Tag Archives: Buying Home in Charleston SC

Number of Available Homes For Sale Begin To Keep Up with Demand

As one would expect sellers are testing the waters again as word of price increases gets out. Here in Charleston, South Carolina we are seeing the same trend in housing. The supply of newly listed homes for sale is starting to show signs of keeping pace with buyer activity in some of the nation’s hottest real estate markets, new data suggest.One agent interviewed stated about a new townhouse development in Mount Pleasant, SC: “we are all sold out before construction even begun. The only one we have available won’t be finished until October, we sold everyone before we even broke ground.”

Charleston SC Home Prices Increasing with Supply

According to many Charleston, SC real estate agents; word of multiple offers are becoming the norm and as soon as houses come on the market offers are coming in almost immediately. In 21 of 24 major metropolitan markets tracked by residential brokerage ZipRealty, new listings outnumbered new sales contracts for the 30 days ended March 15.Other cities seeing the same situation included Phoenix — where January home prices were up 23% year-over-year, Standard & Poor’s Case-Shiller data shows — the San Francisco Bay Area, Denver and Houston. San Francisco home prices followed Phoenix’s gain with an almost 18% pop in January year-over-year. Supply may “finally start to keep pace with frenzied buyer activity,” says Lanny Baker, ZipRealty CEO.In seven of the cities analyzed by ZipRealty, more than one-fourth of the homes listed for sale sold in less than seven days. The Charleston, SC housing market is no different. Charleston, SC real estate broker stated: “one of my buyer clients put in an offer with three others the same day a house came on the market and we had to come in over list price to beat the competition and secure the winning contract.”As existing homes sit longer inventories will inevitably increase as sellers who have been waiting begin to put out feelers and “test the market”.

Info Gathered from USAToday

Home Sales On Rise

Buying Home in Charleston SC conditions improvements market trends rise stats

Charleston, SC Real Estate Sales Highest Since 2008 according to the local Association of REALTORS®.

CTAR reported today that 634 homes sold at a median price of $181,750 in the Charleston region in January. These figures represent the highest rate of January sales activity in the region since January 2008, when 648 homes sold. Activity and buyer interest were notably higher during the typically slow first month of the year as many REALTORS® reported a significant increase in calls from prospective buyers. Charleston SC real estate market statistics. Real Estate Sale Trends Charleston SC

As sales volume continues to make consistent, sustainable progress, prices remain stable, approaching the $200,000 range, where local REALTORS® and expert economists looking at our region expect them to stay for the short-term future. “As was the case in 2012, we expect to see nominal, but sustainable, growth in prices this year” said 2013 CTAR President Owen Tyler. “2012 closed out with a 4.4% increase in median price, which is an excellent rate of growth in a recovering market”. said Tyler. However, before we get too excited Charleston/North Charleston real estate ranked in the top 10 nationally at #8 for length of time homes sat on the market. Meaning; out of largest metro areas researched houses in our area sat on the market longer then most cities in the country.Comparing the beginning of 2012 to 2013, sales volume is up 16% and median price reflects 3% growth thus far in 2013. This rise in sales volume much like most of the country is likely due to a lack of inventory more so then dramatic change in the overall market. There were 5,520 homes actively for sale in the Charleston Trident Multiple Listing Service (CTMLS) as of January 31, 2013. As the inventory for homes is low, Charleston, SC home builders will likely see higher demand for new construction. Futhermore, low mortgage rates continue to spur interest in buying vs renting around the country for the foreseeable future as the cost of owning has caught up with the affordability of renting.2012 Adjusted numbers (Adjusted numbers now show 10,588 homes sold at a median price of $190,145).Preliminary data reported for 2012 indicated that 10,574 homes sold at a median price of $190,065.Berkeley County 125 homes sold at a median price of $157,000 in January in Berkeley County. The most activity in the County was reported in the areas bordered by Highway 17A and College Park, as well as Goose Creek/Moncks Corner, bordered by Highway 52 and the Cooper River. The activity in those areas accounted for nearly half of the county sales. Charleston County Of the 363 homes sold at a median price of $228,726 in Charleston County in January, 108 of those sales took place in Mount Pleasant. Other notable areas of activity: 47 sales in North Charleston/Summerville (outside I-526) and West Ashley (outside I-526) where 37 homes sold. Dorchester County 123 homes sold at a median price of $146,000 in Dorchester County in January. The areas of Summerville/Ridgeville and Summerville/Ladson were the most active, with 55 and 41 sales, respectively.

Information From CTAR

Real Estate Market Improves and Prices Rising

Buying Home in Charleston SC Home Prices Market

Well according to USAToday.com latest article home prices rose 5.5% in the 12 months through November, providing more evidence of a recovering housing market, a closely-followed report showed Tuesday, and Charleston, SC home sales are no different.

The Standard & Poor’s Case-Shiller index of 20 major cities showed prices rising in 19 of the 20 cities for the 12-month period. Prices fell only in New York — by 1.2%.Compared with October, the index showed a 0.1% decline.“Housing is clearly recovering,” said David Blitzer, chairman of the home price index committee.The November numbers were stronger than October with 10 cities posting gains month to month. Only seven cities showed monthly gains in October’s Case-Shiller report. Declines in 10 cities are not unexpected for November because of winter weather and normal seasonal slowdowns in housing markets.Case-Shiller’s data shows the Southwest — represented by Phoenix and Las Vegas — have the strongest home price gains while Southeastern cities Miami and Tampa are close behind. Year over year, Phoenix prices are up almost 23%. The Charleston SC market was less effected as compared to much of the U.S., and regularly stood as one of the more resilient markets. Even throughout the housing crash.Other home price data also show increases for last year that came in higher than most economists expected.Some other factors also boosted home prices.In December, the nation’s supply of homes for sale fell to a 4.4 months, based on that month’s sales pace. That was the lowest level since May 2005, the National Association of Realtors says.The supply situation, which has been tightening for six months, has led to multiple bids for houses in some markets.“Any new listings are getting eaten up right away,” says EJ Bowlds, managing broker for Coldwell Banker Bain in Mercer Island, Wash. Multiple offers of 6 to 10 per home are now common, he says. Local home builder in Mount Pleasant, SC says there has also been a large jump in interest for building new homes because of the declining inventory.A slowly improving economy and low interest rates, which ticked up slightly to 3.42% the week ended Jan. 24, are also fueling demand.Prices are expected to keep moving higher this year, many economists and market watchers say.Prices will rise an average of 3.1% in 2013, according to the most recent survey of more than 100 economists and real estate experts surveyed by market watcher Zillow.“We have probably hit bottom and we’ve probably come off the bottom a little,” says Lawrence White, economist at New York University Leonard N. Stern School of Business.