Metro Savannah home sales started the year on solid, albeit slower, footing, showing a 14 percent increase in unit sales over last year.
About 363 homes sold in Bryan, Chatham and Effingham counties in January, 45 more than in January 2014, according to local real estate service Savannah Multi-List Corp.
Bonnie Gaster, president of the Savannah Area Realtors, said it has been a somewhat slower start compared to the 453 units sold in December, but she sees a surge in new members as a positive sign.
Gaster helped lead a new member orientation at the Savannah Area Realtors’ offices on Hodgson Memorial Drive on Thursday, where 64 new real estate agents participated.
“Of that number, seven were people who had been licensed in the past, left the industry and are now coming back, which is a strong indicator that the market is coming back,” she said.
This swells the local Realtor organization’s numbers to roughly 1,570, according to Gaster.
Realtor Linda King with RE/MAX Savannah specializes in some of the top-selling ZIP codes along the Interstate 95 corridor, including Richmond Hill, Pooler and Georgetown. She said she’s preparing for even more activity going into March.
“After January, you have a lot of people getting ready for their spring moves,” she said. “You start listing more properties, but you also have more people making contacts for after school lets out.”
Median prices increased to $195,500 from the $185,000 range
where it had hovered at the end of last year.
The top-selling ZIP codes included Pooler with 48, southside with 42 and Richmond Hill with 35 units sold.
Inventory ticked up to 7.9 months worth of inventory, or 2,880 active listings, not an unusual trend for this time of year. Last month, by comparison, there were 2,768 active listings.
New construction has been a bright spot as builders start on more single-family and multifamily developments in the western part of the county.
Chatham had 43 new construction homes under contract in January compared to 35 this time last year. Bryan, meanwhile, nearly doubled the number of new homes under contract, from 13 to 22 this year.
“New construction in Richmond Hill is going well right now,” King said. “Georgetown prices still have not climbed back to their all-time high, but new construction in the area is selling well.”
King said she expects 2015 to be better than last year, particularly in Georgetown, because all of her existing inventory has sold and she’s focusing on new builds.
“We need more new inventory and interest rates to stay like they are, and we should have a really good year this,” said King.
Top-selling ZIP Codes in January 2015
1) 31322 (Pooler): 48 homes
2) 31419 (Southside): 42 homes
3) 31324 (Richmond Hill): 35 homes
4) 31312 (Guyton): 30 homes
5) 31405 (Midtown): 23 homes
Source: Savannah Multi-List Corp.