2019 Real Estate Market Analysis | Collins Group Realty Results_Market Report 2019 | Page 2

ANNUAL MARKET REPORT
2018 BY THE NUMBERS
As expected, 2018 proved to be another important
recovery year for the Lowcountry real estate market,
making it the second year in a row with encouraging
statistics across the board!
The key metrics of the 2018 market are shown on the
following pages, including data-points for each month,
which demonstrate trend lines as the market progressed
over the last two years.
In short, both buyers and sellers acted with increased
confidence in 2018, resulting in continued market
momentum across many (but not all) segments and
neighborhoods of the marketplace.
New Listing volume was up 11% from the prior year,
matched nearly by the 9% increase in Pending Sales
and the resulting nearly-10% increase in Closed Sales
over 2017. In all, it was a solid year of sales!
Not surprisingly, the positive trend in 2018 sales led
to a drop (over 10%) in the Days on Market, as well
as a slight increase in the average Percent of List Price
Received, which has been sitting squarely at 96% and
above over the past two years.
With more property owners entering the market due to
improved conditions, the Total # of Homes and Villas
for Sale is on the rise, ending the year up nearly-6%
over this time a year ago.
And, we expect to see this trend continue as
more would-be-sellers explore opportunities to
take advantage of improving market conditions.
Accordingly, we expect this spring to yield a high level
of new-listing activity as well.
While individual results varied from area to area (see
pages 4 & 5), 2018 showed nice improvements in both
Median and Average Sales Price, both posting increases
around 5% over 2017.
The upper-tier market was very active in 2018 with
18 closed home sales over $3,000,000, a 50% increase
over the prior year. The highest sale last year was
$8,700,000 for an oceanfront “spec” home in Sea Pines,
a price point we have not seen in over a decade! One
other interesting note is that the majority of these
upper-tier sales closed in the months of April thru July.
Now as we have transitioned into 2019, it’s interesting
to note that the month of January (which many might
assume is a somewhat quiet market month) has served
as the bellwether for the sales year ahead for the past
several years. That said, in the first 10 days of 2018,
the new year sales had totaled 101, with 61 homes, 30
villas, and 10 lots placed under contract. In 2019, the
first 10 days have yielded 113 new year sales, including
79 homes, 26 villas, and 8 lots, posting an impressive
12% jump-start over 2018.
Of course, this is a small data sample occurring over a
short period of time, but it is nonetheless encouraging
to see that the 2019 marketopen is active and healthy...
a sign of good things to come!