Sunday, February 22, 2009

Lake Murray Home Sales Update

Lake Murray Sales Update

I've put together the most complete Lake Murray sales update you will find anywhere. My family has enjoyed living on Lake Murray for 6 years now. We bought a lot on Lake Murray in the Chapin area in 2001, built one year later and moved in during August 2002. We love Lake Murray living!

Lake Murray is one of the finest lakes in all of the South. The lake is approximatley 41 miles long and has over 640 miles of shoreline. The lake has fantastic fishing and is a great place for boating and water sports. We enjoy going out for lunch or dinner by boat.

More information:

Sales Report as of February 26, 2009:
Current waterfront homes for sale on Lake Murray:
#195
Average Price: $742,221
Avg. square feet: 3280
Avg. $/s.f.: $226.45
Avg. Days on Market (DOM): est. 218 *
*Avg. DOM: the MLS provides a DOM number, but, this does not include homes listed for sale and never sold, and homes listed and withdrawn from market and re-listed and those listed that expired and were re-listed. My previous analysis of such situations reveal on average a number that is in the range of 25% higher for DOM. So, my DOM figures includes this 25% upward adjustment.

Closed waterfront homes on Lake Murray in 2008:
#98
Average Price: $545,431
Avg. S.F.: 2884
Avg. $/S.F.: $189.10
Avg. DOM: 144

The current average listing price is somewhat higher than expected or normal due to the somewhat higher number of Million dollar listings currently active on Lake Murray. Currently, there are 35 homes for sale on Lake Murray listed at $1,000,000 or more. In fact, the average price of these 35 homes is $1,648,676 with an average dollars per square foot of $299.83. The average DOM is at least 231 days. The bad news is the fact that only 4 million dollar homes sold on Lake Murray in 2008 (only 3 sold in 2007). Consequently, there is enough current inventory to last over 8 years. If you are in the market for a really expensive home or million dollar home, you're in luck because there is great selection of such homes and pricing may be very good. It's definitely a buyer's market for such homes.

Excluding the million dollar homes reveals a market analysis of active homes for sale that is in much closer proximity to the actual closed results in 2008:

Active homes for sale on Lake Murray (excluding Million dollar homes):
#160
Average Price: $543,934
Avg. square feet: 2795
Avg. $/s.f.: $194.61
Avg. Days on Market (DOM): est. 216

Further analysis of Lake Murray waterfront home sales over the past 5 years:

2004: (over the previous year)
Number of sales: UP 19.8%
Avg. Price ($/S.F.): UP 19.4%

2005:
Number of sales: UP 10.1%
Avg. Price: UP 6.9%

2006:
Number of sales: DOWN 11.1%
Avg. Price: UP 13.1%

2007:
Number of sales: DOWN 3.7%
Avg. Price: UP 4.7%

2008:
Number of sales: DOWN 25.2%
Avg. Price: DOWN 5.2%

Lake Murray is still the water playground for central South Carolina! When you're ready to buy or sell on Lake Murray, contact Mel Coker.

Mel Coker
http://www.melcoker.info/
Columbia SC real estate