Charleston real estate market report, sales, inventory and home prices, April 1, 2010
This is no April Fool's joke. The Charleston real estate market is doing very well considering everything being reported in the media about double dips, foreclosures, the economy, etc. February was an excellent month with sales higher on a year over year basis than February 2009 and most importantly, significantly higher in all price categories, not just entry level homes for first time home buyers taking advantage of the tax credit. Inventory, while still high, has not reached previous record levels of a year or two ago. And prices seem to be firming. All in all, the word that comes to my mind to describe the Charleston housing market is stability.
A very early look at March is even more encouraging with 618 sales already recorded compared to 630 sales in March 2009 and anyone who follows this Charleston real estate market report knows that sales are usually entered later rather than earlier. I think we'll easily top 700 for the month.
Statistics compiled by Howard Arnoff using the Charleston MLS as the source of data, information deemed reliable but not guaranteed.
Home Prices
Once again, rather than focusing on either the median price or average price, a quick look at the price paid on a dollars per square foot basis shows the real decline in prices from the highs of the market. Buyers are able to get a lot more house for the money today than in years past.
Sales and Inventory
Home sales - The blue line represents 2008, the red line represents 2009 and the yellow line represents 2010. The trend is up.
Inventory and absorption rate - Inventory is represented by the red line and corresponds to the left axis and the absorption rate is represented by the blue line and corresponds to the right axis. You can see the typical build of inventory for the spring selling season but at a lower level than last year. The absorption rate continues to decline which is good news.
Sales, inventory and absorption rate for all homes and by price point
Once again, most importantly is the improvement in all price classifications, sales up, inventory and absorption rate down.
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. It can also be referred to as the absorption rate.