By Andy Owens
aowens@scbiznews.com
Published Dec. 17, 2009
Homes sales rose 62.9% across South Carolina in November compared to the same month last year, according to data released this morning by the S.C. Association of Realtors.
Last month, 3997 homes were sold statewide, 1,543 more homes than the 2,454 that sold in November 2008, the association reported.
Housing numbers across the country have been buoyed by the federal first-time homebuyer tax credit. The program was extended to the end of April after a lobbying effort was waged by real estate agents and potential homeowners who wanted to take advantage of the credit. Nick Kremydas, CEO of the S.C. Realtors group, said the increase in South Carolina’s home sales had a lot to do with the tax credit. Learn more about the federal program.
“A lot of folks were scrambling to close before the old credit expired,” Kremydas said. “We’ve seen September and October have some positive gains, and November just blew it out of the water.”
He said a small dip in interest rates also helped push some buyers into closing.
“Staying under 5% a couple of weeks there made a big difference, too,” he said. “Overall, we’re starting to see cash investors come back into the market a little bit. No one’s getting speculative loans right now.”
The multiple listing service area with the largest year-to-year gain for November was Beaufort, with an increase of 125.8%. In actual numbers, Beaufort saw 70 home sales in 2009, compared to 31 in 2008. Nearby Hilton Head Island had the next-highest increase, at 122.8%.
The Charleston Trident region had the largest number of sales for the month, with 783, which was an 80% increase over November 2008. Greater Columbia followed with 682 sales (69.2% increase), and Greater Greenville was third in line with 581 sales (40.3% increase).
Closings
Closings for residential real estate statewide are still down 10.2% for the year, the Realtors association reported. In 2008, there were 43,625 homes sold. That compares to 39,178 homes sold this year, as of Tuesday.
Kremydas said the recent gains in housing numbers mean it’s possible for home sales to break even for the year, which he said would be remarkable, considering where the year started — with a 29.5% drop in first-quarter sales compared with 2008.
“We’re pretty optimistic that 2010 is going to be a growth year,” he said. “Based on early December numbers, we may make up that difference in December.”
Price
The median home price was down 5.9%, to $138,000, in year-to-year data for November. Home prices across the Palmetto State are down 8.3% year-to-date, as of Tuesday.
Days on the Market
Homes stayed on the market 4.5% longer in November 2008 when compared with November 2009, the association reported. Homes took 152 days to sell in November last year, compared with 145 this November. The average number of days on the market is up 7.7% for the year, at 155.
Related documents
| Quarter Month November ’08 | Change ’08 to ’09 Sales 2,454 |
Source: S.C. Association of Realtors
