When will the Charleston real estate market "hit bottom"?  How much further down do we have to go until home prices begin to stabilize?  Well, no one really knows for sure but CNNmoney.com have published their analysis of the real estate market here in Charleston.  I wanted to share with you some interesting information I've found from it:

  • Out of the nation's 100 largest metro areas, Charleston, SC ranks 89.
  • The population for the city of Charleston is 603,178.
  • Home prices peaked in the first quarter of '07.
  • The forecast for home prices through March of 2010 (from now) shows being down 0.1%.  I find this hard to believe, as I believe the number to be more than that.  However, this forecast is great news for our local Charleston market.  Let's hope this will come to materialize.
  • According to their statistics, from the fourth quarter of '07, to the fourth quarter of '08, home prices fell 4.0%.  The total decline so far from the beginning of '07 to today is -9.0%.  CNN forecasts the price change from peak to bottom to be -10.2%.  According to their forecast, we have -1.2% to go!
  • They have predicted the "bottom" for the Charleston real estate market to be in the third quarter of '09.  And when we do hit bottom, they predict home prices will be where they were in the third quarter of '05.

Of course I am not fully aware how this data was collected, or their formula for predicting the market in Charleston, but I can attest that home showings have certainly picked up and my office is extremely busy.  It's been busy for the last 1-2 months.  Is this just a temporary spike?  I am unsure.  Typically, this is the beginning of our busiest time of year.  That coupled with the first-time homebuyers tax credit, and low interest rates- and one can propose that this is the reason for all the recent activity in the Charleston real estate market.  But I will say this: In '08, it was still very slow for the majority of agents during this time of year, and this year things seem to be much busier!

Data Source: CNNmoney.com

 

Posted by Mike Ciucci on

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It's interesting that "Out of the nation's 100 largest metro areas, Charleston, SC ranks 89." Charleston is such a beautiful historic area. The waterfront views there are priceless! I really enjoy visiting Folly Beach and Isle of Palms in the Summer. I'd like to see how these beaches rank among the others around the US. They are usually kept so clean and Charleston is a city where I feel welcomed whenever I visit. I'd like to find a weekend retreat somewhere. Where are most of your clients buying waterfront properties?

Posted by Brian Hunt on Tuesday, April 28th, 2009 at 7:40am

Hi Brian, thanks for commenting. Most of my clients have been purchasing waterfront property in either James Island or Mt. Pleasant. There's just so much available right now to choose from. A few have decided to go to West Ashley because of the lower price tags. You can get deepwater in West Ashley for about the same price as tidal creek in Mt. pleasant, so your dollar will go farther in West Ashley. But I would say that Mt. Pleasant and James Island are topping out as the most popular right now. Since it's getting closer to summer, we'll also see more activity at the beaches as well (Folly Beach, Sullivans Island, Isle of Palms, and Wild Dunes).

Thanks for stopping by.

Posted by Mike Ciucci on Tuesday, April 28th, 2009 at 11:24am

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