Mel's Columbia, SC Blog: Columbia, SC Real Estate Update

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Columbia, SC Real Estate Update

Columbia, SC Real Estate Update: 1st in a Series

Columbia, SC Housing Report

Home sales in the Columbia area are down the first nine months of 2010 compared to the same period last year.   This was also the subject of an article in THE STATE newspaper yesterday.   CLICK HERE to read the article.    I will provide more details in this blog article and plan to have two more blogs coming soon with more detail.   Get your best update and snapshot of the Columbia real estate market by reading my blog posts!

The 3rd quarter was a really bad quarter for the Columbia real estate market.   Sales were down 29.4% in the 3rd quarter of 2010 compared to the 3rd quarter in 2009.    Average prices were up a modest 2.09%.

For year-to-date in 2010 (thru September 2010), sales are down 4.3%. Average prices are up a modest 1.89%.    Obviously the year-to-date stats were helped by the first time homebuyer tax credit that was in effect for contracts written and accepted by April 30, 2010.

Personally, my stats are a little different.   My closings thru September 2010 were up 20% compared to the same nine month period last year.   And, I've got 4 closings scheduled for October.   But, there is no doubt that our market is still down and in "erratic" mode.   But, it's a GREAT TIME TO BUY A HOME! Call Mel Coker at (803) 388-8011 to buy your home in Greater Columbia.

More stats:   At the end of September 2010, there were 8396 properties for sale. This compares to 7217 as of the end of September 2009, an increase of 16.3%.   And there is enough inventory (based on sales rate compared to remaining inventory) to last 13.09 months.   This is an increase of 21.7% over the same period last year.   Normal market inventory accumulation would be in the range of 6 months.

The last positive growth period in Columbia real estate sales was the 1st nine months in 2007.    During this period, there were 9304 closings compared to the 5773 closings in the same period this year. That's a 38.0% drop.   Also, during this nine month period in 2007, the inventory accumulation was 7.69 months.   Average prices have dropped since then by 6.95%.

Coming in future blog posts: further detail on the above stats, including specifics in the most popular areas of Columbia real esate (Irmo/Dutch Fork; Lexington and Northeast Columbia); Lake Murray real estate update.   Be sure to read (or subscribe to my blog posts) for the most detail about what's happening in the Columbia real estate market.