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Mount Pleasant SC Homes for Sale, Mount Pleasant SC Real Estate for sale, Mount Pleasant SC Condos, Mount Pleasant SC Homes for Sale Listings, Charleston SC Fractional Homes for Sale
Charleston, SC Market TrendsCharleston, SC Market TrendsIn scouring real estate figures in the Charleston, SC area, Local Realtors see lots of signs of a weakening market. For instance, sales in Berkeley, Charleston and Dorchester counties are down18 percent from the same period in 2005.
That's no big surprise, since the national housing picture also is sagging. But is there a silver lining? It depends on how you look at it and the Charleston, SC Market Report for the final quarter of 2006. In my opinion, all this bad news, and the 'kernels about to pop,' will present real estate buyers good opportunities in certain Charleston, SC areas. There are plenty of sellers offering concessions, and there are sales well below list price in our market right now. As inventory, days on market (and) foreclosures rise and credit tightens, these factors will present an opportunity for qualified buyers to do some hard negotiating with sellers. The Charleston, SC Market Report tracks a host of national and local housing and economic trends, from inventories to mortgage interest rates. Along with sales dropping in fourth quarter 2006 from a year before, the average sale price dipped 0.2 percent to $309,999 from $310,494 a year ago. Charleston, SC houses were on the market an average of 71 days, 69 percent higher than the 42 days average at the end of 2005. And the current inventory of homes for sale is 6.6 months, compared with 3.4 months a year ago. Charleston condominium and townhome sales have struggled even more than single-family housing, plummeting 36 percent from the end of 2005. Charleston County has been hit the hardest for home and condo sales because of the affordability problems and rapid appreciation, leaving residences priced too high for the market. Foreclosures, where lenders repossess homes because owners fail to keep up payments, are a mixed picture. The good news is they are down from a year ago. The bad news is they've increased from the third quarter. Unfortunately, the out-of- control lending industry over the past few years leads me to believe that foreclosures will only get worse before they get better in this town and across the country. I also believe we will see more foreclosures coming from the upper end of the market as appreciation and equity in homes stagnates, inventory gets higher and interest-only loans reset. The main source of the Charleston, SC inventory problems is the condo and town home segment. An encouraging sign is the rate of increase slowed between third and fourth quarters compared with last year. The question remains: Is this due to sellers getting frustrated with current market conditions and pulling homes off the market or are (they) just waiting until the spring?
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