The Columbia SC housing market has seen a tremendous bounce in pricing over the past two years, but so far, 2014 is not looking like it will break records from 2012 and 2013. Almost half (around 42%) of all residential home sales in the first quarter were all cash deals. The same is happening all across the country.
The Columbia SC housing market continues to post strong sales, only stymied by the same old story — not enough houses on the market to meet the demand.
Get complete Columbia SC housing market news and home sales information by clicking the Columbia SC Real Estate News link to your right under Columbia SC Real Estate Categories.
If you're one of the millions of people who constantly log on to Zillow.com to look up the "Zestimate" (Columbia SC home values according to Zillow) on your home, you may want to think twice before depending on that "Zestimate" to be anywhere even close to accurate.
Columbia SC Home Values Found to Be Inconsistent
Those predicted Columbia SC home values estimates have been found to be wildly inaccurate and inconsistent.
In one recent comparison of existing home sales on Zillow, the "Zestimates" of 500 existing home sales that closed in a one week given time period in March found that the online values were within 5 percent of the actual sale price just half of the time.
The 50 percent accuracy rate within 5 percent of the sales price was right in line with Zillow's own research which is disclosed at their website:
The Zestimate's accuracy depends on location and availability of data in an area. Some counties have deeply detailed information on homes such as number of bedrooms, bathrooms and square footage and others do not. The more data available, the more accurate the Zestimate.
Nationally, the Zestimate has a median error rate of 6.9% percent, which means half of the Zestimates in an area are closer than the error percentage and half are farther off.
In some areas, Zillow admits they might not be able to produce a Zestimate at all, but they do have some basic information on the homes.
"It all comes down to the quality of the available data," Zillow spokesman Cory Hopkins said. Some areas just have better public and real estate listing and sale information than others that can be blended into the super-secret algorithm, which he added "is constantly tinkered with." He said the company "readily admits" it can't match a local real estate professional on the streets of a particular market.
If you want to know more accurately what Columbia SC home values are, you're better off calling a local professional rather than depending on numbers that may be, and likely are, way off in accuracy.
When it comes to the most recent numbers for Columbia SC housing, as well as housing nationwide, one thing is clear — the recovery has stalled.
Housing was to play a big part in the 2014 overall economy. Pent up demand, continued low interest rates, and prices that still made Columbia SC housing affordable were all supposed to strengthen the recovery.
So far, this hasn't happened, as proven in the economy's poor performance during the first quarter of the year.
Columbia SC Housing Somewhat Frozen?
It's not just Columbia SC housing numbers, but nationwide as well. And whether housing's slump is just a weather-related blip or a new normal is unclear. But many indicators confirm the slowdown.
Sales of existing homes in March, at an annual rate of 4.59 million units, were down slightly from February and were 7.5 percent lower than in March 2013. Sales of new single-family homes got hit even harder, falling 14.5 percent from February and 13.3 from a year earlier. New building permits — a harbinger of future construction — dropped 2.4 percent from February, though they were up 11.2 percent from March 2013.
Along with weather, the explanation seems plain. Buying a Columbia SC home isn't as good of a deal as it was a year ago. Higher interest rates and higher prices have made homes less affordable. In early 2013, interest rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 3.4 percent, now rates on similar loans are 4.3 percent. At the same time, home prices have bounced off recent lows.
Stricter mortgage lending standards have weakened the housing recovery. But there's also another cause: The Columbia SC housing market is, to some extent, somewhat frozen.
There's less incentive for sellers to sell, especially the ones who refinanced their mortgage at interest rates around 3 to 4 percent, and now, to sell and buy another home would mean a mortgage rate of 4 to 4.5 percent.
This scarcity of sellers turns into frustration for buyers. Prices continue to rise because few homes are for sale. Do we all see the cycle and the trend here?
Now that warmer weather is here, many are expecting a revival in the Columbia SC housing market. The question remains, will a stunted Columbia SC housing market rebound be the revival the overall economy needs to get back on the progressive track?
To stay abreast of news as it affects the Columbia SC housing market, stay plugged in right here at our website.
Everyone has experienced buyers remorse at some point in their lives. A recent Chase Bank survey found that some Columbia SC homebuyers would change some things about their home purchase if they had a second chance.
Chase's survey, "What I Wish I Knew About the Homebuying Process," asked 807 recent homebuyers about their attitudes following the purchase of a home, taking the pulse of how people are living with their decision to become Columbia SC homebuyers. Here's what some say they would do differently if they could make the decision over again.
Things Columbia SC Homebuyers Would Do Differently
Get Smarter About Financing
While 9 out of 10 buyers surveyed say they felt prepared at the time they bought their home, 56 percent say that in hindsight, they should have known more about financing.
Specifically:
- 22 percent say they weren't as educated about the ins and outs of closings as they should have been.
- 19 percent say they weren't as well-versed on making an offer and negotiating.
- 15 percent say they needed more guidance on the overall financing of a home.
Pick a Different-Size House/Area
Sometimes you don't know whether a house fits your needs until you start living in it. That would seem to be the case for 39 percent of Columbia SC homebuyers who say they would choose a different size house or a different price — or even in a different neighborhood — if they could get a do-over on their home purchase.
Adjust Expectations
A good chunk of buyers weren't expecting the home-buying process to take as long as it did, with 40 percent saying it took longer than they thought it would. Sixteen percent say they got a "pleasant surprise on timing," according to the survey.
Be Better Prepared to Spend on Maintenance
Eventually, we all have to face the cold, hard facts of home ownership: It can be expensive. Thirty-four percent of respondents say that home-maintenance costs ended up being more than they expected. Among first-time home buyers, 51 percent say they "got that sinking feeling" when faced with maintenance costs. Furthermore, 80 percent of survey respondents say they considered their home move-in ready when they bought it, but 76 percent have since completed or planned renovations.
Check out some of our other articles on Columbia SC home buying tips by clicking the Columbia SC Home Buying Tips link to your right under our Columbia SC Real Estate Categories.
The cost of Columbia SC homeownership continues to rise, and is now partly to blame for the recent housing woes.
It had been thought that home sales had slowed due to unusual winter weather in many parts of the country, but buyers seem to be contradicting that theory now that spring has arrived.
According to an analysis by RealtyTrac, the average monthly payment for a three-bedroom home purchased in the fourth quarter of 2013 shot up by 21 percent in the past year. The calculation includes the estimated cost of a mortgage, homeowners insurance, property taxes and maintenance and subtracts the estimated income tax benefit.
Average Cost of Columbia SC Homeownership Still Cheaper Than Renting
The average monthly house payment for a three-bedroom home in the 325 counties included in the analysis was $865 in the fourth quarter of 2013, based on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage with an interest rate of 4.46 percent and a 20-percent down payment. That's up from $714 for the same size home in the fourth quarter of 2012, using an interest rate of 3.35 percent.
The rise is due to median home price increases of 10 percent in the 325 counties, along with that increase in the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate, as reported by Freddie Mac.
The danger in the affordability statistics is that median monthly incomes (the minimum income needed to qualify for a median-priced home) are not keeping pace with the rising cost of homes. Even with the increase in the cost of Columbia SC homeownership with a mortgage, it's still cheaper to own here and in 91 percent of the counties analyzed than it is to rent a three-bedroom home.
Check out our other articles and news affecting Columbia SC homeownership and the Columbia SC real estate market in general by clicking on the Columbia SC Real Estate News link to your right under Columbia SC Real Estate Categories.