Charleston South Carolina real estate market report, October 2007
The trends are so firmly entrenched that this is almost getting boring 
. The Charleston South Carolina real estate market continues to have declining sales, inventory levels while high but no longer increasing month over month and prices that remain stubbornly stable. As usual, we'll present the statistics and comment afterward.
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 | 662 | -39.87% | 5963 (5.42) | 7159 (10.81) | 20.06% |
| Oct | 834 | 561 | -32.73% | 6075 (7.28) | 7102 (12.66) | 16.91% |
| 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 | 193 | -32.04% | 2419 (8.52) | 2941 (15.24) | 21.58% |
| Oct | 268 | 196 | -26.87% | 2624 (9.79) | 2921 (14.90) | 11.32% |
| 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 (As noted last month, this monthly data seems to be increasingly irrelevant. Take a look at pricing and condos would appear to be doing better than single family homes and yet the condo market is generally considered to be in much worse condition.)
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 | $289,441 | 0.86% | $200,935 | $198,186 | -1.37% |
| Oct | $332,620 | $299,628 | -9.91% | $215,000 | $205,000 | -4.65% |
| 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 | $354,789 | 48.76% | $190,488 | $219,000 | 14.97% |
| Oct | $237,610 | $329,832 | 38.81% | $183,171 | $218,810 | 19.46% |
| Nov | $208,051 | | | $165,000 | | |
| Dec | $230,212 | | | $152,500 | | |
12 Month Comparisons
| Date | Sales | Avg Sale | Median | DOM |
| | | | |
| 12 months 11/1/2005-10/31/2006 | 12,357 | $314,806 | $212,500 | 64 |
| 12 months 11/1/2006-10/31/2007 | 10,001 | $316,987 | $217,500 | 90 |
| Change | -19.07% | 0.69% | 2.35% | 40.62% |
| | | | |
| Condos and Townhomes | | | | |
| | | | |
| Date | Sales | Avg Sale | Median | DOM |
| | | | |
| 12 months 11/1/2005-10/31/2006 | 4,137 | $236,672 | $182,000 | 62 |
| 12 months 11/1/2006-10/31/2007 | 2,777 | $250,992 | $180,000 | 103 |
| Change | -32.87% | 6.05% | -1.10% | 66.13% |
I want to reiterate the point that I made before presenting the second set of charts regarding monthly prices on both an average and median basis. As I started to notice last month, the 12 month comparisons seem to offer a more meaningful insight into the pricing trends. The cumulative totals of 12 months clearly shows the declines we have seen in unit sales for the past year, the increasing time homes are available on the market and the very stable pricing on both an average and median basis.
The simple comparison of one month from year to year shows wide price swings both up and down and isn't as reliable an indicator of Charleston real estate market conditions because it just reflects what the mix of homes or condos that sold that particular month. It appears that sales of less expensive homes and more expensive condos in any particular month simply distort the statistics and therefore are not as meaningful as sales over the past year compared to the previous year. As I mentioned last month, I'll continue to publish them through the end of the year simply for continuity purposes.
I don't believe we will see very many changes during the balance of this year. November and December are generally a little slow because of the holidays. As is always the case, a number of homes will be taken off the market during the end of the year only to be relisted after January 1st. In my opinion, 2008 will see a continuation of the trends we have witnessed this year with hopefully a bit less drama and more stability in the mortgage market. There are simply fewer people able to qualify for a loan today and that is probably a good thing since some homeowners should probably not have been able to obtain a mortgage to buy a house these past few years.
Once the builders start to reign in new construction starts to a more realistic level, inventory levels will be more in line with demand. Sellers of preowned homes need to have more realistic expectations about the value of their home considering today's market conditions (high inventory means a lot of competition) in order to successfully sell their homes.
Buyers of both new construction and preowned homes can continue to expect to get significant savings off list prices especially when you can find a motivated seller.