Charleston home sales increase should continue in 2013, economists say

The Charleston region’s real estate market will continue an upward trend of sales and home values this year if local job growth continues.

That was the forecast by Joey Von Nessen, a research economist at University of South Carolina.

“It will be on par with what we saw in 2012 ... even through the housing market is coming back, we still have market uncertainty and the payroll tax cut will have an affect,” he said.

Nessen and economist Stephen Slifer of NumberNomics shared similar outlooks for the year ahead at the Charleston Trident Association of Realtors home sales conference today in downtown Charleston. The association reported 10,574 homes changed hands in 2012, the largest volume of home sales in the region in 2007, when 12,921 homes were sold.

The region’s median price climbed to $190,065 last year, nearly 5 percent higher than 2011. It remained about 9 percent off the comparable figure of $207,850 for 2007.

See upcoming editions of The Post and Courier for more details.