Charleston, SC Real Estate Market Update for 2013

Posted by Lee and Katherine Keadle on Monday, May 20th, 2013 at 12:35pm.

charleston sc real estate

How is the Charleston SC real estate market? Has it been a good year? Whether you are purchasing or selling a home, 2013 is a fantastic year to be involved in the market. When comparing Charleston County’s 2013 year to date information to 2012’s year to date data, you will see that this year is doing leaps and bounds better than last year. By this time last year, sales volume was at just over $1.085 billion. For the current year to date, we are looking at a volume of over $1.425 billion in real estate sales. This is a $34 million increase in home sales volume in the Charleston area in just over a one year time period!

The average sales price for a home (including condos and townhomes) in Charleston County in 2012 YTD was $303K. However, the average sales price for a home in 2013 YTD is $335K. This is a 10% increase in the average sales price over the course of a year, which is very strong appreciation!

One reason for this increase is that buyers have been pent up from the last few years. People have wanted to move but couldn’t due to the down economy – whether they couldn’t sell their home for the amount they needed, couldn’t get a job, or didn’t feel confident parting with a chunk of their savings in order to make a down payment. Now, companies are hiring again and layoffs have slowed. In turn, more folks are comfortable making large purchases and changing locations. It also helps that interest rates are at historic lows (3%-4%). The combination of low prices and low interest rates brings along with it a sense of urgency to potential home buyers. They know prices and rates cannot remain this low forever – in fact, we’ve seen both prices and rates start their ascent upwards over the past year.

Today, sellers are getting comfortable with selling their smaller home for a loss or break even situation in order to buy their larger dream home at a reduced price and a fantastic interest rate. Overall, both buyers and sellers are finding it advantageous to buy and sell again. Hence, the Charleston real estate market has rebounded in 2013 and is projected to continue on this path. Over the past 2 months, it’s become quite common for new listings to go under contract within a day or two of being listed, often for full asking price in a multiple offer situation. Charleston’s real estate inventory is shrinking, while a growing demand from home buyers has resulted in listing shortages for certain areas and price ranges.

Right now these are some of the most popular selling suburbs of Charleston. No matter which area you choose, they are all seeing great improvement in terms of the real estate market:

You can read more about these areas and view current homes for sale using the links above. Or contact us for recommendations based on your specific needs!

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