Charleston South Carolina real estate market report, August 2007
The Charleston South Carolina real estate market seems to have settled into a steady pattern as you'll notice when viewing the statistics for August and the recent trends mostly remain unchanged. Once again, we'll present the statistics first 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 | 811 | -22.09% | 5849 (5.62) | 7107 (8.76) | 21.51% |
| 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 | 190 | -39.10% | 2318 (7.43) | 2873 (15.12) | 23.94% |
| 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 | $349,536 | 9.29% | $221,937 | $221,295 | -0.29% |
| 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 | $233,410 | 2.27% | $181,100 | $181,774 | 0.37% |
| 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 9/1/2005-8/31/2006 | 12,595 | $316,288 | $212,426 | 61 |
| 12 months 9/1/2006-8/31/2007 | 10,575 | $318,276 | $218,000 | 86 |
| Change | -16.04% | 0.63% | 2.62% | 40.98% |
| | | | |
| Condos and Townhomes | | | | |
| | | | |
| Date | Sales | Avg Sale | Median | DOM |
| | | | |
| 12 months 9/1/2005-8/31/2006 | 4,210 | $236,791 | $179,721 | 59 |
| 12 months 9/1/2006-8/31/2007 | 2,882 | $235,321 | $177,000 | 97 |
| Change | -31.54% | -0.62% | 1.54% | 64.41% |
As you can see, inventory levels remain high but are holding steady and unit sales continue to decline on a year over year basis but once again remain mostly steady in single family homes, declining a bit more steeply in condos and townhomes. Pricing remains stubbornly resistant to declines in both single family homes and condos and townhomes. The surprising jump in condos and townhome average price of the past two months has reverted back to a more previous prices so there must have been some significant activity at the high end in June and July to cause the temporary spike.
Most importantly, when you look at the last 12 months compared to the previous 12 months, prices have remained very stable on a year over year basis in both average and median while unit sales have declined. It continues to surprise me and many other real estate professionals that I have talked with about this and it generally defies the laws of supply and demand. However, it is a positive overall for the Charleston real estate market and while I wouldn't be surprised to see a decline, it hasn't happened yet.
The big issue now is whether the tighter mortgage lending standards will have any further negative effect on unit sales. Additionally, while prices have remained very stable, I have personally noticed that some sellers are more willing to negotiate right now and buyers with a choice of many different properties to choose from can purchase below market when the seller is highly motivated.