Mt Pleasant Real Estate: 2014 Was A Great Year!

I’m continuing my look at the Charleston MLS to see the year-end stats for the Mt Pleasant real estate market. First, a look at the number of Closed Sales for 2014:

Sales jumped up in December, from November’s 161 to 175. June was the peak month for 2014, with 247 Closed Sales. January was the low point with 120. How does 2014 compare with previous years?

2014 was down very slightly from the number of Closed Sales in 2013–by 10 total sales. However, 2013 jumped up by a whopping 32.6% over 2012.

From 2012 to 2014 Mt Pleasant saw an overall increase of Closed Sales by 32%, and that is quite an impressive number. Mt pleasant was named the 9th fastest growing city in the United States earlier this year by the US Census.

So, how are home values in Mt Pleasant?

Th Average Sales Price dropped a little from November to December, from $436,754 to $427,700. The peak for home values in Mt Pleasant for 2014 was June at $446,140. The low point was $414,249 in October. Here is a look at home values over the last few years:

As you can see, the Average Sales Price in Mt Pleasant continued to rise in 2014. A normal rate of appreciation in real estate is 3% to 4% annually, so gains of 13.7% (2013) and 7.4% (2014) are rather impressive.

However, the rate of appreciation slowed in 2014, so is that a cause of concern? More on that in a minute.

Next, let’s look at the Average Days On The Market (DOM):

The Average DOM dropped in December, from 80 DOM to 65 DOM. The highest DOM in 2014 was April, at 84. The lowest month was August at 47 DOM. Here is a look at the last few years:

Overall, Mt Pleasant real estate has seen a 28.7% drop in DOM since 2012. Here is a look at the Months Supply Of Inventory for Mt Pleasant in 2014:

That number has been on a sharp decline over the last few months. In November it was 3.5 months, and in December it dropped to 3 months. 2014 was a pretty good year for Supply Of Inventory–the highest month was June, with a 3.9 Months Supply of homes.

Think about that for a second–Mt Pleasant didn’t have an Inventory over 4 months at any point in 2014.

In fact, to find a 4 Month Supply of homes or greater for Mt Pleasant real estate, you have to go back to early last year.

In May and July of 2013 there was a 4 Month Supply, and in April it was 4.2. If you have read my blog posts, then you have seen the following infographic and understand why Months Supply is an important stat:

As I mentioned earlier, Mt Pleasant is the 9th fastest growing city in the US (it is also the fastest growing city in the South as well).

This is clearly reflected by these numbers–demand is high, supply is limited.

Available homes are snapped up pretty quickly, and values continue to rise.

Let’s take a look at Months Supply of Inventory over the last few years:

As you can see, Mt Pleasant has been a sellers market for the last few years.

So, the numbers look great for 2014, but what’s in store for 2015? First, there might be some concern over the fact that the appreciation rate slowed down in 2014. Does that mean the Mt Pleasant real estate market is slowing down, or worse, heading for a decline?

What is happening in Mt Pleasant is the same thing that is happening nationally, and that is actually very good news. Nationally, sales are at or above 2013 levels, and home values are continuing to rise–just not at the same rate they did in the previous years.

2013 was a very good year both nationally and in Mt Pleasant. However, maintaining that high rate of appreciation is simply not something that can be done for a long period of time. At least, without big consequences–see the real estate bubble and burst from a few years back.

Last time around, home values went crazy, and basically unchecked. This led to the market crash. The real estate market swings like a pendulum–if it swings too far to one side, then it will swing back in the other direction just as hard.

What the market is doing (both nationally and in Mt Pleasant) is correcting itself. After big surges in home values, the market is getting back to a more normal real estate market.

So, if the overall sales are around the same as last year (and Mt Pleasant only had 10 less sales in 2014), and values are still increasing, then the market is doing fine.

Keep in mind that 2013 was a big year, both nationally and in Mt Pleasant. If the numbers looked the same for 2014, then I think that might be a bigger cause for concern.

Also keep in mind that home values are still increasing–they just aren’t increasing at the rapid rate we saw in 2013–but homes are still appreciating. The market is correcting towards a healthier rate of growth–more steady than rapid.

As I have preached before, it is important to keep the numbers in the proper perspective. You could look at the Closed Sales numbers being down in 2014 and think that “the good days” are over.

But you would be wrong. That is why it is important for both buyers and sellers to know the market numbers and to understand what they are telling us.

Rest easy heading into 2015 Mt Pleasant, all is very fine.

If you are looking at Mt Pleasant real estate, then bee sure to check out my sellers and Mt Pleasant buyers pages. You can also search the Mt Pleasant MLS here.

If you would like to keep up with the latest Mt Pleasant real estate stats from the Charleston MLS, then check out my stats page here.