Fall Charleston Real Estate Market Report
Posted on | September 3, 2009 | No Comments
The Charleston real estate market is definitely showing signs of stabilization. We need to be careful, though, because while we are probably past the bottom in terms of units, I don’t think we are quite there yet in terms of price. Right now, the Charleston area has about a 22 month supply of homes on the market (I can provide info specific to any area/neighborhood upon request). A balanced market is considered to be a 5-6 month supply. It is highly likely that prices will continue to drop until we reach a 6 month supply of homes. However, increased sales in July and August have definitely slowed the rate of decline, and we do have a light at the end of the tunnel.Moving into the Fall months, there are a few unknowns that are going to affect the real estate market. The first is that the First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit (8K) is set to expire on December 1. Because of this, I think we will have a rush of first time buyer closings in late October and November. Hopefully this will have a “trickle-up” effect and help out some sellers trying to sell homes in the second home price range and beyond. Congress is reviewing several proposals for extending and/or expanding the tax credit, but whether they will, and what plan they will go with, is anybody’s guess at this point.Another unknown is what interest rates are going to do over the next few months.Lastly, we have what is being called a “Shadow Inventory” of homes waiting to come on the market. This consists of homes that are in foreclosure, or that have been foreclosed on and haven’t hit the market yet, and also homeowners who want to sell, but have been waiting until the market shows signs of improvement to put their homes on the market. Both of these could significantly impact supply, which will, in turn, further impact prices. For now, I think most people, are taking a “wait and see” approach. Things are looking up, but we aren’t jumping up and down in the streets just yet.
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