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Realtors’ report shows S.C. woes
Home sales are still dragging in the Columbia area and statewide as the nation struggles with the recession and rising joblessness.
Sales in Columbia fell 24.7 percent for the first six months of the year, compared with the same period last year, according to a report released Friday from the S.C. Realtors trade group. That’s one percentage point worse than the state, which saw double-digit declines in every region.
The Columbia median home price slid 4.2 percent to $137,000 over a year ago. It fell 8 percent to $135,000 statewide.
“The last 18 months have been mixed signals,” said Ed Flowers, owner of Exit Sandlapper Realty. “It’s been spurts, hot and then cold. You see a little light at the end of the tunnel and then it slows down again.”
Flowers said he is hoping federal stimulus packages will help spur home sales next year, but he has little hope for the rest of 2009.
“We’re halfway through the peak selling season, and I wouldn’t expect any dramatic uptick between now and maybe the spring,” he said.
Sales have suffered statewide and in Columbia as more potential buyers stay on the fence waiting for sustained signs of a recovery. The state also is faced with the fourth-highest unemployment rate in the nation at 12 percent, and analysts predict it will go higher.
The brightest spot in the state was Beaufort, which has seen sales this year fall 14.7 percent and median price rise 0.5 percent. Greenwood was hardest hit, with a 37.5 percent decline in home sales and a 17.4 percent erosion in median price.
When sales might turn around is a mystery to many in the industry. Steven Mungo, president of The Mungo Cos. in Irmo, said he thought the region would start recovery a year ago. Mungo said the amount of inventory on the market has dwindled as builders hold off on new homes — either by choice or because they can’t get financing.
“I’m beyond betting on this,” Mungo said.
Nick Kremydas, chief executive of S.C. Realtors, said many buyers are still looking for a bottom.
“There’s some consumers sitting on the sideline, money in hand, waiting to see when the market bottoms out before they jump back in,” he said.
But, he said, if other states are any indication, South Carolina might have to wait until prices erode a little further before the market comes back. In hard-hit places such as California and Florida, prices dropped 25 percent to 30 percent before recovery began, he said.
Barring any more economic disasters, “the numbers are telling us the worst of this is going to get behind us this year and 2010 is going to be more positive,” he said.
Columbia SC Real Estate
Columbia Real Estate: Homes for Sale in Columbia SC. You will also find the following home searches, Columbia Entry Level Homes, Columbia Median Homes, Columbia Upscale Homes, Columbia Luxury Homes, Columbia Million Dollar Homes, and Columbia Lots and Land for Sale in Columbia SC. Other popular towns and areas for search: Columbia, Irmo, Blythewood, Northeast Columbia, Southeast Columbia, Lake Murray, West Columbia, Kershaw County, Camden, Chapin, Elgin, Gilbert, Leesville, Lugoff, Prosperity, and Winnsboro South Carolina. Exit SandLapper Realty. Call us Toll Free for more details (877) 357-EXIT (3948).
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A History of Columbia South Carolina
Established by the General Assembly in 1786 Columbia replaced Charleston as the seat of government for the Palmetto State. The move accommodated the growing numbers of backcountry residents, who by the late 1700s outnumbered their Lowcountry counterparts four to one. The city's name, a popular moniker at the time may stem from a reverence for Christopher Columbus who was credited with founding the New World in 1492. Columbia enjoys the distinction of being the state's first planned city, and only the second planned city in the United States (Savannah, Georgia was the first).
Columbia's original layout consisted of blocks laid out within a two-mile-by-two-mile square grid. Bordered by the Congaree River to its west, the city is situated along the state's geographic fall line, or the point at which the rivers cease to be navigable from the Lowcountry. Thanks to this, and the fact that the city rests almost in the middle of the state, Columbia grew into a center for politics, education, commerce, and transportation within the first generation of its existence. Much of the city's success stemmed from an economy based upon cotton whose international marketability yielded vast sums of wealth, evident in the homes left behind by plantation owners. With the advent of greater technology such as a canal system in the 1820s and then rail service by 1842, Columbia was a modern city boasting a population of about 6,000 by the mid nineteenth century. A decade later, on the eve of the Civil War, Columbia was the largest inland town in the Carolinas. With 8,052 residents it was twice the size of its closest rival of Raleigh, North Carolina!
Columbia's role in the Civil War has been the subject of numerous books recalling that dark chapter in our nation's history. The Secession Convention convened on December 17, 1860 at Columbia's First Baptist Church, a structure that still stands today along with over 20 other pre-1865 buildings. In over four years of war Columbia remained unscathed. Then in just 24 hours after General Sherman's arrival on February 17, 1865, about one-third of the city--including the commercial and governmental district, all of its war-related facilities, and many private homes--lay in ruins. From the destruction Columbia rebounded to return to that which its founding fathers intended - a thriving capital city, though its transformation took time physically and psychologically.
The Greater Columbia Civil War Alliance offers a self-guided tour of General Sherman's March on Columbia. Click here to view a Print-friendly brochure.
By the early twentieth century Columbia became nationally important again as the federal government established Camp Jackson as a basic training facility for the United States Army during World War I. Years later, during World War II, the facility was improved, and enlarged to become Fort Jackson, currently our nation's largest Army basic training facility. Also during World War II Columbia Army Airbase, today's Columbia Metropolitan Airport, trained numerous bomber pilots for missions oversees. Among them were the famous Doolittle Raiders, commanded by Lt. Colonel James "Jimmy" Doolittle, who led a daring assault on Japan following that country's surprise attack on Pearl Harbor.
Today, Columbia is a New South city whose vitality is based largely upon the diversity of its offerings. Like the attributes that made it popular since its founding, Columbia continues to serve the Palmetto State as a center for education, a seat of government, and a crossroads of commerce and culture.
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Today's Rates:
| 30-yr Fixed |
5.29% |
5.46% |
| 15-yr Fixed |
4.68% |
4.93% |
| 1-yr Adj |
4.72% |
5.86% |
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 Columbia SC Real Estate for Sale Ed Flowers EXIT Broker
Exit Sandlapper Realty, led by Ed Flowers, is your direct link to all the properties for Sale in Columbia South Carolina. List your property and receive excellent results from the leaders in Real Estate in all areas such as Columbia, Lexington, Irmo, Blythewood, Northeast and Southeast Columbia, Lake Murray, West Columbia, and all of Kershaw County South Carolina. For all you real estate needs contact Ed Flowers directly at 803-261-1535.
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Today's Rates:
| 30-yr Fixed | 4.97% | 5.13% | | 15-yr Fixed | 4.33% | 4.56% | | 1-yr Adj | 4.27% | 5.3% |
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Columbia SC Real Estate for Sale Ed Flowers EXIT Broker