Columbia SC Housing Prices Now Rising
Columbia SC housing prices have already bottomed out and are on the rise. Other than a brief stumble in December, asking prices have been steady or rising for the last 8 months. 
Rents are also on the increase, rising 5.6 percent nationally, year-over-year. Rents have steadily increased as people who lost their homes in the crash became renters. At the same time, high unemployment and tight credit sidelined would-be homeowners.
Relief for strapped renters may be in sight, however. Construction of multi-family buildings increased last year. These new rental units should start coming to market later this year, giving renters more choices and less competition.
Columbia SC Housing Prices Already Bottomed
Nationwide, asking prices of homes for sale is up 0.5 percent for April, marking the 3rd consecutive month of rising asking prices.
According to the Trulia Price Monitor, 44 out of the 100 largest metro areas nationwide had year-over-year price increases, with 92 percent showing quarter-over-quarter increases.
New Columbia SC Housing Also Recovering
New Columbia SC housing starts are more than 30 percent higher than their low in early 2009, and asking prices on those new for-sale homes have risen for three months in a row.
Localized risk of a brief downturn in prices does exist due to the pending foreclosures that could set prices back in the downward direction, but it’s believed that would be a short term setback for prices.
Since we’re in an election year, we’re not likely to see any new bold housing stimulus plans out of Washington. The political atmosphere is too charged for agreement on major housing policy issues now. And, because the market is now recovering, there’s less of a sense of urgency than there was several years ago.
We’d love to know what you think. Are Columbia SC housing prices finally on the upswing, or do you still see prices dropping? As you well know, real estate is very local, and there could be pockets of still diminishing prices, although the overall Columbia SC housing outlook seems brighter. We’d love to hear your comments.