Charleston SC Homes: NAR Sales

Reports

Some recent reports show positive signs for the national housing market, and there are good numbers for Charleston SC homes as well.

First, the Pending Sales Report is a good indicator of future sales since these are homes currently under contract.

If you look at both the Existing Sales Report and Pending Sales Report from the National Association of Realtors for September, both trend upwards.

This is significant, because over the last 15 years there is usually a drop off after August. But for 2014, that is not the case. 

If you look at the Pending Sales numbers for the last 3 months of 2014 and compare them to the same 3 months in 2013, you can see that last year those numbers declined.

But for this year they actually have leveled off. I touched on this in a previous post, but this is a good sign. The market is leveling off from previous high levels. So, technically the numbers are down (from last year), but it is a result of the market evening out.

Another report to pay attention to is Foot Traffic–the amount of people out actively looking at homes for sale. These numbers also typically decline after Summer, yet in 2014 those numbers have increased.

In fact, as you can see in the graph below, those numbers have shot up. This is a good sign for the real estate market, as the winter numbers typically are down.

This happened last year going into early 2014, and a lot of it was probably due to severe winter weather conditions across the country last winter. So, it looks like we may not see the dramatic drop off in sales we experienced in 2013.

The next graph shows a comparison of Foot Traffic numbers of 2013 to the numbers of 2014.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Charleston SC Homes: The Local Numbers

So, what about the numbers for Charleston SC homes? Looking at the Charleston MLS data, Closed Sales and Pending Sales numbers are down. If you look at the trend of the graphs, we experienced the same downward trend to end 2013. However, look a little closer and the numbers are above where they were this time last year.

The Months Supply of inventory for the entire Charleston MLS is still down, to 5.1 months. The Average Sales Price also increased for October. So, just because the Pending Sales and Existing Sales for Charleston SC homes are down, doesn’t mean that our local market is heading south.

The demand is still there, as are the values. If you look at the actual numbers, we are down from the peak, but the numbers are still higher than they have been for the last year and a half. I think it is simply a matter of the overall real estate market correcting itself after posting some high numbers.

This is the natural leveling off, which is a sign of a healthy real estate market.

Charleston SC Homes: Help For Buyers and Sellers

If you are looking at buying Charleston SC homes, then check out my buyers page.

If you are looking at selling Charleston SC, then check out my sellers page.

You can also download a Free Fall 2014 Home Buyer’s Guide below. I also have a Seller’s Guide available, so if you would like a copy of that just let me know. 

Either way, I have you covered whether you are buying or selling Charleston SC homes.

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