Market Updates

We are switching our blog posts for market updates from www.allthingscharleston.com to www.move2charleston.com.  In an earlier post, I had commented that October was the 1st month where sales topped the previous year. 

November, 2009 sales are 62% higher vs November 2008. 

823 vs 508 to be exact.  Two months isn't completely solid, but it's a heck of a lot better than watching sales go down, down, down.  Hopefully, we'll see the trend continue into 2010, particularly when the effect of the new Boeing plant kicks in. 

December 2009 was the 3rd month in a row in Charleston with monthly residential real estate sales up over previous year.  The "bounce" in December was not as high as October and November, BUT, this report comes on January 11.  Many agents procrastinate when listings are sold in changing the status, so all the sales may not have been recorded yet in the MLS. 

Another piece of good news is the average cost per square foot.  It had dipped as low as $122 in November 2009 and was $132 in December 2009.  This number tends to shimmy around, so I'll be looking for a three month trend before getting too excited.   

These trends are very significant due to the fact that buyers are understandabl...

Unfortunately, January 2010 did not follow the trend of the previous 3 months.  October, November and December 2009 all showed substantial improvements of the same month in 2008.  January 2010 sales are slightly below January 2009 sales, 405 vs 434.   This information is read directly from MLS statistics.  There are usually some late postings by agents that don't change the status in the MLS, but it isn't going to be more than 10 or 20.  In other words, not enough to exceed last year. 

There is some good news.  Average $ per square foot have remained steady at $133. This measure had dipped as low as $123 in August of '09.  It could also be considered good news that the January sales are ...

Charleston area Realtors and home sellers continue to look for good news and are reporting the down tick in inventory as hope that things are turning around.  We have to hit bottom somewhere, and we're getting very close we hope.  It's anyone's guess really.  Inventory finally dropped below the 10,000 mark, but why?  And since inventory skyrocketed in 2007, what does it really mean that things don't seem as terrible as when inventory was above 11,000 and 20 MONTHS.  20 MONTHS OF INVENTORY.  Golly that's a lot.  Now it's down below 13 and that doesn't stink as bad.  So yes, I'd say if we were at 20 months of inventory and now we're at 13, we've probably hit bottom as far as that goes.  Ave...

Enjoy reading the Charleston Trident Association Charleston Trident Annual Residential Annual Report Area Housing Market.  According to preliminary data released today by the Charleston Trident Association of REALTORS® (CTAR), 1,212 homes sold at a median price of $215,000 in October. Last October, 1,047 homes sold at a median price of $189,900 in the region.