Signs of the local and statewide real estate revival continued to solidify in several reports issued this week.
More homes in Florence are selling sooner and for higher prices than this time last year, according to the June market report by the Pee Dee Realtor Association. Year-to-date over 2011, listings are up 3.9 percent, closings are up 19.6 percent, median sale prices are up slightly to $145,000 and days on the market dropped 11 percent to 121 days.
Looking at June 2012 numbers alone against June 2011, 101 sales closed, up 31.2 percent with median sale prices averaging $152,900 (without accounting for seller concessions), 8.4 percent higher.
For Joey McMillian, of the newly merged Coldwell Banker Segars McMillian and Associates, the positive news continues.
?We ran some numbers, and our business is up 60 percent (closed transactions) from where it was last year at this time. Even though it?s somewhat hard for us to gauge because we merged together, it?s really a lot better,? McMillian said. ?Things seem to be going in the right direction.?
McMillian said new businesses continue to provide the backbone of the real estate rally.
?Otis Elevator (relocations) is making an impact on the market. The inventory seems to be shrinking a little,? McMillian said.
And it is. Though there are about the same number of listings ? 130 ? on the market in June as last year, inventory has shrunk 8 percent to 734 homes.
But the Pee Dee isn?t alone in this trend. The statewide year-over-year inventory of homes for sale dropped nearly 16 percent.
Single-family homes in the $200,001 to $300,000 price range with four bedrooms or more were the biggest sellers statewide, compared to the Pee Dee where four-bedroom homes priced $300,001 and above have had the strongest sales in June.
?We seem to be at a critical inflection point in our attempts to spur more hiring,? the South Carolina Realtors? June report stated. ?Job growth provides the dual benefit of stimulating new household growth as well as relieving distressed homeowners. There?s also the positive feedback loop of housing creating jobs and jobs creating housing.?
With inventory shrinking and upper middle range, single-family homes selling, it?s no wonder that the optimism for new homes rose six points to 35 in July?the highest point since March 2007, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index.
?Combined with the upward movement we?ve seen in other key housing indicators over the past six months, this report adds to the growing acknowledgement that housing ? though still in a fragile stage of recovery ? is returning to its more traditional role of leading the economy out of recession,? David Crowe, NAHB?s chief economist, said in a statement. ?This is particularly encouraging at a time when other parts of the economy have begun to show softness, and is all the more reason that the challenges constraining housing?s recovery ? namely overly tight lending conditions, poor appraisals and the flow of distressed properties onto the market ? need to be resolved.?
Though banks are willing to lend, realtors warn that people even with good and excellent credit should be prepared for a longer, paperwork-intensive home buying experience. Realtors say pre-approval from banks help define a price range for buyers?and sellers. It?s not unheard of for people in this environment to sell their house and not be able to buy the one they planned to move into.
But Narru Rutenberg, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders and home builder from Gainesville, Fla., says conditions are good.
?This is greater evidence that the housing market has turned the corner as more buyers perceive the benefits of purchasing a newly built home while interest rates and prices are so favorable.?
Favorable enough at least for multi-unit building that?s happening in Florence.
Roger Moore, one of three members in the 1625 Gregg LLC group in Florence, saw the market potential months ago and is completing building the Grand Oaks Townhouse community off Gregg Avenue near Five Points.
?It was a good time to go ahead and start building we had seen what we had hoped was the worst of the collapse in housing and things were turning around and going upward,? Moore, owner of Inland Realty, said. ?Timing in the building industry comes with luck and prayer and you take a look and see that demand is up and supplies are down it?s a good time to do it.?
The complex features 18 three-bedroom, one-and-a-half bathroom townhouses. The unites qualify for city down-payment assistance, Federal Housing Assistance loans and other financing and will sell for $109,000?a combination mixed with low interest rates that Gary Dauksch, who has the listing through Coldwell Banker, says will make them very popular.
?Really someone could get in here with low money down with,? Dauksch said. ?This is probably the first development of its type in the city for so long since no one?s been really building new condos or townhouses in the city in the last five years. Hopefully, it?s a good sign of things coming back.?
Despite the state unemployment rate creeping up to 9.4 percent in June, tepid movement in the consumer price and confidence indexes and foreclosures trickling into the market, many see the positive real estate numbers as confirmation of a warming trend continuing for some time.
?Inventory is as low as its been in a while and a lot of people who were building have stopped building or are waiting on some good news,? Moore said.
Source: http://www2.scnow.com/news/2012/jul/21/pee-dee-real-estate-numbers-stay-positive-ar-4178753/
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