Upstate South Carolina holds strong as the economic outlook for 2025 remains uncertain across the United States.
This was the consistent message shared by economic and real estate experts March 27 at the second annual Clemson University Real Estate Summit. Approximately 265 real estate professionals, researchers, community leaders and students attended the summit at the Huguenot Loft in downtown Greenville.
Laura Ullrich, the event’s keynote speaker and a regional economist for the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, Virginia, kicked off the summit by discussing the state of the national and regional economies. She said while economic growth was strong last year, 2025 brings a tremendous amount of uncertainty.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond’s recent survey of chief financial officers released March 26 showed that “uncertainty” was one of the top five most pressing concerns reported by the 400 responding firms. Ullrich said policy uncertainty is the second highest it has ever been except for during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Approximately one-third of the respondents reported concerns about trade policy or tariffs in the first quarter of 2025. Inflation also remains above the Federal Reserve Board’s 2% target rate, another point of concern identified by the CFO Survey.
“If people feel uncertain, economic theory would tell you they would spend less money,” Ullrich said. “People have a natural response to kind of pull back when they don’t feel as confident. Companies do the same thing.”
During the summit’s real estate panel discussion, Davis Myers, director of business development at Choate Construction, said uncertainty about the economy has been consistent over the last few years because of the COVID-19 pandemic, inflation and now tariffs. He noted that construction jobs have been at risk during these times.
“The way in which we’re going about business is not any different now than it has been because that’s our job and that’s what makes us good at what we do — finding that healthy balance and finding ways to mitigate those risks and those different factors that hit the economy,” Myers said.
Derek Mathis, senior vice president of SunCap Property Group, said he believes there will be significant amounts of construction activity toward the end of the year once there are signs of stability with interest rates and tariffs. He said SunCap Property Group is being selective and constantly evaluating the markets in which it wants to do projects.
“What makes me optimistic is we’re in the right place in the country,” Mathis said. “The Southeast has so much going for it — Greenville particularly and Spartanburg. It’s a very diversified economy with manufacturing, becoming a distribution hub.”
Ullrich also believes that the Carolinas as a whole are well suited for where the economy is headed. She said Greenville, Charleston and Myrtle Beach are outperforming larger metropolitan areas because of the number of people, jobs and companies moving into South Carolina.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and Haver Analytics, Greenville has experienced a 9.7% employment growth since February 2020. This is higher than South Carolina’s average of 8.6% and more than double the U.S. average of 4.4%.
“That really shows you kind of the strength of this region,” Ullrich said.
Event information
The 2025 Clemson University Real Estate Summit was held March 27 at the Huguenot Loft in downtown Greenville. The event was presented by Clemson University Master of Real Estate Development Program and Choate Construction.
Laura Ullrich, a regional economist for the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, Virginia, was the summit’s keynote speaker. The event also included a moderated real estate panel discussion between:
- Davis Myers, director of business development at Choate Construction Co.
- Derek Mathis, senior vice president at SunCap Property Group
- Reed Kracke, a partner at Asana Partners
- Laura Ullrich
