Charleston MLS: Numbers Keep Getting Better

Here are the latest numbers from the Charleston MLS to see how the local market is doing.

First up, a look at Closed Sales:

Closed Sales are up in June.

That is not unexpected, as the Summer months are usually the peak months for Closed Sales in Charleston.

There were 1,683 Closed Sales in June, up from 1,467 in May.

What is noteworthy is the fact that May saw the highest number of Closed Sales since July of 2006 (which saw 1,465 Closed Sales). 

June saw the highest number of Closed Sales since June of 2006, with 1,761 Closed Sales.

If you look at the next graph, it shows Closed Sales for the entire Charleston MLS over the last 10 years.

Almost every year June is the peak month for Closed Sales. Will that trend continue in 2015?

By the looks of the next set of numbers, we could see the peak month for 2015 happen sometime later this Summer, and perhaps even this fall.

The reason for this is a recent upturn in Pending Home Sales:

Pending Home Sales increased in June, to 1,851.

That number has been trending upward nationally–each month so far in 2015 has seen Pending Home Sales increase to 9 year highs.

Pending Home Sales in Charleston have also trended upward, although they dipped slightly in May.

For April, there were 1,771. In May there were 1,673.

By the way, June was the most Pending Home Sales in the Charleston MLS since March of 2005, which had 1,855 Pending Sales.

Pending Sales are homes under contract, and should become Closed Sales in the next 30-90 days.

They are often good indicators of future sales, so by that fact alone we could see the number of Closed Sales continue to increase.

Another national trend is homes selling faster than they have in years.

How fast are homes on the Charleston MLS selling? Here is a look at the Average Days On The Market (DOM):

That number also is trending downward, and dropped from May (at 63 DOM) to June (at 59 DOM).

Homes for sale in Charleston SC sold the fastest in June since September 2006 which also saw an Average DOM of 59.

Homes are selling at a faster pace and sales numbers are hitting 10 year highs.

So what about home values in Charleston SC? Here is a look at the Average Sales Price:

June saw a slight increase over May for Average Sales Price. In May, it was $322,294 and in June it was $322,913.

June saw a year-over-year increase by nearly $7,000–last June the Average Sales Price was $315,050.

That is a nearly 2.5% increase. June is also the highest month since June 2007 which had an Average Sales Price of $323,030.

Here is another look at home values, the Average Price Per Square Foot:

That number has been on the upward trend, and increased slightly in June–from $152/sq ft in May to $153/sq ft in June.

That is the highest Average Price Per Square Foot since May 2008, which saw an Average of $156/sq ft.

Next, a look at the Months Supply Of Inventory for the Charleston MLS:

That number also dropped again, and continues to trend downward. In May, there was a 4.6 Months Supply, and in June there was a 4.2 Month Supply.

That is the lowest since February 2006, which also saw a 4.2 Months Supply.

Let’s take a look at one more number–the number of New Listings to hit the Charleston MLS:

That number peaked (for 2015 so far) back in March when there were 2,251 New Listings added to the Charleston MLS.

In May, there were 2,130 and in June 2,082.

March saw the most New Listings since August of 2007, which had 2,465 New Listings.

Charleston MLS: So What Are The Numbers Telling Us?

You can clearly see that the Charleston SC real estate market is hot.

If you break it down to individual cities, you will see much of the same–we are hitting numbers we haven’t seen in nearly 10 years.

Charleston is currently in a sellers market.

This is not necessarily a bad thing, but the big concern with the national market remains the big issue in Charleston: lack of enough inventory.

Simply put, buyer demand exceeds the supply of houses.

Despite this, it doesn’t appear to have affected sales numbers.

The only month in 2015 that didn’t see an increase in Closed Sales was February. Part of the drop can be attributed to the lack of inventory.

It is encouraging to see the number of New Listings hitting the market, particularly in March.

Since that was the peak month in nearly 8 years, it isn’t too surprising that that numbers has decreased over the last couple months.

It is also encouraging to see the number of New Listings still close to the peak.

We haven’t seen this many consecutive months of 2,000+ New Listings since 2008 (January to May).

We are hitting our peak selling season, and it appears as though home owners are responding to the strong buying demand. Increasing home values surely also played a role.

However, buyer demand still remains stronger than the supply.

4.2 Months Supply is a little low, and ideally we can see that number increase to help balance the market.

Despite this, I still think Charleston is in great shape. Nationally, there are concerns about inventory catching up and narrowing the gap between demand.

Here locally, I don’t think it is as big a concern primarily because Charleston is such a hot destination to move to.

There are so many people moving here that it could take a long time for the demand to cool.

Even if interest rates go up as expected, I don’t think that will slow down the number of people moving to the Holy City.

United Van Lines does an annual survey to see where people are moving from and where they are moving to.

This is based off of their business, so it is not the most scientific survey.

However, it does give us a glimpse of moving trends.

In 2014, South Carolina was the second most popular destination.

Certainly not all of those people will move to the Charleston area, but this gives you a better perspective on the influx of new people to the area.

If this demand remains strong and supply lags behind, then prices will continue to increase in Charleston.

This is great for anyone leaving the area or that wants to downsize or upsize.

It could affect first time homebuyers, especially if interest rates increase.

Here is a quick look at the current Charleston MLS numbers:

There are 5,625 homes for sale in Charleston SC.

1,006 of those are New Construction.

This is important because home builders are trying to help meet the demand by increasing production–they are adding needed inventory.

There are 831 Pending Home Sales, and another 2,508 Contingent Homes.

This should at least help keep the number of sales steady through Summer, and we could still see increases.

Stay tuned to this blog and I will keep updating and analyzing the numbers.

If you want to see the latest Charleston MLS numbers you can visit my Charleston SC Real Estate stats page.

If you are thinking about selling, then you should visit my Pam Marshall Realtor sellers page and see why I am the right choice to get your home sold.

If you are buying, you can search the Charleston MLS at my Pam Marshall Realtor buyers page.