State of the Real Estate - Columbia, SC

Mel Coker's Report on Columbia, SC Real Estate for 2007...

Personally, I’d term 2007 a moderately successful year. I closed 43 transactions in 2007 for a sales volume of $8.39 million. I met many new clients last year and 19 came to me through my Internet presence. My 2007 closed transactions covered the following areas: Irmo/Chapin 37%; West Columbia/Lexington 30%; Northeast Columbia/Blythewood 14%; Lake Murray 7%; Downtown Columbia 7%; Other areas 5%. In other words, I cover ALL of the Greater Columbia area.

For ALL Greater Columbia residential sales in 2007, the results were mixed with the nationwide slump finally hitting Columbia especially during the last quarter of 2007. For the year, the number of residential sales was down approximately 4.4% compared to 2006. The median sales price in 2007
($144,000) was up approximately 3.5% compared to 2006. The average sales price in 2007 ($174,139) was up approximately 2.4% compared to 2006. Other market measures showed somewhat negative results. Average “days on market” (DOM) in 2007 was up approximately 9.0% in 2007 and inventory accumulation was up 23.9% in 2007.

For a few popular areas of Columbia:

• Irmo/Dutch Fork areas: Closings UP 1.6%; Avg. price UP 4.1%; Avg. DOM UP 13.5%; Inventory Accumlation UP 35.1%
• Lexington areas: Closings UP 7.4%; Avg. price UP 4.7%; Avg. DOM UP 19.4%; Inventory Accumlation UP 10.6%
• Northeast Columbia areas: Closings DOWN 12.8%; Avg. price up 5.1%; Avg. DOM UP 7.8%; Inventory Accumlation UP 60.5%

Another interesting statistic that I examined was new home sales in 2007. For the year, new home sales were essentially the same as in 2006 (up less than 1.0%). During the first nine months in 2007, new home sales were running 4.2% ahead of 2006. However, during the last 3 months of 2007, new home sales were down 9.3% compared to the same period in 2006. NOW is the time to buy a new home with good inventory and special pricing incentives from a number of builders. Call Mel Coker.

The “average” real estate sales agent (I can’t call them Realtors, because not all sales agents are actually Realtors), sold about 6 homes in 2007. So, the “average” real estate sales agent doesn’t sell too many homes. If an agent is in the top 5% of Columbia area sales agents, this equals at least 37 (app.) closed transactions during 2007.

CLICK HERE to read the full report on a web page.

My cool accomplishments last year included:
1) induction into the RE/MAX Hall of Fame (January 2007), 2) membership in the CyberStars group, and, 3) the start of my Blog (September 2007). I’m looking forward to a great year in real estate for 2008! Please keep reading my blog.

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Mel Coker
Columbia, SC Realtor