This week I’m following up on my report that posted near the end of July that looked at our market to decipher whether the interest rate increases would affect our sales volume and home values.
Just this week, I have had the privilege of showing and making offers on homes that all had multiple offers on them right away. These were all in the $225K range or less. And I can say that investors are out in full force looking for deals!
To date, the interest rates are hovering over the 6 percent range for most buyers. The news has reported that we will see three more increases by the end of the year, then they expect a hard reset sometime in 2023.
I have decided to use the last full-year statistics instead of looking back a few months. When you review these numbers provided on the charts attached, keep in mind that the interest rates began increasing in April. As a reminder, for the purpose of these numbers, they include combined residential sales for the counties of Aiken, Edgefield, McCormick, Burke, Columbia, Richmond, McDuffie and Lincoln.
We can see that August 2021 had 260.96 million in total sales volume which was slightly higher than August 2022, showing 248.8M. All months from April 2022 on have been very steady, while the previous months were less consistent.
We can also see that the average sold price has dropped slightly since it peaked in June 2022 but remains about $30,000 higher now than it was a year ago. In January, I will look back over the last 18 months so we can compare consecutive seasons.
The new construction market struggles to get inventory on the ground and that is very apparent on the chart showing the new sales volume barely passing the $45 million mark and as the active home volume plummets to the lowest available for more than 12 months, we will continue to see a sellers’ market. Luckily, our buyers are used to low inventory at this point.
Today, there are only 1,281 homes available for sale on the market and 1,291 homes are pending sale. Will anyone try to move in this market or is everyone waiting for the interest rate adjustments to peak and hope values drop significantly? One thing I can say is there is no way to predict what the future holds, but thankfully, values are holding steady.
I hope that you find this helpful to you as you navigate your personal next steps related to buying, selling or renting a home here in the CSRA.
