SC Lowcountry experiences record home sales throughout August
September 17, 2020
South Carolina REALTORS® (SCR) released its August 2020 statewide real estate market data. Factors such as home prices, months supply of inventory and how quickly homes sell, continue to set records. The reports show a slight drop in statewide home sales from this time last year. However, the Lowcountry continues to see record sales.
Sellers continue to get top dollar for their homes, as the median home price increased statewide by almost 14% from $221,854 to $252,000. The national median home price is currently $304,100, according to the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) research and statistics.
Compared to August of 2019, there was a 4% drop in the number of residential homes, condos and villas sold across the state with the biggest dips happening in Cherokee (-24%), Spartanburg (-18%) and Central Carolina (-14%).
When it comes to record sales Hilton Head (+33%), Beaufort (+22%) and Charleston (+15%) continue to lead the state.
SCR treasurer and Realtor® with Dunes Real Estate in Hilton Head, Cindy Creamer, says the pandemic has allowed many buyers the option of working from home, in turn Hilton Head is seeing an influx of second home properties along with full time residents.
“The Hilton Head Island area has taken off since May, which has typically been a quiet month for real estate, but this year was incredible. In looking at the August reports you can see sales were up significantly compared to August 2019,” she said.
Similar stories are coming out of Charleston, where the Charleston Multiple Listing Service reported a 191% increase in ratified sales contracts over the same week last year.
“This is quite simply the best housing market, from a demand perspective, that our area has ever seen. Seventeen of the last 18 weeks have been above the previous one-week sales records,” said Rob Woodul, SCR secretary and Realtor® at Carolina One Real Estate in Charleston.
Looking toward the future, Realtors® report that there is still uncertainty due to a combination of the pandemic and lack of homes on the market. The reports show months supply of inventory was down 28.9% to 2.7 months throughout August.
“The demand is strong. The only thing slowing it down is the lack of inventory,” said Owen Tyler, SCR president and broker in charge at The Cassina Group in Charleston. “But, current monthly market indicators show the momentum continuing through fall,” he said.
SCR’s statewide reports are attached. Up-to-date and archived reports are also available at screaltors.org/marketreports.
