The Summerville real estate market is seeing more activity then the other areas in the tri-counties. The number of closed sales YTD has increased over last year. This increase in sales activity has led to lower inventory levels. Buyers are starting to complain that there is very little on the market for them to choose. It is common for a real estate agent to place a buyer on a waiting list for certain types of property. Single family homes under $200,000 is amongst the most desired property types in Summerville, and becoming less easy to find!
The good news for Summerville home owners is that the declining inventory leads to an upward trend in real estate prices. At last, property owners in the area have something to celebrate!
The "not so good" news about a declining inventory is that builders and developers start to build again. Why would that be bad? Look around, you can see homes going up everywhere. Where there were once vacant lots sitting there with overgrown grass, now you see builders clearing those lots to build spec homes.
Some of the toughest competition in the market right now is builder inventory. Builders are putting up these homes for less and selling them for less; creating a competitive environment for those that paid more for their homes 7 years ago. As you can imagine, if a buyer has a choice of new versus resale at the same price, then they are likely going to give the brand new one more consideration.
Overall, the real estate market seems to be heading in the right direction. Additional evidence that the market is improving is that the average time that it takes to sell a home in Summerville has decreased. The fact that homes are selling faster supports the thought of buyers waiting for certain properties. As soon as a home goes on the market, you have hundreds of real estate agents sending the details to their buyer leads hoping they can beat the competition to the contract. Are we back to the days when we were booming? No, but we are very much back to the days of the "active market".
In the horizon, we need to keep our eyes on interest rates and insurance costs. We have already seen interest rates increase, and some are claiming that it has slowed the market down a little bit. It may be a little to early to tell how the higher rates have impacted sales, yet we are keeping an eye on this now.
As for insurance rates, we keep hearing there will be an increase in this category in the fall. That is still awhile away, so hopefully something will change. If both interest rates and insurance rates were to increase together, that could have a negative impact on the upward trend we are experiencing now. Again, this is something to keep our eyes on.
We hope you find this information helpful. At Century 21 Expert Advisors, we keep our eyes on the market and report to you anytime we see a shift in the market that could impact your investment. Let us know if you need any information to help you make better real estate decisions.
Greg Harrelson
Century 21 Expert Advisors
100 Seven Oaks Lane
Summerville, SC 29485
(843) 871-1710
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