James Island Real Estate: 2014 Stats

James Island Real Estate: Conflicting Numbers

Today I am looking at the Charleston MLS to see how the James Island real estate market is doing, and how it performed in 2014. First, here are the Closed Sales:

Closed Sales nearly doubled in December–although it was only from 5 Closed Sales in November to 9. The peak month for James Island in 2014 was May with 13 Closed Sales. February was the low point with just 3 sales.

Here is a look at 2014 compared with previous years for Closed Sales:

Even though these numbers aren’t the bigger numbers we’ve seen for other parts of the Charleston real estate market, the trend is very similar–large leaps percentage-wise. In fact, since 2012, home sales for James Island real estate have increased by 57%!

Here is a look at the Average Sales Price for 2014:

That number also increased in December, from November’s $219,938 to $272,408. That number peaked for 2014 in February, with an Average Sales Price of $408,275. The lowest Average Sales Price for James Island in 2014 was  actually November.

Here is a look at 2014 prices compared to previous years:

Interestingly enough, the Average Sales Price went down in 2014. Like many other areas in Charleston, 2013 was a big year–values increased by double digit percentage points.

However, most areas still saw appreciation in 2014, albeit at a slower, more stable level. It will definitely be worth watching James Island closely in the early part of 2015 to see where home values are trending.

It could also be that it is such a small sample size–remember, the most homes sold on James Island in 2014 in one month was 13, and many months saw less than 10 closings.

There is a wide variety of homes on James Island, so it can be easy for the numbers to skew with only a few closings.

But that emphasizes a bigger point–real estate is local, so what is happening in your specific neighborhood may not reflect the overall numbers. Buyer (and seller) beware.

Next, a look at the Average Days On The Market (DOM):

That number came down in December, from 92 DOM in November to 69. The highest DOM in 2014 was January with 96, the lowest was October with 32 DOM.

Here is a look at 2014 compared to previous years:

As you can see by both graphs, that number has been trending down.

Finally, here is a look at the Months Supply Of Inventory:

That number has been trending downwards as well, although it remained the same from November to December–2.2 Months. The highest Supply for 2014 was in February with 6.5 Months Supply.

Here is a look at 2014 versus previous years:

James Island entered into a sellers market on 2014, dropping below the 6 month level of a normal real estate market. Interesting that the numbers show a sellers market, even though the Average Sales Price for the year overall dropped.

Between those facts there is big discrepancy– in a sellers market values increase and the Months Supply decreases.

Perhaps it is simply an anomaly of the fact that it is a small sample size from a market with diverse home types.

You can look at the fact that home values in December shot up by nearly 24%, and that the Months Supply has been around 2 months for both November and December.

It would appear that the market is trending upward, but we will have to see what happens in early 2015.

I don’t think you can look at it as a bad sign for the market. Like most other areas of Charleston, it could simply be that James Island is correcting itself.

  An increase of 20% for home values in one year is substantial, and similar to what happened in other areas. Those areas still saw appreciation in 2014, but to more sustainable, healthy rates of appreciation.

Perhaps James Island either appreciated to rapidly in 2013 and 2014 was the correction, or perhaps the market corrected itself too much. The next couple months will tell us which one it was.

If you are thinking about selling your James Island home, then it is important to know the numbers for your specific neighborhood.

Visit my sellers page to get a free, comprehensive Neighborhood Value Report to see what your home is worth in today’s James Island real estate market.

If you are looking to buy on James Island, then you can search the James Island MLS and get a free list of homes sent to your mailbox that match your exact search criteria.

To see the latest numbers for James Island, check out my James Island Real Estate stats page.

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