With all the hype about short sales and REOs (lender-owned) homes, I thought that it was useful to put things in perspective (at least for Mt. Pleasant). Here are the numbers (as of 8/13/09) taken from the MLS:
As these numbers how, while there are many more short sales and lender-owned properties than two years ago, their numbers are not that significant for the market in general. This is good news, the Mount Pleasant market has proven a lot more resilient than some markets in FL, CA, NV, where distress sales represent more than 50% of the market.
However, these "distressed sales" are affecting appraisal values for "normal" sales, since many are sold at prices below current market levels.