The Aiken Market..how are we doing?

With the media constantly discussing bursting bubbles, high foreclosure rates and property values dropping...how does the Aiken Market compare? Here are some interesting statistics as of July 31, 2007 regarding Aiken.  Remember that 2006 was a phenomenal year for sales. If we compare the 2007 1st & 2nd quarter sales number with the 2005 1st & 2nd quarter sales number, we are up 29% in sales over 2005. The Aiken market is still selling strong!

• Residential sales are down 8% compared with 2006 but up 29% over 2005

• Median Home prices are up 3.78% over 2006

• Average Days on Market are up 5.88% over 2006

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Aiken housing market retains strength

Aiken Standard       Mon, Sep 17, 2007

By TONY BAUGHMAN   Staff writer

Staff photo by Tony Baughman. As the real estate market in the rest of the country struggles, new home construction and existing home sales in the Aiken market remain strong, if slowed from last year's record pace.

 

 

 

In a typical year, Rusty Findley's construction company will build seven to eight new homes in and around the Aiken area. "We're working on two custom jobs right now and a dentist's office," Findley said. "It's slowed down a pretty good little bit."

Findley, president of the Home Builders Association of Aiken County, is not alone. As housing starts nationwide dipped in July to their lowest level in 10 years, builders in this real estate market, one of South Carolina's most stable, also have felt the pinch.

"It's kind of ironic because it's a good building time. The weather's good. The lumber prices are staying down very low. Sheetrock just drastically fell the other day. So, the material prices are extremely good right now. It's just that the buyer's market is not quite as good," said Findley, who has been in the construction business for 31 years.

Since 2001, the Aiken real estate market has seen a near-steady increase in the number of new homes added to the yearly tax rolls. According to the Aiken County Tax Assessor's Office, a total of 1,331 new homes were built in 2006. That was up by almost 300 from the previous year (1,077) and was more than double the number of new homes constructed in 2000.

"The peaks and the valleys always seem to be there," Findley said. "It looks like we've just come off a peak and now we're headed back toward a little bit more of a valley. I think the last few years around Aiken have been just about as good as it's been ... A lot of people were moving in, then it slowed down."

According to Mark Thompson, president of the Aiken Board of Realtors, 2006 was a record year for home sales in South Carolina and, by extension, in Aiken. Much of the recent growth in Aiken's real estate market has been attributed to an in-migration of retiring professionals from other regions, including Florida and the Northeast.   "We're very, very fortunate to live in Aiken, South Carolina. The rest of the country does not reflect the steady market that we have here," Thompson said.

However, as home sales across the nation have slowed — existing home sales fell in 41 states during the April to July quarter — "people in other parts of the country aren't able to sell their houses in as fast a time frame as they were counting on, and therefore, it's delaying their moves," Thompson said.   "The dollar-per-sale has gone up, but the volume has been off a little bit, and there is more inventory on the market," he said.

Indeed, the median price of residential properties sold in the Aiken market is up nearly 3.8 percent over 2006 to $153,000. That is slightly below the statewide average of $161,000 and well below average prices in Hilton Head ($349,000), Beaufort ($239,000) and Charleston ($211,000).  Though home sales in Aiken are down 8 percent so far from last year, this year's figures are "almost identical to 2005, which was the best year in history in real estate for the rest of the country," Thompson said.

Also, industry analysts are "anticipating the fall and winter to be one of the best on record for South Carolina," Thompson said. "In that we're one of the top markets in South Carolina, it would follow suit that we would have a record fall and winter."   In fact, demand remains high for premium equestrian properties and houses near downtown Aiken.   "Downtown, being vibrant as it is, is still a very attractive market," Thompson said. "But the market has been everywhere from small lots to large tracts of land, from equestrian properties to large estates in the downtown area to nice homes in specific locations within Woodside, Houndslake or established neighborhoods."

New developments have taken the biggest hit so far this year with sales down as much as 15 to 20 percent for some properties, Thompson said. That raises the question: With massive new developments such as Trolley Run Station and Sage Creek just beginning to rise out of the dirt, will there be enough buyers in the months and years to make sure these 5,000-plus new houses are occupied?

Those who know real estate best think the answer is, "Yes." If home sales in Florida and the Northeast turn around in the coming months, even a little, Aiken's housing market should have little problem maintaining its luster.

"If there is an oversupply, it tends to be in the newer subdivisions where there are very similar type homes in similar price ranges," he said. "When things are rocking and rolling, that's a great deal; it's a good bargain for the buyer and a great product for the seller. But when the market slows, or there's not a lot of transferring in the middle manager or the young executives, then there tends to be a slowdown in that market ... I think in the long run they'll be fine."