Talk about consistency, instead of titling this post This week in Charleston real estate, it could have been titled “ditto”. It is absolutely uncanny how close the numbers are this week to last. Take a look.

This week there were 366 homes listed for sale at an average price of $339,765. Last week there were 350 new listings at an average price of $328,946.

This week we saw 224 homes go under contract in the Charleston real estate market at an average price of $283,555, very similar to last week’s 226 homes at an average price of $278,897.

And closing were very comparable as well with 159 homes sold this week at an average price of $243,783, 4 fewer than last week when 163 homes closed but at a slightly higher average price than last week’s $216,928.

And as of right now, comparing January 2012 sales to January of last year, 523 homes have closed thus far this January, one fewer than January of 2011 when 524 homes closed. You can take it to the bank that some additional sales will get reported when a few more Charleston real estate agents get back to their offices from the Super Bowl parties and enter the data into the MLS.

Statistics compiled by Howard Arnoff using the Charleston MLS as the source of data, information deemed reliable but not guaranteed.

Conveniently located in West Ashley off Bees Ferry Road and the Glenn McConnell Parkway and close to I-526, Grand Oaks Plantation is now home to the City of Charleston’s new Bees Landing Rec Center. Grand Oaks Plantation offers you a variety of new and newer homes, condominiums and townhomes set in a variety of distinctive neighborhoods. Grand Oaks neighborhood amenities including a swimming pool, play parks, sidewalks, walking trails and more.

Neighborhood profile for the last 12 months:

• Sales –  95 homes were sold in the past year.
• Home Prices - The average selling price was $168,478 and the median selling price was $169,500.
• $ per sf – The average price per square foot is $98.
• Inventory and Absorption Rate - There are 47 homes currently available for sale in Grand Oaks Plantation and based on current sales activity, the absorption rate is 7.0 months.

Find Grand Oaks Plantation homes for sale

Statistics compiled by Howard Arnoff using the Charleston MLS as the source of data, information deemed reliable but not guaranteed.

Welcome to Pictures of Charleston, our newest regular feature and because alliteration is always fun, look for it every Friday in Friday Photos.

So let’s get started with pictures of St. Philip”s Episcopal Church. Charleston is known as the Holy City and St. Philip’s Episcopal Church, one of Charleston’s oldest, most famous and beautiful churches, located in Historic Charleston very appropriately on Church Street.

Let’s face facts, if you want to be successful in real estate, you need to meet people who want to either buy or sell a home. Some people might refer to that as “lead generation” but I don’t like to think of the people that I meet as “leads“.

When you search for Charleston real estate, you should know that there are real estate companies whose business model is entirely based on earning referral fees from other agents they will sell a “lead” to. And those “leads” are generated from lots of real estate search sites which some companies have set up to capture every possible search term.

Now, on this website, you don’t have to register to search Charleston homes for sale (unless you want to save a favorite or save a search) and if you do, I promise to not hassle you. My approach is simple, when you’re ready, please contact me. And the contact information that you provide will never be sold to anybody else.

And while I can’t personally promise you that I’ll have cupcakes for you when you visit my office, I can promise you this, I don’t treat people as leads because I don’t want to ever be somebody else’s lead either.

Photo courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons by juhansonin

Park West is a beautiful master planned community in Mount Pleasant offering residents a wide range of housing choices. From magnificent single-family waterfront and marsh view homes to stylish patio homes, town homes and condominiums, there are homes available in just about any price point you might be looking for from the low $100′s to several million dollars and everything in between. There is an outstanding amenity center with swimming and tennis, walking trails and beautiful public areas, shopping and offices, two highly rated Charleston County public schools and the Town of Mount Pleasant Recreational complex all located within Park West conveniently located in the northern area of Mount Pleasant.

Neighborhood profile for the last 12 months:

• Sales –  164 homes were sold in the past year.
• Home Prices - The average selling price was $330,736 and the median selling price was $270,500.
• $ per sf – The average price per square foot is $130.
• Inventory and Absorption Rate - There are 106 homes currently available for sale in Park West and based on current sales activity, the absorption rate is 7.1 months.

