Savannah area home sales have hot summer

The local real estate market had a summer as hot and record-breaking as Savannah's temperatures with more than 1,500 homes selling across Bryan, Chatham and Effingham counties during June and July.

According to recent data released by Savannah Multi-list Corp., 870 homes sold in the three-county area in June, making it not only the best June on record for unit sales, but the best month for unit sales since at least January 2013.

In July, 716 homes sold, making it the best July on record since 2013. Looking at the first seven months of the year, 4,544 homes have sold, which is an increase of 159 sales or 3.6% compared to the first seven months of 2017.

"June is a pretty popular month to get things closed," said Janet Howard, president of the Savannah Area Realtors, a local industry group.

"School's ending and summer is getting started and folks can get settled before the new school year begins, so June and July are ideal for that reason."

Savannah, Ga.

The median sales price in June jumped to $228,580 from $212,990 in May, and settled back to $212,000 in July. Howard attributes the May to June increase to low inventory and a fast moving market.

"We're still struggling having quality homes on the market and (the June price) increased quite a bit because there's not as much to choose from," she said.

In a healthy and balanced market, inventory typically hovers around five to six months and local inventory, which started the year at about the seven-month mark, has fallen every month except July. It hit a low of 3.53 months in June and increased slightly in July to 4.18 months, but Howard said all things considered she's not certain that inventory will return to early-year levels before the end of 2018.

"We would love to have more inventory. I don't necessarily see that the indicators are pointing in that direction right now, it's inched up a little, but I don't know that it'll get back to where it was in January or February," she said.

"If we continue to be as active as we are, I think they'll stay about the same (through the end of the year)."

Overall sales volume also set a record for the year in June, bringing in just over $233 million. The bulk of that cash was made in Richmond Hill, which contributed $36.5 million in sales, followed by Georgetown with $25.9 million and Garden City with $23 million.

Georgetown had the most units sold in June with 134 closings, followed by Richmond Hill with 132, and Pooler with 73.

Although month over month sales volume dipped to $182 million in July, year over year it was the best July on record since 2013. Richmond Hill took the top grossing spot with $30.7 million in sales, followed by Pooler with $16.6 million, and Wilmington Island with $15.6 million.

Richmond Hill had the most units sold with 106 closings followed by Georgetown with 76, and Pooler with 64.

"Looking at the numbers, it definitely looks like Richmond Hill will be consistent with being the top producing zip code," Howard said, looking ahead to the rest of the year, adding that while interest rates are still looking good, they are inching up, so the time to act is now.

"I think it's going to remain steady, but I also encourage the general public to contact a Realtor to put a house on the market or start looking at homes to buy," she said.

Over the past couple of months, nearly 70 sales have closed with a price tag of $500,000 or more, and that, coupled with a growing number of real estate agents, is a good sign for the local market, Howard said.

"Everybody that is in the business is doing very well and our membership has grown and we'll probably be at 2,000 realtors by the end of the year, which is up significantly since 2007 or 2008. Folks are getting back into the business and feeling confident that the market is doing very well, which is an indicator to me as well," she said.

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