Latest Update

Here's a look at improving numbers from the South Carolina Association of Realtors. These figures are based on August MLS data.

New Listings in South Carolina increased 5.9 percent
Pending Sales are up 6.7 percent
Inventory levels shrank 6.6 percent

Median sales price increased 6.5 percent to $164,950
Days on market down 13.6 percent to 111 days

Housing sales increased as the mortgage rates increased and encouraged buyers who were on the fence to make a decision. Rates are still at historic lows and now is a great time to buy as the market is on the upswing.

Parade of Homes

The 2013 Parade of Homes starts this weekend and runs through September 29th at Sweetbay in Woodcreek Farms.

The Parade includes 4 brand new fully furnished and decorated homes, plus a Home for the Arts featuring the work of 12 local artists.

Hours are 10am-8pm, Tuesday through Sunday.

Tickets are available at Columbiabuilders.com and at the gate.  The Parade of Homes is presented by the Home Builders Association of Greater Columbia.

Housing and Labor Day

As hard as it is to believe, it's Labor Day weekend – the unofficial end to summer.

This Labor Day, AAA is predicting that 34.1 million Americans will hit the road and travel at least 50 miles this weekend, making it the busiest Labor Day in the last four years.

Part of the reason for this increase in travel is actually – housing.

According to the AAA study, consumer confidence is increasing as their home value increase. With the improvement in the housing market, consumers feel that their largest asset, their home, is more valuable. This increase in confidence leads to more spending and this weekend – more travel. 

This is just another piece of evidence that points to the importance of the housing market in our overall economic recovery.

Will you be traveling this Labor Day?

Housing Industry Improving

According to a report by the South Carolina Realtors based on July 2013 figures, sales across the state of South Carolina increased by 21%. Home prices increased by 5% to a median price of $163,063.

The number of available homes and standing inventory has dropped to a 9 month supply of single family homes and 9.5 month supply of condos. A six month supply of homes is considered normal.

As the economy improves and consumer confidence increases home sales continue to rise. This bodes well for the future of the SC economy and housing industry.

Online Advertising Part 2

Adwords Search Advertising:

Adwords Search ads are text-based ads that display on search engine results page. These ads are linked to specific keyword searches.  Multiple text ads can be employed per ad campaign in order to determine which ads are most effective. There are not additional costs for the use of multiple ads. RESH utilizes Google’s resources in addition to our own to determine which keywords to focus. RESH regularly checks the campaign to see which words are producing results and to eliminate any words that are not effective.

Display Network Advertising:

Display Network ads are image or video ads that are shown across Google’s network of website partners. Google’s network reaches 92% of Internet users. RESH can target which sites the ads are featured on based on topical content, interest groups and demographics of viewers.

Multiple ads can be employed per ad campaign in order to determine which ads are most effective. There are not additional costs for the use of multiple ads.  Display ads are created in several sizes to accommodate any available ad space on both home and mobile devices.

Online Advertising Part 1

This is part one in a series about Online Advertising opportunities and how this relatively new area can provide great opportunity for small businesses looking to increase their presence in the market.

Overview:

Online advertising provides an avenue to reach a targeted audience on the Internet through search and display networks.  There are several different forms of advertising that can be used separately or in conjunction with each other depending on the nature of the campaign.

RESH has partnered with Google to become part of their “Google Engage” system. This program gives us access to a Google advertising specialist who provides a third party review of our campaign set up.

Targeting:

Online advertising can be targeted in several ways to reach a specific audience including:

-       Location Targeting

o      Limiting the ad displays to location through state, city, zip code, or radius based targeting.

-       Demographics Targeting

o      Targeting based on gender and age

-       Interest Based Targeting

o      Targeting based on website interests and topics

-       Contextual Targeting

o      Targeting based on specific keywords

-       Placement Targeting

o      Choosing specific websites to display the ads

Ads can be specified to run at certain dates and times and on mobile devices.  Ads can be placed “above-the-fold” only or at the top of the website page before it requires scrolling.  

In our next segment we'll talk about the various types of Online Advertising and how they differ from one another.

South Carolina Economic Indicators Continue to Rise

According to a report by the South Carolina Department of Commerce, the leading economic indicators in South Carolina increased for the 4th month in a row.

The combination of an increase in new-home construction and a drop in unemployment claims contributed to the leading index numbers.

Below are some relevant statistics that attribute to these positive numbers.

• Residential construction permits rose 26.3% in May compared with April.
• The median sales price for a single-family home rose by 5.6% in May
• The overall volume of home sales in May rose 21% compared to the same time last year.

For a look at the overall economic indicators in the report visit the Charleston Regional Business Journal HERE.