The owners of a South Carolina mountain house have twice lowered their asking price by a total of $1.7 million, prompted by a softer-than-expected luxury market and a change in family circumstances.
The property at 125 Scenic Crest Way in Six Mile, South Carolina, rests at the highest point in the Cliffs Springs development, about 30 miles west of Greenville.
The three-story estate that offers views of Lake Keowee and the Blue Ridge Mountains is designed around a sculpture by Raul Diaz called Casa Blanca that depicts a man on a pedestal looking at a wood carving with a home in the center.
John and Sarah Garvey originally listed the home at $8.9 million but reduced the price by $1 million in May and offered to separately sell the furnishings for $600,000.
A private family matter dictated the couple get even more aggressive in finding a buyer, so they have lowered the price by an additional $700,000 to roughly $7.2 million and reduced the cost of the furnishings to $300,000, according to listing agent Beau Sylvester of Herlong Sotheby's International Realty.
The South Carolina market for luxury homes stalled about the time the Garveys put the property up for sale in March, said Sylvester, who shares the listing with fellow Herlong sales associate Michael Schultz.
"We're starting to see a little summertime surge, but it's still slower than it has been," Sylvester told Homes.com this week.
In Florida, Texas and other parts of the country, sellers are facing increased competition and a leveling of sale prices as more owners test the market.
In Six Mile, there are more than 60 homes for sale in the four luxury lifestyle developments on Lake Keowee, a level not seen since before the pandemic, according to Sylvester.
"I tell all of our clients in listing agreements that there is a range of value for their home that will appeal to potential buyers," he said. "Where you list your home on that value range usually dictates the speed of selling your home."
Sarah Garvey told Homes.com in March that she and her husband hired architect Mitch Lehde in 2008 to design the six-bedroom, 10-bathroom home as a "family refuge." They said they intended to make the estate their legacy, but the couple ultimately decided to sell to move closer to their granddaughter in Chicago.