The entire Coastal region of South Carolina has been hard hit by the downturn in the Real Estate market. One of the main reasons is due to the high number of second homes that exist here along with the high cost of insurance premiums.  Looking forward I am encouraged at what I see as a slight uptick in the sale of Single family and Condominium’s.

The Coastal Carolina Association of Realtors MLS data shows Single-family home sales were up in February about 17 percent over the same month last year, along with a huge 54 percent rise in Condo purchases over last year. One factor contributing to the surge in the Condo sales were the median sales price was down 15 percent, $127,700 in 2009 to $ 109,000 in 2010. Some of this buying frenzy may be attributed to fewer inventories over the previous year. There are 1,000 fewer units on the market than last year creating a situation where buyers are afraid they are going to miss the bottom. Single family homes prices were up about 8 percent in February compared with the same month last year. Prices rose from $173,500 in 2009 to $187,500 in 2010.

Tom Maeser with Coastal Carolina Association of Realtors said most of the sales in February, 51 percent, were paid for in cash, with 41 percent traditionally financed and the remaining 8 percent financed through the Federal Housing Administration, Veterans Affairs or other programs. That may be the largest proportion of cash sales ever, with the average typically hovering around 18 percent.

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