Charleston South Carolina real estate market report, July 2007
I think you'll find some interesting trends in this month's Charleston South Carolina real estate market report. As usual, we'll start with the statistics and comment after.
Unit Sales and Inventory
Single Family Homes
| Month | Sales 06 | Sales 07 | Change | Inv (mo) 06 | Inv (mo) 07 | Change |
| | | | | | | |
| Jan | 783 | 702 | -10.34% | 3719 (4.75) | 5719 (8.14) | 53.78% |
| Feb | 858 | 770 | -10.26% | 4023 (4.69) | 5861 (7.61) | 45.69% |
| Mar | 1177 | 994 | -15.55% | 4330 (3.68) | 6087 (6.12) | 40.58% |
| Apr | 964 | 771 | -20.02% | 4692 (4.87) | 6329 (8.21) | 34.89% |
| May | 1189 | 786 | -33.89% | 4900 (4.12) | 6711 (8.54) | 36.96% |
| June | 1322 | 879 | -33.51% | 5235 (3.96) | 6932 (7.89) | 32.42% |
| July | 1024 | 792 | -22.66% | 5618 (5.49) | 7022 (8.87) | 24.99% |
| Aug | 1041 | | | 5849 (5.62) | | |
| Sep | 1101 | | | 5963 (5.42) | | |
| Oct | 834 | | | 6075 (7.28) | | |
| Nov | 889 | | | 5999 (6.75) | | |
| Dec | 862 | | | 5755 (6.68) | | |
Condos and Townhomes
| Month | Sales 06 | Sales 07 | Change | Inv (mo) 06 | Inv (mo) 07 | Change |
| | | | | | | |
| Jan | 331 | 155 | -53.17% | 1189 (3.60) | 2403 (15.50) | 102.10% |
| Feb | 276 | 163 | -40.94% | 1665 (6.03) | 2521 (15.47) | 51.41% |
| Mar | 374 | 239 | -36.10% | 1763 (4.71) | 2618 (10.95) | 48.50% |
| Apr | 434 | 235 | -45.85% | 1730 (3.99) | 2740 (11.66) | 58.38% |
| May | 405 | 243 | -40.00% | 1971 (4.87) | 2805 (11.54) | 42.31% |
| June | 329 | 219 | -33.43% | 2096 (6.37) | 2793 (12.75) | 33.26% |
| July | 345 | 251 | -27.25% | 2289 (6.63) | 2811 (11.20) | 22.80% |
| Aug | 312 | | | 2318 (7.43) | | |
| Sep | 284 | | | 2419 (8.52) | | |
| Oct | 268 | | | 2624 (9.79) | | |
| Nov | 207 | | | 2579 (12.4) | | |
| Dec | 244 | | | 2467 (10.1) | | |
The "Current Inventory" (inv) column reflects the number of active listings on the market on the 16th day of each Month. The "Months of Inventory" (mo) column is equal to the "Current Inventory" divided by the "Monthly Sales". This reflects how many months it would take to sell out of inventory at the current month’s rate of sale.
