A Columbia SC housing recovery is underway, along with most regions of the U.S.
Columbia SC Housing Recovery Details
As the saying goes, “Better late than never?” U.S. News editor Simon Owens sits down with reporter Meg Handley to discuss the state of the housing market and whether we’re finally seeing a true nationwide housing recovery.
The Columbia SC housing recovery is definitely underway. If you’ve been sitting on the sidelines waiting for the bottom, you may have waited too long.
Talk to us today about whether now is the right time to buy Columbia SC housing based on your particular circumstances. We’ll go over market specifics with you, and discuss how your financial situation would be affected by getting into a home of your own now, before prices go even higher, and inventory gets even thinner.
Columbia SC area housing is down, as is much of the nation. According to deptofnumbers.com for 54 metro areas, inventory is down 24.2% compared to the same week a year ago. Unfortunately, these stats have only been kept since April 2006.
The graph below shows the NAR estimate of existing home inventory through May and the HousingTracker data for the 54 metro areas through early July.
Since the NAR released their revisions for sales and inventory last year, the NAR and HousingTracker inventory numbers have tracked pretty well.
Columbia SC Area Housing Inventory May Have Peak For This Year!
Columbia SC area housing inventory usually bottoms in December and January and then starts to increase again through the summer. So inventory might still increase a little over the next month or two, but the forecasts for a “surge” in inventory this summer were incorrect. In fact inventory might have already peaked for this year!
The graph below shows the year-over-year change in inventory for both the NAR and HousingTracker. HousingTracker reported that the early July listings, for the 54 metro areas, declined 24.2% from the same period last year. So far in 2012, the NAR has reported only a small seasonal increase in inventory – and the housing tracker numbers are lower in early July than for January!
This decline in active inventory remains a huge story, and the lower level of inventory is helping stabilize house prices.
If you’re thinking about jumping into the Columbia SC area housing hunt, you’d best not wait much longer. Inventory is only expected to go down, not up, and that means prices will increase. Supply and demand drives everything, and housing is no exception.
Contact us about the current Columbia SC area housing inventory that matches your price range, and we’ll be happy to supply you with an available list of inventory to match your search criteria.