2023 – A Year In Review – Charleston Area Real Estate SC

Seasonal Flow of Business Returns. We seem to have exited the “pandemic years” when real estate was busy at all points in the year and we have returned to a more normal seasonal flow of business as shown in the chart below. All three lines (2022, 2023, and the 15 year average) track each other closely throughout the year. The orange line represents ratified contracts by week 2022, the green line is 2023 and the blue line is the 15-year average for each week.

As inventory was still constrained and interest rates begin retreating, written sales market wide finished -7% in December of ’23 versus December of ‘22

 The Median sale price in the Charleston MLS continues to stay in a tight band between $400k and $420k where it has been for most of the last 20 months.

Inventory remained below what is needed for a balanced market throughout 2023.         At end of December active Inventory stood at approximately 2,800 listings. This level of inventory is a significant increase over the 1,035 listing “floor” that we set in February of 2022, but still below what is needed for a balanced market.  3,000 additional listings are needed market wide to achieve a balanced market (5 months of inventory)

The gap between the number of listings available for sale and the number of listings needed to maintain a balanced market is expressed visually in the chart below.

The Good News` – Although inventory is still constrained, we are starting to see a trend of new listings hitting the market increasing over the same month a year prior for the first time in two years. This has happened for three consecutive months.

Absorption Rate                                       By the end of the 2023, The Charleston market had about eight weeks of inventory as a whole, still trending more toward a seller’s market (this can vary by price range and specific location). The most active areas have inventory levels in the 5–9-week range.

New Construction                                       At December’s end, new construction represented approximately 49% of pending contracts in the MLS and new construction comprised about 33% of the closings and new homes represented approximately 32% of the available inventory.

Looking forward for what 2024 will bring!

Gena Glaze