Average and Median Prices
Single Family Homes
| Month | Average 06 | Average 07 | Change | Median 06 | Median 07 | Change |
| | | | | | | |
| Jan | $338,307 | $329,364 | -2.60% | $206,531 | $221,450 | 7.20% |
| Feb | $290,867 | $290,621 | unch | $208,965 | $218,269 | 4.50% |
| Mar | $319,579 | $310,000 | -3.00% | $210,551 | $219,916 | 4.40% |
| Apr | $319,989 | $324,465 | 1.40% | $215,000 | $229,000 | 6.50% |
| May | $343,653 | $350,283 | 1.90% | $216,728 | $229,250 | 5.70% |
| June | $306,038 | $357,550 | 16.83% | $213,116 | $225,000 | 5.58% |
| July | $325,242 | $328,594 | 0.10% | $226,580 | $222,261 | -1.91% |
| Aug | $319,838 | | | $221,937 | | |
| Sep | $286,945 | | | $200,935 | | |
| Oct | $332,620 | | | $215,000 | | |
| Nov | $301,428 | | | $216,900 | | |
| Dec | $291,799 | | | $210,000 | | |
Condos and Townhomes
| Month | Average 06 | Average 07 | Change | Median 06 | Median 07 | Change |
| | | | | | | |
| Jan | $253,632 | $224,970 | -11.30% | $173,000 | $178,000 | 2.90% |
| Feb | $246,102 | $224,281 | -8.90% | $167,275 | $156,900 | -6.20% |
| Mar | $250,851 | $253,029 | 0.90% | $204,613 | $169,900 | -17.00% |
| Apr | $239,540 | $222,034 | -7.30% | $193,093 | $175,000 | -9.40% |
| May | $243,927 | $226,365 | -7.20% | $192,600 | $169,750 | -11.90% |
| June | $238,437 | $281,486 | 18.05% | $181,900 | $211,840 | 16.46% |
| July | $216,871 | $258,615 | 19.25% | $183,310 | $188,750 | 2.97% |
| Aug | $228,221 | | | $181,100 | | |
| Sep | $238,503 | | | $190,488 | | |
| Oct | $237,610 | | | $183,171 | | |
| Nov | $208,051 | | | $165,000 | | |
| Dec | $230,212 | | | $152,500 | | |
12 month comparisons
Single Family Homes
| Date | Sales | Avg Sale | Median | DOM |
| | | | |
| 12 months 7/1/2005-6/30/2006 | 12,829 | $315,127 | $211,000 | 59 |
| 12 months 7/1/2006-6/30/2007 | 10,723 | $316,579 | $217,922 | 84 |
| Change | -16.42% | 0.46% | 3.28% | 42.37% |
Condos and Townhomes
| Date | Sales | Avg Sale | Median | DOM |
| | | | |
| 12 months 7/1/2005-6/30/2006 | 4,244 | $237,052 | $178,000 | 59 |
| 12 months 7/1/2006-6/30/2007 | 2,967 | $235,214 | $177,000 | 91 |
| Change | -30.09% | -0.77% | -0.56% | 54.24% |
I'll start by pointing out trends that have not changed. Unit sales are still off from last year and inventory continues to remain high. The difference is that you can now see that unit sales are declining at a smaller pace than previously and inventory is no longer continuing to build at the previous pace. Both are good signs for the market.
As to pricing, it remains solid. This is the first month I have ever seen the median price decline ( a modest 1.91%) in single family homes while the average increased a minuscule 0.1%). Condo sales must be stronger at the higher end because I've noticed back to back months of significant average price increases of 18 and 19% respectively. There is certainly a glut of condos at lower and middle price points, several condo conversions have been put on hold and there is significant unsold inventory at some new construction condos.
Most importantly is how well the Charleston real estate market has held up compared to many other markets across the country. The big picture with 12 month comparisons demonstrates firm pricing on both an average and median basis for both single family homes and condominiums despite declining unit sales.
I have been surprised for months that the sales activity has not increased because thankfully, my business has been pretty good despite the downturn. I keep expecting to look at the MLS statistics and see better unit sales figures. I'm actually quite surprised to see prices holding up so well considering the unit sales declines. I would think that supply and demand would have pressured prices a bit more.
The big news of course is in the mortgage market. Stricter standards are being applied to borrowers without full documentation but traditional creditworthy borrowers can still obtain conventional financing at very good current market rates. The good news with the recent slide in Wall Street is that 10 year Treasury rates have declined bringing mortgage rates down with them. 30 year fixed which were being offered a month ago from 6.62 to 6.75 are now ranging from 6.12 to 6.37.
I'll close this month's market report with the thought that Charleston is a wonderful place to live and own a home. I wrote a lengthy post recently titled, With all the bad news, is it a good time to buy Charleston real estate that I hope you will find interesting.