Charleston South Carolina real estate market report, December 2007, update
As suggested, late reporting sales for December increased the totals for both single family homes and condos/townhomes for December. What was unexpected was late reported sales for 2006 adding 5 sales of single family homes and 2 sales of condos/townhomes. There were a few adjustments upwards from other months in 2007 as well so no matter when the data is presented, there will always be the potential for a few changes. We'll present the data first, a brief comment later.
Statistics compiled by Howard Arnoff using the Charleston MLS as the source of the data, information deemed reliable but not guaranteed.
Unit Sales and Inventory
Single Family Homes
| Month | Sales 06 | Sales 07 | Change | Inv 06 | Mo 06 | Inv 07 | Mo 07 | Change |
| Jan | 785 | 706 | -10.06% | 3719 | 4.75 | 5719 | 8.14 | 53.78% |
| Feb | 858 | 777 | -9.44% | 4023 | 4.69 | 5861 | 7.61 | 45.69% |
| Mar | 1178 | 1014 | -13.92% | 4330 | 3.68 | 6087 | 6.12 | 40.58% |
| Apr | 964 | 791 | -17.95% | 4692 | 4.87 | 6329 | 8.21 | 34.89% |
| May | 1189 | 959 | -19.34% | 4900 | 4.12 | 6711 | 8.54 | 36.96% |
| June | 1322 | 1027 | -22.31% | 5235 | 3.96 | 6932 | 7.89 | 32.42% |
| July | 1029 | 859 | -16.52% | 5618 | 5.49 | 7022 | 8.87 | 24.99% |
| Aug | 1043 | 911 | -12.66% | 5849 | 5.62 | 7107 | 8.76 | 21.51% |
| Sep | 1102 | 718 | -34.85% | 5963 | 5.42 | 7159 | 10.81 | 20.06% |
| Oct | 838 | 637 | -23.99% | 6075 | 7.28 | 7102 | 12.66 | 16.91% |
| Nov | 890 | 673 | -24.38% | 5999 | 6.75 | 7044 | 12.27 | 17.42% |
| Dec | 866 | 593 | -31.52% | 5755 | 6.68 | 6862 | 12.28 | 19.24% |
| Year | 12064 | 9665 | -19.89% | | | | | |
Condos and Townhomes
| Month | Sales 06 | Sales 07 | Change | Inv 06 | Mo 06 | Inv 07 | Mo 07 | Change |
| Jan | 331 | 157 | -52.57% | 1189 | 3.60 | 2403 | 15.50 | 102.10% |
| Feb | 276 | 167 | -39.49% | 1665 | 6.03 | 2521 | 15.47 | 51.41% |
| Mar | 375 | 250 | -33.33% | 1763 | 4.71 | 2618 | 10.95 | 48.50% |
| Apr | 435 | 250 | -42.53% | 1730 | 3.99 | 2740 | 11.66 | 58.38% |
| May | 404 | 319 | -21.04% | 1971 | 4.87 | 2805 | 11.54 | 42.31% |
| June | 329 | 307 | -6.69% | 2096 | 6.37 | 2793 | 12.75 | 33.25% |
| July | 345 | 274 | -20.58% | 2289 | 6.63 | 2811 | 11.20 | 22.80% |
| Aug | 313 | 222 | -29.07% | 2318 | 7.43 | 2873 | 15.12 | 23.94% |
| Sep | 284 | 215 | -24.30% | 2419 | 8.52 | 2941 | 15.24 | 21.58% |
| Oct | 268 | 227 | -15.30% | 2624 | 9.79 | 2921 | 14.90 | 11.32% |
| Nov | 209 | 186 | -11.00% | 2579 | 12.40 | 2923 | 17.30 | 13.34% |
| Dec | 245 | 137 | -44.08% | 2467 | 10.10 | 2828 | 23.37 | 14.63% |
| Year | 3814 | 2711 | -28.92% | | | | | |
The "Current Inventory" (inv) reflects the number of active listings on the market on the 16th day of each Month. The "Months of Inventory" (mo) 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. It can also be referred to as the absorption rate.
12 month comparisons
| Single Family Homes | | | | |
| | | | |
| Date | Sales | Avg Sale | Median Sale | DOM |
| | | | |
| 12 months 1/1/2006-12/31/2006 | 12,064 | $314,750 | $214,000 | 68 |
| 12 months 1/1/2007-12/31/2007 | 9,665 | $315,616 | $217,000 | 93 |
| Change | -19.89% | 0.28% | 1.40% | 36.76% |
| | | | |
| Condos and Townhomes | | | | |
| | | | |
| Date | Sales | Avg Sale | Median Sale | DOM |
| | | | |
| 12 months 1/1/2006-12/31/2006 | 3,814 | $241,370 | $183,000 | 66 |
| 12 months 1/1/2007-12/31/2007 | 2,711 | $257,126 | $184,900 | 106 |
| Change | -28.92% | 6.53% | 1.04% | 60.61% |
Quite simply, unit sales declined sharply during 2007, inventory increased substantially early in the year before stabilizing at the current elevated levels and prices have remained very stable. Despite lower mortgage rates once again available, high inventory and tighter lending standards will continue to put pressure on any price appreciation during the next year. The Charleston South Carolina real estate market, however, has been very fortunate compared to some other parts of the country experiencing far more difficult market conditions.