Gaffney

The supply of new student accommodation in the city of Gaffney has struggled to keep pace with the surge in enrolments at Limestone College. It is now the largest private, regionally accredited institution in South Carolina, with 3,500 students from over 20 different countries.

The university has limited accommodation on campus and has demonstrated a requirement for further quality housing in close proximity, with a waiting list of students already in place. Further exasperating these shortages will be the recent expansion of the Limestone Saints College Football program. According to Forbes magazine (“The Flutie Effect”), a collegiate football program generates an increase in student enrolments of between 3% to 5% per annum in large institutions and around 8% in smaller colleges.

Across the city as a whole, consistent rental growth has been witnessed and house prices have also been steadily rising. According to the latest data from Zillow, Gaffney home values increased by 5.7% in 2014, with the median price of a home now $132,000.

Gaffney is a desirable city in which to live, with a historic city centre, large choice of restaurants, brand name shopping, farmers’ market and new 20-acre park.

Leisure facilities in Gaffney include Gaffney Premium Outlets Shopping Centre and The Big E – Entertainment Centre. An ideal day trip for groups, Gaffney Premium Outlets boasts brands like Michael Kors, Coach, Nike, and Bose. Meanwhile, The Big E features a cinema with eight screens, 16-lane bowling centre, arcade games and indoor bumper cars, laser tag and a kids’ soft play area. Gaffney is seen as a keen commuter location, situated directly on the I-85 and midway between Spartanburg and Charlotte. Average rents in Gaffney are around 60% – 70% of those in both larger cities.

The area benefits from being just 45-minutes from the city of Charlotte, a major financial centre and the second-largest banking centre in the US after New York City. Charlotte has low unemployment and a strong economy that attracts young, upwardly-mobile people from across the country.

House prices in Charlotte climbed 8.8% in 2013 – the city’s biggest annual gain in 26 years – and continue to ascend, bucking a nationwide slowdown. The housing market in satellite towns such as Gaffney will benefit as buyers and renters become priced out and commuting becomes more widespread. This is a similar urban development pattern to that observed by the Urban Land Institute in their published analysis of city demographic development, “Urban Growth Patterns”.