<h3>By Everett Ballenger</h3>
Last year’s first quarter numbers were mostly ahead of 2014, so would real estate agents continue to see the trend in 2016? Overall it seems like the trend continues on the upward direction. There are some dips in actual unit sales in Mossy Oaks and Port Royal, but Beaufort was same as 2015. Burton and Lady’s Island surged ahead some 40 percent in sales over the year before.

Total unit sales during the first quarter of 2016 reached 200, with the average price at $223,965 and the median selling price at $209,900, up 8.4 percent from 2015. Total sales volume was up a healthy 11 percent from the previous year.

The first quarter of 2016 seems to be following a pattern seen over the last two to three years. The Northern Beaufort County real estate market is in a “steady as she goes” mode, a mode we can all agree is a welcome sight and should be comfortable with. To give some perspective of today’s market: It was 2007 the last time 200 units were sold in the first quarter. Even though the market has picked up significantly over the last three years, there are still some excellent real estate deals to be had, across the price spectrum, but it should not be assumed they will remain available forever.

<em>Everett Ballenger is the owner of B.I.C. Ballenger Realty and former president of the Beaufort County Associations of Realtors.</em>

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