Charleston SC Metro Real Estate: March 2008

Every time we turn on the television "information experts" in the news are there to tell just how bad the housing market has become.  As a matter of fact, I thought I was dreaming a few nights ago when when a local news station reported that the Charleston SC market is actually doing good so far this year.  I was shocked that they would dare run such good news to the mass public.  

First, the house market is not bad!  It is simply adjusting (that's what happens in a market economy).  This market is great for buyers and can still be good for sellers in certain areas!  Areas such as our Charleston, SC market!

Today I stumbled across a few quotes from the doom and gloom artists of the past that all but wrote off the chances of a housing resurgence.  Sound familiar?

• “The prices of houses seem to have reached a plateau, and there is reasonable expectancy that prices will decline.” (Time, December 1, 1947)
• “Houses cost too much for the mass market. Today’s average price is around $8,000—out of reach for two thirds of all buyers.” (Science Digest, April 1948)
• “The goal of owning a home seems to be getting beyond the reach of more and more Americans. The typical new house today costs $28,000.” (Business Week, September 4, 1969)
• “The era of easy profits in real estate may be drawing to a close.” (Money, January 1981)
• “Most economists agree…[a home] will become little more than a roof and a tax deduction, certainly not the lucrative investment it was through much of the 1980s.” (Money, April 1986)
• “The baby boomers are all housed now. They are being followed by the baby bust. By 2005, real housing prices will sit 40 percent below where they are today.” (Harvard economist Gregory Mankiw, “The Baby Boom, the Baby Bust, and the Coming Collapse of Housing Prices.” Journal of Regional Economics, Fall 1989)
• “A home is where the bad investment is.” (San Francisco Examiner, November 17, 1996)
•  “But the real question is, how will [housing prices] look longer term? As I’ve said in the past, I do not think that housing values will be higher five to ten years from now.” (Yale economist Robert Shiller, quoted in Newsweek, January 27, 2005)

I can't tell you how many times I have heard from the general public here in the Charleston SC Tri-County area that. "If I would have known the appreciation rate for homes 10 years ago I would have invested heavily ."   Unfortunately  I do not have a crystal ball to predict the future, but what I do have is hard data to support that housing has indeed appreciated greatly in Charleston Metropolitan area.  The prices for each year are based on a median sales price for each area. 

 

AREA                                                  1998 ($)                 2007 ($)                   % Appreciation 

Charleston County                             138,000                  249,000                          81%

Dorchester County                             105,800                  193,750                          83%         

Berkeley County                                 89,950                  180,000                          100%

Charleston Peninsula                         215,658                 482,500                          124%

Mt. Pleasant                                     153,500                 350,000                          128%     

Sullivan's Island/Isle of Palms            318,000                 1,100,000                       246%

James Island                                    120,000                 261,000                          118%     

Folly Beach                                       230,000                 570,000                          148%

West Ashley                                     115,000                  214,700                           87%       

John's Island                                   111,200                  219,500                           97%

Kiawah & Seabrook                           176,000                  652,500                          271%

North Charleston                                57,425                  149,900                          161%

Hanahan                                           87,000                  199,000                          129%

Goose Creek                                     96,500                  174,992                           81%

Moncks Corner                                   86,900                 184,815                          113%

Daniel Island                                   214,275                 430,523                           82%

In the years to come the appreciation ratio will continue to climb , much to the dismay of fence sitters waiting for a better time to buy or invest.  In ten years those same people will be wishing they had acted in 2008 when prices were relatively "low."   

Don't be a fence sitter!  Contact me, Michael Johnson at 843-817-5299 if you are interested in buying or selling a home in the next year in the Charleston SC area!

The Charleston metro. consists primarily of three counties.  I live in Berkeley county and my office is also located there.  At least 3 or 4 times a weeks I venture out with a client, or go out and enjoy the beauty of the other two counties, Dorchester and Charleston.  Charleston county has the most people populating and visiting it but the roads are often ill equipped to handle the traffic.  And, lord forbid that it rain while you are downtown!  Ten minutes of rain and you are flooded halfway up your car. 

But, these are the things we Charlestonians put up with to live in such a beautiful city.  There is not currently a lot that can be done about the flooding since downtown Charleston is right at sea level, but the roads are a problem that can be fixed. 

Not to long ago Charleston county passed a 1 cent sales tax to help improve the roads.  The county also created a website to help track and report the projects and the status of each.  Charleston County Road Projects.

Road Construction!   We all know it is needed but we all hate to get delayed by the work being done.  Don't they know we have somewhere to be?

Wouldn't it be great to have a way of knowing what roads are under construction before we stumble upon them?  Dorchester County council has done just that.  The county website gives a list of roads that are currently under construction.  They county even gives the status of the construction so we can know how long our lives will be inconvenienced in the name of progress. 

(map compliments of county website)