with higher relative real estate values to jump into the Upstate market, and snap up either primary or secondary homes. The median price of sold homes in June of 2025 was a record $330,000, according to the Greater Greenville Association of Realtors.
And new home builders have more than just rising real estate values to contend with. Tariffs on copper (much of which comes from Chile) and lumber (primarily from Canada) threaten to increase material costs and have led to uncertainty in the market — which in the Greenville area has contributed to a 2.6 percent dip in year-over-year new home sales, Lyles said.
“We’re a little slow right now, because a lot of people are still afraid of tariffs, and they’re not sure what the market is going to do,” he added. “And at our sub-$500,000 price point, a lot of people are either mortgage locked, or they can’t qualify from a debt-to-income standpoint, or they just can’t swing that 6.5 to 7 percent interest rate. So I think we’ve got a lot of things going against us right now.”
Tariffs threats have kept homebuilders on pins and needles. Copper is fundamental to both wiring and appliances, and lumber costs are among the largest in building a new home. Lyles said the lumber budget on a $500,000 new build can run up to $180,000 — which could rise $63,000 if the Trump Administration follows through on its pledge to impose 35 percent tariffs on all Canadian goods on Aug. 1.
“If you’re looking at 15, 20, or in some situations a 40 percent tariff,” Lyles added, “that’s a massive increase just on one item.”
Union and Gray Court
And yet, despite all those obstacles, homebuilding in the metro Greenville area is continuing apace. Large production builders “are absolutely throwing homes out,” Lyles said. “In your sub-$500,000 price point, they’re building like crazy, because that’s what the market is demanding right now.”
And it’s happening in some areas that were once only notionally considered part of metro Greenville — a picture that’s changed substantially in recent years due to the rising costs of both land and existing homes. Century Complete is building Buffalo Creek in Union, where prices start at $217,888. Meritage Homes is building The Farm at Wells Creek in Gray Court, with prices starting at $291,900. Lennar is building Springdale Towns, starting at $204,999, down I-385 in Clinton.
New home construction is booming in Spartanburg County, Lyles said, where areas like Woodruff and Boiling Springs are proving particularly popular among builders.
“Spartanburg is probably one of the most pro-growth communities in the state right now,” he added. “Spartanburg is thriving. They are open and willing to bring any builders into their market.”
More rural locations have become the setting for “mini-farms” — which aren’t farms at all, but properties of 3-5 acres where buyers can build a new home on a lot with rolling hills and a long driveway, and plenty of space between themselves and their neighbors. Lyles heard recently from a retired couple who built a home in such a community, and then wondered how they were going to cut three acres of grass.
“She said her husband went out and bought a 100-inch, zero-turn riding lawn mower, and he’s happier than a lark,” Lyles said, laughing. “He’s got his cup holder and everything. He opens up his Coors Light, drinks one beer while cutting the backyard, and turns around and drinks another beer while cutting the front. I love it. That is the life.”