Charleston South Carolina market report, March 2008
April 29, 2008 | Leave a Comment
The Charleston real estate market seems to defy gravity when it comes to home prices. While the median price declined by about 5% from March 2007 to March 2008 for all sales in the Charleston area, when you analyze the most recent 12 month period and compare it to the previous 12 month period and when you break the housing market into classifications by price and type of property, the picture is not as gloomy as the media might make you think.
Don’t misunderstand for a moment that the Charleston South Carolina real estate market is soaring and doesn’t have a problem in the world because obviously, that just isn’t the case. Inventory started to increase over a year ago and sales started to decline at about the same time. While inventory has stabilized with the possible exception of Charleston luxury real estate, unit sales continue to decline from previously lower levels.
It’s probably a combination of fear of buying because of the doom and gloom reported by the media, a fear of paying too much because you think your home might be worth less tomorrow and certainly, the unavailability of previously available mortgage products to those who can no longer qualify for a loan.
Anecdotal evidence seems to point to sellers finally understanding that their home is no longer worth what it might have been at the peak of the market in 2005. Some have decided to take their home off the market and stay put, others are renting their home rather than sell for less than they think it might be worth. There are some foreclosures available at good prices, although the condition is generally poor at best. There are some homeowners in trouble and there are a bunch of “short sales” in the MLS, unfortunately, the sale can’t be negotiated without the approval of the lender or lenders and they have been generally unresponsive. And there are some motivated sellers who simply have to sell and good deals are available.
The most important thing is to analyze and understand the real value of the property and make an offer that will not be spurned as insulting yet not pay the asking price. If the property is well priced, while you shouldn’t have to pay list price, you are not going to be able to get it at a big discount. Actually, if a property is very overpriced, you more than likely won’t bother to view it.
Statistics compiled by Howard Arnoff using the Charleston MLS as the source of data, information deemed reliable but not guaranteed.
Single family homes
| Under 600k | ||||
| Dates | Sales | Avg Sale | Median Sale | DOM |
| 4/1/2006-3/31/2007 | 10,651 | $231,543 | $205,798 | 57 |
| 4/1/2007-3/31/2008 | 8,069 | $230,954 | $205,000 | 77 |
| Change | -24.24% | -0.25% | -0.39% | 35.09% |
| Over 600k | ||||
| Dates | Sales | Avg Sale | Median Sale | DOM |
| 4/1/2006-3/31/2007 | 1,092 | $1,112,033 | $869,500 | 106 |
| 4/1/2007-3/31/2008 | 778 | $1,156,888 | $850,000 | 149 |
| Change | -28.75% | 4.03% | -2.24% | 40.57% |
Condos and townhomes
| Under 600k | ||||
| Dates | Sales | Avg Sale | Median Sale | DOM |
| 4/1/2006-3/31/2007 | 3,223 | $191,337 | $174,900 | 49 |
| 4/1/2007-3/31/2008 | 2,386 | $211,198 | $180,000 | 88 |
| Change | -25.97% | 10.38% | 2.92% | 79.59% |
| Over 600k | ||||
| Dates | Sales | Avg Sale | Median Sale | DOM |
| 4/1/2006-3/31/2007 | 186 | $967,539 | $801,775 | 94 |
| 4/1/2007-3/31/2008 | 186 | $967,683 | $872,500 | 102 |
| Change | 0.00% | 0.01% | 8.82% | 8.51% |
Technorati Tags: Charleston real estate, Charleston home prices, Charleston South Carolina real estate market trends
Charleston median sale prices
April 29, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Median sales prices for the past 12 months in the Charleston South Carolina real estate market. The trend is slightly but not dramatically down such as we are seeing in many real estate markets around the country.
Technorati Tags: Charleston real estate, home prices
Old Village in Mount Pleasant
April 28, 2008 | Leave a Comment
The Old Village in Mount Pleasant is a quiet and peaceful neighborhood filled with grand old oak trees and a treasure of beautiful homes. Located on the Charleston Harbor, the Old Village is the closest Mount Pleasant has to a downtown although a new downtown is planned near the Mount Pleasant Town Center.
Pitt Street is the heart of activity in the Old Village. Make sure to stop in the Pitt Street Pharmacy for an ice cream before taking a walk or riding your bike on the old Pitt Street Bridge along the waterfront.
A quaint 6 room inn and fine dining is available at the Old Village Post House in a beautfully restored building dating from the 1800’s. Owned and operated by the Maverick Group, who also have two of my favorite restaurants in the Charleston area, SNOB (Slightly North Of Broad) and High Cotton on East Bay in Historic Downtown Charleston.
In the Old Village, you’ll find older cottages and colonial homes, many already renovated and others waiting for your personal touch. There are also a number of newer homes and new construction available.
View all Old Village homes for sale.
Technorati Tags: Charleston real estate, Mount Pleasant homes for sale, Old Village
Prudential Carolina Real Estate to go independent
April 24, 2008 | 1 Comment
Prudential Carolina Real Estate will be dropping their franchise affiliation with Prudential on May 1 when they will become Carolina One Real Estate, an Independent company affiliated with Leading Real Estate Companies of the World.
Prudential Carolina Real Estate is by far the largest real estate firm in the Charleston real estate market with over a dozen offices and by my best guess, almost a thousand sales associates. Prudential Carolina had market share of 27% of all transaction sides and 23.7% of all sales volume with sales over $2 billion in 2007.
