–Drew Grossklaus, Sales Director/BIC East Cooper
The first quarter of 2023 has been one of continued uncertainty. At this time last year, the opening sentence of our market report stated that the Charleston real estate market continued to have strong demand with reduced inventory. This still rings true, and we are seeing the low inventory of available homes continue into this year.
The number of residential listings with a sales price of $500K or higher has dropped 18.3% from the first quarter of last year. While this looks like a softening of the market, one of the main culprits of this decline is the lack of inventory. The number of new residential listings priced at $500k or higher is down an astonishing 68.9%, versus the first quarter of 2022. High demand and low inventory have not had a dramatic effect on the median sales price however, as it was relatively the same in comparison to the first quarter last year.
Additionally, we are continuing to experience many of the same factors and challenges we faced in 2022. The war in Ukraine began at the end of February in 2022 and as we enter April, we see no signs of the conflict ending. The war and post-Covid supply chain issues have had a massive impact on the global economy causing inflation at unprecedented levels. This has contributed to a jump in mortgage rates, another factor in the slowing real estate market last year. This trend continues as rates are nearly a point higher at 6.18% compared to the same time last year. However, this rate is a near low over the last six months. The economy has continued to be a hot topic with the Federal Reserve continuing rate hikes, recent bank failures and the possibility of a recession.
Despite this uncertainty in real estate, William Means has continued to be a top firm in the Charleston market. At the end of March, our firm had achieved more than $80 million in sales with an average sales price of $1.642 Million. William Means represented the sellers of the top two highest South of Broad sales and the buyer of the highest sale in Mount Pleasant this year. Additional rankings include:
No. 1 firm in downtown Charleston, South of Broad and Belle Hall
No. 1 boutique firm in West Ashley inside I-526
No. 2 boutique firm in Mount Pleasant
As we predict a future rise of home inventory, William Means remains committed to providing our clients with guidance and education in buying or selling a home in all Charleston real estate environments.
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