Sumter, SC Real Estate Market Update April 2008

To all my devoted readers, I will first apologize for missing March numbers. April rolled by very quickly and it seemed like the month was gone before I knew it. Again, please accept my apologize and don't give up on me!

March held up February's total number of units closed in Sumter County with 96! Down only four units from February at 100, but up from January at 69. Many agents could see this in the activity of buyers in the market. April showed a decrease to 87 units closed for Sumter County. Am I concerned about the drop? NO! When looking at the past years of data for closed units in April, it is not unusual to see April decrease over March. There are several reasons why this is true. One very important reason is income tax returns. Many families use income tax returns to purchase their home and they have normally received them by the end of March. Also if people are looking to purchase a home, April is a difficult month for families with children in school to purchase a home and move. Historically, this trend does change in May. Below is the Units Sold By Month back to 2004.

The number of new property listings in March decreased from February at 206 to 168 in March. The number of new property listings in Sumter County increased in April to 175 units. Historically we have seen fewer homes listed in April, but with the large decrease of listings in March, this number seems reasonable. Why the change to more listings in March, sellers are putting their homes on the market sooner anticipating more time on the market. Sellers would rather gamble with their home seller before they are ready to move than having their homes on the market after they have to relocate.

The YTD totals of new property listings in Sumter County, puts the area at a rate between 2006 and 2007. With the current rate of homes being sold, the number of properties on the market continues to increase. This will keep Sumter in a buyers market.

Given this information sellers must prepare their homes to be placed on the market and positioned with the best possible advantages to be sold. Is the home ready to market? Are you ready to keep it marketable and motivated? And last but not least, is your home priced right to give you best chances to sell?