Find Park West homes for sale

Statistics compiled by Howard Arnoff using the Charleston MLS as the source of data, information deemed reliable but not guaranteed.

This week saw another 350 homes listed for sale in Charleston at an average price of $328,946. That is a few more homes coming on the market than last week’s 299 homes at an average price of $353,838. Month to date in January, there have been 1288 new listings but of course, many of those homes were previously listed last year while some home sellers were holding their homes back from the market until after the holiday season. But bottom line, inventory is doing its normal buildup for the spring selling season.

Good news on the activity front with 226 homes going under contract this week at a very impressive average price of $278,897. There were 9 homes that were listed for $1 million or higher that went under contract for those of you interested in the Charleston luxury home market. Last week, 218 homes went under contract at an average price of $249,426.

Finally, 163 homes sold this past week at an average price of $216,928, much higher than the previous week when 109 homes closed at a similar average price of $214,499. Today and tomorrow offer 2 more opportunities for January closings so let’s hope that there is a lot of end of month activity to report next Monday.

Statistics compiled by Howard Arnoff using the Charleston MLS as the source of data, information deemed reliable but not guaranteed.

One more shot in the listing syndication battle was fired by Jim Abbott, CEO of San Diego’s ARG Realty who announced on YouTube that his brokerage were no longer going to allow their listings to be displayed on syndicated real estate search sites such as Realtor.com, Trulia, Zillow and others.

Fresh off Apple’s quarterly report, I’ll take a day away from writing about Charleston real estate to review some amazing Apple superlatives.

Apple had a blowout quarter: sales of $46.33 billion, profits of $13.1 billion, gross margins of 45%, earnings per share of $13.87.

Matthew Panzarino writing at The Next Web reports that there are now more iPhones sold than babies born in the world every day.

Matt Richman, a 16 year old junior in high school reports that “in 2009, Apple sold more iPhones than it did in 2007 and 2008 combined. In 2010, Apple sold more iPhones than it did in 2007, 2008, and 2009 combined. Last year, Apple sold 93.1 million iPhones, slightly more than it did in in 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010 combined.”

So how come I feel like I’m the last person on earth to not have an iPhone today. I have my Droid and I’m happy but …

Rumors are now swirling about the next iPhone5 with a 4 inch screen coming this summer.

Photo courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons by ECohen

Full disclosure: I have not received any compensation for writing this content and I have no material connection to the brands, topics and/or products that are mentioned herein.

Just about the finest real estate in Historic Charleston can be found South of Broad, a residential neighborhood unlike many others in America. From the High Battery overlooking Charleston harbor to Murray Boulevard facing the Ashley River, the array of elegant and historic homes lining the boulevards or narrow cobblestone streets will amaze you.

Neighborhood profile for the last 12 months:

• Sales –  65 homes were sold in the past year.
• Home Prices - The average selling price was $1,265,321 and the median selling price was $1,100,000.
• $ per sf – The average price per square foot is $451.
• Inventory and Absorption Rate - There are 128 homes currently available for sale in South of Broad and based on current sales activity, the absorption rate is 23 months.

Find South of Broad homes for sale

Statistics compiled by Howard Arnoff using the Charleston MLS as the source of data, information deemed reliable but not guaranteed.

This week in Charleston real estate was almost a mirror image of last week. Consider the similarities.

This week there were 299 new homes listed for sale at an average price of $353,838 compared to last week when 311 homes were listed at an average price of $338,489.

This week saw 218 homes go under contract at an average price of $249,426 vs. last week when 200 homes went under contract at a much higher average price of $315,089 but that was impacted by Medway Plantation which was listed for $15 million.

And finally, there were 109 closings this week at an average price of $214,499. Last week, 116 homes sold at a higher average price of $256,644, once again a very expensive home closed last week for $4.2 million.

The numbers of units each week was very similar so I guess the easiest thing to say is it was just a typical week in January.

Statistics compiled by Howard Arnoff using the Charleston MLS as the source of data, information deemed reliable but not guaranteed.