Charleston SC Real Estate Blog

MLS Stats

admin — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 16:57:34 +0000

Charleston residential market was down about 9% in number of transactions and 9% in price for 2009 versus 2008. That includes SFD, SFA, and mobile homes in the tri-county area. SFD(single family detached) wasn’t quite as bad, down 6% in transactions and 8% in price. In fact SFD inventory has fallen a little to just over 6200. That’s 67% of the overall inventory. On the other hand, SFA inventory has been rising.

Buyer activity as shown by the number of contingents on the hot sheet each week was actually up about 6% in 2009 versus 2008. Short sales kept us from closing more of them though.

Short sales and foreclosures account for 21% of the contingent listings currently on the MLS. And those are just the ones listed correctly under the Special category. There is easily another 4%, making the ss/fc market about 25% of what’s under contract.

Market Update

admin — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 05:27:43 +0000

Although prices have not started rising yet; we have seen a large increase in the number of sales here in Charleston which parallels what is happening across the country. Read more.

Things are looking good for new buyers, with interest rates below 5% for now it’s keeping the sales high. Foreclosures and short sales seem to be the most sought after as they pose great equity gains in the right areas. Charleston for the most part has seen minimal price declines except for the properties that were purchased with extremely inflated prices near the end of the bubble.

On November 30, 2009, U.S. Department of the Treasury announced the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives Program (HAFA), which provides financial alternatives to servicers, borrowers, and investors for a closed short sale or a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure (DIL). HAFA encourages foreclosure alternatives to costly and expensive foreclosures.

The HAFA program simplifies and encourages short sale and DIL options by: Offering eligible borrowers viable alternatives to avoid foreclosures.

Providing a standardized process and time frames for handling viable alternatives.

Allowing pre-approved short sale terms before a property is listed.

Preventing servicers from attempting to reduce real estate commissions established in the Listing Agreement as a condition for short sale approval.

Releasing borrowers from future liability for the debt; Providing financial incentives to borrowers, servicers, and investors.

For more information about HAFA, read the Supplemental Directive using the link above or find this and other Making Home Affordable information at HMPadmin.com.

If you are in a situation or know someone that is upside down on their loan, and needs to sell, this is welcome news. We have a lot of experience dealing with Short Sales, so please allow us to help you or your friends.

Have a wonderful week!

Dustin