Transcript

Are you thinking about moving to South Carolina and considering Lake Murray? Today I'm going to share details on the Lake Murray real estate market, tell you about some of my favorite sections and neighborhoods, and also provide you with some pros and cons about the different areas.

Hi, I’m Patrick, team lead for the number one Coldwell Banker team in South Carolina: The Patrick O'Connor Team. We help buyers across the Midlands of South Carolina — which is Columbia and the surrounding areas, including Lake Murray. We also help people move to Charleston, South Carolina, but today we are going to focus on Lake Murray.

Lake Murray

The largest part of Lake Murray is in Lexington county, but portions of the lake also stretch into Saluda, Newberry, and Richland counties. I grew up in Lexington county and currently live in Richland county. If you're looking for a home in these areas, our CMLS, the consolidated multiple listing services, separates Lake Murray into four sections which we will use as a guide for what we'll cover today.

The Lexington side, which includes homes in Lexington, Gilbert, part of Leesville — that's all on the south side of the lake. The Irmo and Chapin side. The Newberry side is where you can find a majority of the lakefront homes in Prosperity, South Carolina. This area is on the north side of the lake, west of Dreher Island State Park, which is kind of in the north middle part of Lake Murray. The Saluda side: this is the Batesburg-Leesville and Prosperity areas. This area is on the south side of the lake, west of Gilbert in Lexington.

Market Update

Let's first talk about the overall Lake Murray market in 2022. We've seen a significant increase in value in all areas on Lake Murray. Areas that were always hot are even hotter and the areas that were more rural and very affordable saw an increase in value as well.

Newberry and Saluda

First, if you're looking for a deal or a home that's the least expensive on Lake Murray, where should you look? In our current market, there are really very few deals, but the more affordable Lake Murray homes can be found on the Newberry and Saluda sides of the lake — so that's Prosperity, Saluda, Leesville, and Batesburg. Although there are neighborhoods on the lake in this area, many of the homes in these areas are not in a neighborhood at all. And, in fact, if a neighborhood is listed on MLS, sometimes that's the first time you would ever see that. You would never know it's actually in a neighborhood.

There are also a lot of smaller homes, fish camps, and some manufactured and mobile homes in this area, although those can be found all around the lake. A few of the neighborhoods that can be found on MLS that I would suggest for under $500,000 are Edgewater Shores — this is one of my favorites in this area —, Lake Murray Shores, Lake Murray Estates, and Blackgate East.

I am very excited about Palmetto Point in this area. It's a new neighborhood on the lake and you can find homes under $500,000, although there aren't any available as I’m shooting this video, but there's also several prime lakefront lots that are over half a million dollars in this neighborhood as well. What's great about this, is there hasn't been new construction on Lake Murray in a very long time and this will — down the road as real estate starts to turn — offer newer construction in this area.

Gilbert

I would also suggest looking in the Gilbert area bordering Lexington if you're looking for one of the least expensive lake homes. I really like this area because, as Lexington develops and expands towards Gilbert, the values in this area will continue to increase. Also, you can get to downtown Lexington from Gilbert in about 15 to 20 minutes. Some of the areas north of the lake are a little bit further out from shopping and restaurant options like what you'll find in Lexington. That being said, if you're looking for a more rural feel, Gilbert, Leesville, Prosperity, and Chapin as well are all very nice.

In Gilbert, I really like Shull Island, Pleasure Island, Pintail Point, and Martin's Crossing. As far as neighborhoods go, the same is true for Gilbert: a majority of the homes in this area are not in a true neighborhood.

Lexington

The Lexington side of the lake has seen some of the most appreciation of the last few years and is very convenient to restaurants, shopping, the Lake Murray Dam, and you can even get to downtown Columbia in 15 to 30 minutes depending on where you live on the lake and traffic. A few great neighborhoods are Kingston Harbour, Spence Plantation, Turner's Pointe, and if you're looking for a condo, Spence's Point.

Irmo and Chapin

Let's talk about Chapin. So, I refer to Chapin as two sections: close in Chapin, the area that borders Irmo, and then the rest of it moving out towards a great neighborhood called Timberlake. Chapin has a really nice, smaller downtown area and the surroundings are beautiful and, although there has been a lot of construction in this area, you can still get the feeling of being spread out and rural. Some great neighborhoods in Chapin are Timberlake, Lakeside at Ballentine, Night Harbor, and Forty Love.

The Irmo Lake Murray area is also a great option. This area is close to I-26 for quick access to Columbia and near the Harbeson shopping center. I live in Irmo and I really appreciate how central it is. I like being right in the middle of Northeast Columbia, downtown Columbia, Lexington, Chapin, and Prosperity — it's all right there. A few great neighborhoods: Regatta Shores, Harbour Point, and Yacht Cove if you're looking for a condo. There are also a lot of really nice homes in this area that are not on the lake but have lake access as well.

Here to help!

I know I went over a lot of information so if you have any questions about living on Lake Murray, or homes and neighborhoods in the area, feel free to reach out. I’d be happy to help.

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