Columbia SC Home Prices Up, Inventory Down

Columbia SC home prices continued their upward trend in July, while inventory of available homes for sale continued it’s downward spiral. Demand for homes is growing faster than the inventory, helping push the national median price of existing homes up for the fifth month in a row. This increase comes in spite of the modest increase in sales that fell short of some analysts’ expectations.

Columbia SC Home Prices and Sales

Sales of existing homes — resales of single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops — were up 2.3 percent from June to July, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.47 million. That’s a 10.4 percent increase from a year ago.

Mortgage interest rates have been at record lows this year while rents have been rising at faster rates. Combined, these factors are helping to unleash a pent-up demand.

NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said in a statement recently that “sales could easily be much stronger — in a more normal range of 5 million to 5.5 million per year — if not for abnormal frictions such as tight lending standards and shrinking inventory.”

Analysts generally consider a six-month supply of existing homes to be a healthy balance of supply and demand. More than that indicates that sellers significantly outnumber buyers, which puts downward pressure on prices.

Although first-time buyers accounted for 34 percent of purchases in July, up from 32 percent in June, in a normal market they account for 40 percent of purchases.

While the annual rate of sales in July was slightly below expectations of 4.5 million, those focusing on sales of existing homes, looking for a recovery for housing, are looking at the wrong number. For existing-home sales, the key number is inventory — and the sharp year-over-year decline in inventory is a positive for housing.

To get more specifics about current Columbia SC home prices and available inventory, contact us today. We can give you more up to date information on our current market conditions.