According to the Charleston Trident Association of REALTORS®, the median sales price of homes in the region reached $206,530. Meanwhile, the number of home sales reached 12,744 last year, representing a 21.1 percent increase when compared to the previous year. The median sales prices and the number of homes sold in 2013 represent the highest both of these figures have been in the past five years. This boost in sales is due to a combination of low home loan rates, a strong stock market and increasing employment opportunities.
Given the most recent figures, the Charleston area real estate is clearly continuing to recover from the burst in the housing bubble. According to many real estate experts, the Charleston market may be just a year away from a full recovery. Just as the number of active listings on the market increased by 13.9 percent in 2013, the number of active listings is expected to grow even more in 2014 as the market continues to recover. Furthermore, the number of foreclosed and distressed properties available to purchase is expected to continue to decline in 2014, with only 18.8 percent of closed sales in 2013 being foreclosures or short sales. This is down significantly from 2012, at which time the percent of sales that were foreclosures or short sales was 26.6 percent.