Around this time last year there were 7,030 sales at a median price of $190,907 in the Charleston region. Last August alone the median price was $199,414 and 1,034 homes were sold. This year, August has proven to be a great month for real estate with 1,278 homes sold at a median price of $217,462, according to the Charleston Trident Association of REALTORS®.
Year-to-date, not only have sales increased by 24%, but the median price has risen by 7.6%. Additionally, homes are selling almost one month faster than they were last year.
2013 Multiple Listing Service (MLS) President, Dave Sansom, says that this unanticipated progress will keep our market stable. “Looking at the year-to-date figures, we are positioned to finish 2013 with significant gains in sales volume and healthy, steady growth in prices.”
Inventory and rising mortgage rates have also been changing this year. Luckily, it appears that year-to-date there are about 5,700 homes for sale, which means that the current market is stabilized in the Charleston region. In regards to mortgage rates, CTAR President, Owen Tyler, remarked that the “minimal increases have not soured the demand for residential real estate in Charleston,” and that “buyer activity and interest is still very strong.”
Charleston County is also seeing the lowest average for the amount of time that homes are on the market so far this year, with a current average of about 77 days.