March MLS data show slightly faster housing sales for Beaufort

According to the South Carolina Realtors’ MLS report for March, the Beaufort area housing market saw an improvement in the number of days it took to sell a home over the previous year.

In March 2016, the average number of days a home was on the market was 102 days. The year before it was 134. Housing prices held steady, falling only slightly from $170,000 in 2015 to $169,000 in 2016. But there was an increase in the number of homes on the market, 201 this year, compared with 165 the year before.

No numbers were available for the Hilton Head Island area because of a system glitch, according to the Hilton Head Association of Realtors.

“Buyers want to get into the market, but unlike the rising-price sales environment of 10 years ago, people are not diving headlong into risky mortgages or uncomfortable situations. This carefulness should be celebrated, not feared,” the SCR report stated.

Statewide, new listings were up 9 percent to 11,066. The median sales price was up 5.2 percent to $169,950. Days on market decreased 7.8 percent to 106 days.

This story was originally published April 25, 2016 at 10:46 AM with the headline "March MLS data show slightly faster housing sales for Beaufort."