Good luck to everyone and my best wishes on the changeover.
Technorati Tags: Charleston real estate, Prudential
Charleston home prices
April 23, 2008 | Leave a Comment
I’ve been reporting on Charleston real estate prices on my other blog for the past 18 months and here for the past few months. When you review the Charleston real estate statistics, despite rising inventory and declining unit sales, prices still held steady.
I think the law of supply and demand has finally taken hold and prices seem to be down somewhat. I’ll be gathering all the data in a few days to present the monthly market report but anecdotal data from looking at the price history of homes that might be interesting to various clients seems to be pointing in that direction – prices are coming down.
Now I’m not sure yet whether several of these listings that I noticed were totally overpriced when they were first listed and have finally taken serious price reductions or whether the homeowner totally overpaid when they bought the property, especially if they bought during the peak of late 2005 and early 2006. But I’ve seen some really attractive Charleston home prices in the past few days. It will be interesting when I compute the statistics, stay tuned for more.
Technorati Tags: Charleston real estate, Charleston home prices
A home buying primer
April 21, 2008 | 2 Comments
My friend Jay Thompson, The Phoenix Real Estate Guy may have to make room for Francy, his lovely wife and talented real estate partner at Thompson’s Realty. Despite Jay’s pleadings, Francy wouldn’t post on their blog and left that part of their business to Jay. But apparently, Jay has groveled long enough and Francy posted some of the most helpful material on the home buying process I’ve ever seen. It’s a multi part series and I’ll get you started with the first 3 parts.
- Talk with a lender
- Evaluate your needs
- Choose a real estate professional
- Identify a property
- Write and negotiate an offer
While real estate varies from state to state, the essence of what Francy has written about the home buying process applies just about everywhere. If you’re thinking about moving to Phoenix, I couldn’t recommend any better Phoenix real estate agents than Jay and Francy Thompson. If you’re thinking about buying a home in the Charleston real estate market, just give me a call or send me an email.
Technorati Tags: Charleston real estate, Phoenix real estate, buying a home
Fast growth in Summerville
April 17, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Summerville is one of the fastest growing locations in not only the Charleston area but in the country. Dorchester County is one of the 50 fastest growing counties in the United States according to the US Census Bureau and Summerville represents 90% of the population in the county. One of the primary reasons for Summerville and Dorchester County’s fast growth is the highly acclaimed Dorchester II school district. And sports is important as well; Summerville High School’s Green Wave coached by John McKissick for over 55 years has won 10 state championships and Coach McKissick is the winningest football coach in history at any level.
The town of Summerville was founded in the late 1700’s as a summer refuge for wealthy Charlestonians. As recently as 20 years ago, it was still a sleepy little town only 21 miles from downtown Charleston. Today, it still retains its small town charm built around the town square but Summerville is also a modern suburb with subdivisions in all price points and shopping to serve the needs of the growing community.
A sign of the times is the evolution of the Summerville Town Hall. The original town hall was on the square and was moved to Carolina Avenue when the new town hall was built. The Town Hall annex is under construction adjacent to the current Town Hall and also includes a large parking garage (not pictured) as well as shops and offices on East Richardson.
Technorati Tags: Charleston real estate, Summerville real estate, Town of Summerville, Summerville Town Hall, Dorchester County South Carolina, Summerville High School
March 2008 foreclosure data
April 16, 2008 | Leave a Comment
The Charleston real estate market has far fewer foreclosures than many well publicized markets around the country and of course, one is too many. The Post and Courier had several pages of foreclosures listed as always on Tuesday. RealtyTrac just published the national numbers.
South Carolina is ranked 35th in the country in total foreclosures, up from 37th in February. There were a total of 932 filings, up from 698 in February. One home went into foreclosure for every 2120 households, up from one in 2762.
Nevada, California and Florida have the highest foreclosure rates while California, Florida and Ohio have the highest number of foreclosures.
Click here for all March 2008 foreclosure data courtesy of RealtyTrac.
Technorati Tags: Charleston real estate, foreclosures
Choosing a real estate agent
April 14, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Charleston real estate consumers generally seem to choose their real estate agent in one of three ways.
- Friend, neighbor or relative – just about everyone has a friend in real estate, lives in the same neighborhood as a real estate agent or is related to a real estate agent.
- Price – no one wants to pay too much and saving money is certainly important to most everyone, myself included.
- Quality – 2 quotes might sum up this approach. Aldo Gucci, son of the founder of Gucci said, “The bitterness of poor quality is remembered long after the sweetness of low price has faded from memory.” Peter Drucker, a famous management consultant said, “Customers pay only for what is of use to them and gives them value. Nothing else constitutes quality.” (emphasis added)
I suggest you consider value. Buying and selling a home is a very important financial decision. It’s your money and a lot of money is at stake. Choose wisely.
Technorati Tags: Charleston real estate, Charleston real estate agents
The Masters
April 11, 2008 | Leave a Comment
It is just amazing to be able to watch special coverage of The Masters on my computer. Video from Amen Corner, the 15th and 16th holes and one hour of Masters Extra are offered during most of the day and I’ve been combining work with some flipping back and forth to the videocast.
Everyone knows I’m a big fan of Phil Mickelson and you have to respect Tiger as simply the best golfer of today and likely all time by the time he hangs his spikes up.
So who will win this year’s Masters.
or
Technorati Tags: The Masters, Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods
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