Look Back at Greenville Real Estate in 2008
The official numbers for all homes sold in the Greenville MLS in 2008 are in and the Greenville market is still doing fine overall. This is especially true when keeping things in perspective from the last 10 years and not just comparing 2008 to the two previous years. The amount of total solds for 2008 (including single family, condos, and townhomes) is 8021. This is down quite a bit from 2007 and 2006, however, it is doing good when compared with 2004 that had 8247 and 2003 that only had 7174. The 2003 and 2004 numbers were thought of as fair at that time which means that our market today would have looked pretty good in 2003.
The average days on market are were up to 96 in 2008 which is up by 9 days from the previous year, however, it is less than the average of 99 from 2004.
Average sold price is also down a little coming in at $183,816 for a drop of 1.3% from the previous year. Greenville is very fortunate compared to other major cities in the country which are experiencing up to 20% declines in average sales prices. Let's compare to 2004 again. The average sales price then was $156,916 compared to $183,816 in 2008. Pretty good increase in four years.
So you might be wondering what areas of real estate are doing well in Greenville and what are not. The average priced homes and below are doing great especially when you get below the $150,000's and even better when you get below $100,000. In fact, the market in those lowest priced homes is not even considered a buyer's market by NAR standards. On the other hand, the large custom homes are not doing well. The higher the price the worse the market is. The problem is that there is just too much supply in the area right now on the higher priced homes for what the market will allow. The good news is that any home in any price range will sell if it is priced right and staged right compared to the competition. Those higher priced homes that are at the bottom of the competition in pricing and staging can expect to be on the market for a long time.
Greenville Homes Priced Under $150,000 Not Classified As Buyer's Market
We hear Greenville, SC real estate markets referred to as "buyer markets" or "seller markets" but what makes a market good for buyers or good for sellers. The National Association of Realtors® classifies markets based on absorption rates and inventory as follows:
0-5 months = Sellers Market, 5-7 months = Even/Split Market, 7+ months = Buyer’s Market
So what is an absorption rate and what does the 0-5, 5-7, and 7+ months mean? The number of months represents the number of months of inventory on the market. The number of months of inventory is determined by the absorption rate. The absorption rate is determined by taking the number of sold listings for any criteria (price range, city, subdivision, or a mixture) and dividing it by the amount of months (12 for a year or 9 for January to September). You can find the amount of inventory then by dividing the absorption rate number by the amount of active listings.
For instance, lets say that it is August in a local Greenville subdivision and it has 4 homes on the market and 16 have sold since January. This makes an average of 2 homes selling every month and means that there is a 2 month supply in the subdivision. When looking at absorption rates for the entire Greenville area as a whole, it reveals some interesting facts when keeping the definition of a buyer's and seller's market in mind.
Here are some recent Greenville Area real estate statistics:
•Listing Price: $0 - $150K
–Active Listings: 2639
–Sold Listings: 3083
–3083 / 8 mths = 385/mth (Absorption Rate)
–2639 / 385 = 6.85 (Months of Inventory)
–Avg DOM: 83
•$150K - $300K
–Active Listings: 2732
–Sold Listings: 2399
–2399 / 8 = 300/mth (Absorption Rate)
–2732 / 300 = 9.11 (Months of Inventory)
–Sold DOM: 95
•$300K - $500K
–Active Listings: 1123
–Sold Listings: 565
–565 / 8 = 71/mth (Absorption Rate)
–1123 / 71 = 15.82 (Months of Inventory)
Sold DOM: 110
•$500K - $1Million
–Active Listings: 638
–Sold Listings: 174
–174 / 8 = 21.5/mth (Absorption Rate)
–638 / 21.5 = 29.67 (Months of Inventory)
–Sold DOM: 125
•$1Million +
–Active Listings: 144
–Active Solds: 14
–14 / 8 = 1.75/mth (Absorption Rate)
–144 / 1.75 = 82.3 (Months of Inventory)
Sold DOM: 109
These statistics show that Greenville is in a buyer's market in every category except one. The homes priced at $150,000 and below are not in a buyer's market. According the the NAR's® definitions of markets, that price range is an "even/split market." What does this mean? Seller's under $150,000's can expect a better market than those with higher prices and buyers cannot expect the luxury of a buyer's market under $150,000. Seller's under the $150,000's still have to keep things in perspective though since they are not in a seller's market either.
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