If there is one
question that homeowners and prospective shoppers have in common as we enter
the New Year, it’s about the direction of Charleston real estate values in 2014.
Small wonder: the financial market meltdown of the last decade had such a
profound impact on all forms of real estate that it still has many people
looking nervously over their shoulders. How likely is another tumble in the
coming 12 months? Will real estate values in Charleston, SC continue to rise?
Knowing the answer could make a big difference to anyone planning to buy or
sell a home in the Charleston area this year.
Of course, absolute certainty on that score is not possible
for anyone without a time machine in their basement. But, as we look back over
last year, we might gain a little bit more confidence by hearing from the
experts who got it right in 2013.
Foremost among them was Dr. Lawrence Yun, the chief
economist of the National Association of Realtors®.
Last year, he was dead-on.
Dr. Yun is calling for a continued rise in prices—pretty
much in line with the past year’s gains. To compensate for expected mortgage
interest rate gains—the likely effect of the Federal Reserve’s easing of
policies that fueled 2013’s financial markets—he suspects that lending
institutions will ease borrowing strictures. That’s something we can all applaud!
Overall, if Charleston real estate values in 2014 follow
the NAR’s national prognostications, we would expect real estate value
increases either like the Wall Street
Journal’s quoted prediction of 6%, or of Dr. Yun’s 5%. Either would not be surprising,
given last year’s Charleston real estate values numbers. What the NAR experts
and the Journal also agree upon is a flattening
of residential housing sales volume in line with 2013 levels.
How much credence can we give to what the seers predict? Perhaps
a little more than usual. “The NAR forecast could be viewed as restrained in
light of the housing market’s gains in the past two years,” says the Journal; and “…other 2014 forecasts are
fairly close to Mr. Yun’s predictions.”
Interested in selling your
Charleston area home? Visit: www.jeffcookrealestate.com
Interested in buying a Charleston
area home? Visit: www.discovercharlestonareahomes.com
-Jeff Cook
Jeff Cook Real Estate
Charleston, SC
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