Beaufort, SC Housing Market Posts Sluggish October

Despite an historic combination of affordability and low interest rates, October 2010 was a month of frustration for many involved with the Beaufort, SC, real estate market, as pending and closed sales figures dipped from October 2009.

The Beaufort Mutliple Listing Service recorded 55 home sales in October of this year, compared with 73 home sales for October 2009, a decrease of 24.7 percent. Pending sales also dipped, with 134 homes under contract at month’s end, compared with 202 for October 2009, according to information provided by the Beaufort County Association of Realtors (BCAR).

As we mentioned, October 2010 was a challenging month despite a combination of historically low interest rates, and a very high affordability index for the Beaufort, SC real estate market.

Still, the opportunities are there for buyers. In October 2010, Beaufort buyers enjoyed an affordability index of 163, which means the median family income in the area was 163 percent of what would be required to qualify to purchase the median priced home. The affordability index was up 14.7 percent from the November 2009 figure of 142, according to BCAR stats.

Homes closing in October 2010 also took longer to sell than those closing in October 2009. Homes closing this October spent an average of 215 days on the market, up 16.3 percent from the 185 days on market for homes closing in October 2009. Days on the market begins with the signing of the listing paperwork, and ends the property is transferred to the new owner.

Overall, year-to-date, the sales pace for 2010 continues to surpass that of 2009, with 673 homes closed at the end of October 2010, a 36.5 increase over the 493 homes sold by the end of October 2009.

Although sales figures are up, most real estate observers will probably not point to a recovery until prices stabilize. That has not happened. The median sales price in October 2010 was $177,000, down 8.5 percent from the $193,400 median price of October 2009. Year to date, the median sales price for 2010 was $175,750 through October, compared with $192,500 for the same time period in 2009.

There were 21.7 months of inventory on the market in Beaufort at the end of October 2010, about the same as the 21.9 months at the end of October 2009. The inventory is the estimated amount of time required to sell every home currently on the market were no new homes to be added to the inventory.