Kim Peasley-Parker

October was an up and down month in Sumter county real estate. Some agents were busy with buyers and sellers, while others were trying to find the elusive buyer. There are buyers out there, but it seems the closer to elections we were, the more they were waiting to see what happens.

The number of units sold in October was slightly lower than the units sold in September (80 vs.86). October in prior years has been consistent on the August and September levels. While our numbers are lower than September, they are not drastically off. Wile factoring in the election, I would have expected the numbers to be right where they are at. Normally during November and December we do see buyer activity decrease with the exception of a few potential buyers coming into town over the holidays.

The number of new listings in October were the exact same as September numbers. Yes, I checked twice but September and October both had 161 new listings per month. Out of the past four years we have seen the number of new listings decrease in October three our of those four years. If November and December follow with prior year trends, Sumter County should expect to see the number of listings decrease in those two months. As in September, we have had agents changing brokerages and reentering their listings and that could also have affected our October numbers.

Sumter County remains below the 2004 sales levels with the total number of units closed. The trend on the charts indicate that the sales are following the normal progression through out the year, with no big movements up or down. Even though our numbers are lower, not seeing a big swing in any month is a good indicator.

I still expect the remainder of 2008 to remain slow due to the holidays. I have not seen any big changes in the financial markets to indicate any large changes in the 2009 market. We can all talk about the elections and changes that will bring, but there will be a lag between when those are implemented and when we see the changes. Real estate is a local market and fortunately, Sumter has still maintained their home values, but we are still in a buyers market.

Copyright®, November 2008, Kim Peasley-Parker.

Well, if you own real property in Sumter County, you should have received your holiday greeting card from Caroline Richardson at the Treasurer's Office. (You know this makes me wonder how many votes she received yesterday during the election?)

Look over your tax bill and make sure it is correct. If you are the owner occupant of your home, the home should be taxed at 4%. If you have other property, the tax rate is 6%. If you just purchased your home and the taxes are much higher than what you expected, you more than likely are not being taxed at the correct rate.

There are two ways to check this information. First, you can call the tax assessors office at 803-436-2115 and they can verify your tax rate. The second method is to go to the Sumter County Government Website for real property and mapping. Enter your address and click enter. If you click on property card a new window will open up. Scroll to the bottom of that window and you will see if the taxes are at 4% or 6%. Normally there will be a note of a letter being sent to the home owner for verification.

If you are not being taxed at the 4% rate, you can go to the Tax Assessors Office in the County Administration office and file for a change. You will need to provide proof you are a resident at the house and that can be as simple as a bill with the property address and your name on it. Also a driver's license or LES if you are military will also work.

This is worth checking though as I have received many frantic phone calls from neighbors inquiring as to why their tax bills is almost twice their neighbors. Take the time and make sure the bill is correct.

Another busy month in the Sumter County real estate market. Lots of buyers were out looking, but not necessarily buying. I am noticing that agents are more creative with their buyers' offers. Several of my buyers had homes to sell prior to being able to close or they were still in a lease and wanted to have a home waiting for them when the lease was over. There are legal ways to handle these situations so make sure your Realtor is knowledgeable in how to help you the buyer or the seller.

The number of units sold in September was almost the same from August 2008 (86 vs.87). We are still seeing buyer activity in the area, but I think many buyers are taking a wait and see attitude with the economy and the elections.

As for the number of listings, Sumter County saw a slight increase from 151 in August to 161 in September. I am not sure this is a true number as we have seen many Realtors changing brokerages and reentering their listings. October will continue to be effected by many of these agent changes to different brokerages. I don't expect to see true numbers until after the agent changes have settled down.

Overall Sumter County has had 829 units closed during 2008. This has put us below the 2004 sales levels, but as far as general trends we continue to follow prior years as you can see in the year to date chart below. This week I attended a meeting about the services AgentOwned Realty offers and the General Manager for Residential Mortgage of SC was speaking about how the mortgage market has changed in the last 13 months. If you look at the chart for the Year To Date sales you can see the number of units closed started to fall off in August 2007.

I expect the remainder of 2008 to remain slow due to the holidays coming up and also the elections. I am not ready to make any predictions about 2009 with all the fluctuations we are seeing on Wall Street and in the financial markets around the world. I do know that the changes that have all ready been made will take months to impact the markets. I just hope we see the changes sooner rather than later.

Copyright®, October 2008, Kim Peasley-Parker.

Ok, so my predictions for the market holding steady did not exactly happen in August. To be honest though, I was shocked when I researched the numbers and saw that only 87 units closed in Sumter County during the month of August. This was a true surprise because we were having a lot of buyer activity.... With that being said, I still think my predictions will hold true from my July Market Update.

The units sold decreased to 87 in August vs. 103 in July, with the pending decreasing from 172 in July to 166 in August. The number of pending at the end of August was still higher than June at 164. Based upon the activity in September, I am expecting to see the number of closings climb in September.

August also brought the lowest number of listings for a month in 2008! With only 151 units listed in August, we saw a decrease of 31 units vs. July 2008. The trend of listings per month over the past several years indicates a decrease in listings until approximately November.

Overall Sumter has had 743 units closed year to date with 1436 units listed. Our listing inventory remains high, but may normalize more if the number of listings per month decreases or stay around the August level. Also with the changes in Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, the interest rates have decreased and makes it a great time to purchase a home.

Copyright®, September 2008, Kim Peasley-Parker.