Charleston Real Estate Update – October 2023

Written sales market wide in September 2023 finished 6% below September of ‘2022.

• Based on interest rates remaining higher, it is anticipated that the second half of the year will be similar to the first half of the year with sales in the -15% year-over-year range
• Carolina One finished the month with written sales 21 points OVER the market.
• Last week saw 266 properties go under contract, a “normal” number for this time of year but far below the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021. See chart Below – Sales (green line) still remain remarkably close to the 15 year average (blue line) and have for about three and a half months. The orange line represents ratified contracts by week last year…the green line is this year…and the blue line is the 15 year average for each week. Follow the green line below.

Mortgage rates remain elevated, which can hold back sales levels.

https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MORTGAGE30US

• It is speculated that 6.5% could be the “magic number”; to increase activity. When 30 year mortgage rates trend below that number and stay there for a reasonable period of time, more buyers may come off of the sidelines and resale listing inventory will start to come back online at a higher rate than what we are seeing currently.

The Median sale price in the Charleston market continues to stay in a tight band between $400k and $420k where it has been for most of the last 18 months.

Active Inventory stands at 2,850 listings. While this level of inventory is a significant increase over the listing “floor” that we set in February of 2022, We still need roughly 4,100 additional listings market wide to achieve a balanced market (5 months of inventory).

How Mortgage rates effect inventory: About 60% of properties have a mortgage. Of the 60% that have a mortgage, 90% of those mortgages have an interest rate below 5%. Many owners are reluctant to trade their lower interest rates for current market rates.

The Charleston market has about six or seven weeks of inventory as a whole, although this can vary some by price range and specific location. It is still a seller’s market. The most active areas have inventory levels in the 4-8 week range.

Gena Glaze 843-343-8239