<h3>By Everett Ballenger</h3>
When breaking down an analysis of the single-family home market in all of Northern Beaufort County and using only a $50,000 separation between each price bracket, we may be getting a little bit into the weeds.

But as we can see looking at the numbers at right, there can very stark differences when moving up or down the price range by only $50,000. The significant decrease in the number of sales in the up to $100,000 (-20 percent) market and $150,000 to $200,000 (-5 percent) market is worthy of note in that this could be the result of either a decrease in the inventory of homes available in those price ranges or the result of the steady price increase in single-family homes we have seen over the last two years or so.

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On the other hand there was substantial growth of sales in the $200,000-$250,000 range.

Even going up the price spectrum, sales are strong, with a +25 percent increase in the $300,000-$350,000 market and an 18 percent increase in the $350,000-$400,000 range.

I will point out that in this exercise we are looking at ALL of Northern Beaufort County, including the barrier islands, as opposed to the five main areas we normally review.

Looking at all of Northern Beaufort County, the very high-end listings are still slow to sell. One theory I have on the more expensive properties is that folks with the ability to purchase million dollar-plus houses may prefer a new rather than an older home, which may need updating or remodeling.

In talking to agents who deal with new homes in upper-end developments, this theory does seem to be borne out.

There are exceptions of course.

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Beaufort’s historic district and waterfront property are usually on the list of potential higher-end homebuyers.

With an overall increase of single-home sales in Northern Beaufort County of close to 4.4 percent, the real estate market continues its steady and I would say sustainable upward trend.

As can be seen by the chart, there is a wide variance in the number of potential buyers in each of the various price ranges, which points out once again the need for a professional Realtor to assist the individual home seller in today’s market.

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