Median sales price, Charleston real estate year end review
Based on the median sales price, the Charleston real estate market is showing the famous "double dip" in home prices. The median price is affected by the mix of homes sold and when more less expensive homes sell, the median price will decline and due to a high number of distressed sales in the Charleston area including foreclosures and short sales, that is exactly what we are seeing.
But even better news in Charleston real estate was that sales were higher in 2011 than 2010 and even more importantly, inventory of homes for sale in Charleston declined significantly. And don't forget the decline in median home sales price was a very slight 3.75 percent.
So what's the outlook.
I think a little more of the same for 2012.
In 10 Themes for 2012, Todd Harrison of Minyanville comments on the outlook for real estate.
“It’s impossible to catch the bottom of a housing cycle but investors with a 10-year time horizon will hunt for bargains — and find them. With mortgage rates at all-time lows, seeds of the eventual recovery will begin to sow. This will be a prolonged process, but every journey begins with a single step.”
Statistics compiled by Howard Arnoff using the Charleston MLS as the source of data, information deemed reliable but not guaranteed.
