How is the New Home Market in Charleston Area? (North Charleston: for sale, real estate market)

[katiegreene]

I am thinking about moving to the Charleston area and have over 10 years real estate experience and 6 years as a new home sales counselor. The housing market in Tampa rates #2 as the worse market in the country. How is it in Charleston???? If I keep living in Tampa I will loose my own home! Please help.

[USCJoe]

The real estate market in the Charleston area has been quite soft to say the least like most of the country, although some areas in Charleston have probably been affected more or less than others. Most Realtors in the Charleston area have probably seen their 2007 income decline by about 40%-50% of their 2006 production, although there are exceptions. Much of this decline can probably be attributed to a huge decline in speculative investment, the inability of potential out of town buyers to sell their current home and the belief that the real estate market is going to get worse before it gets better. It is my own belief from having been in the real estate business for 13 years is that the decline in the Charleston real estate market will begin to level off this coming Spring and we will see price stability the second half of 2008. However, the accuracy of this prediction will depend very much on the state of the economy and financial markets in 2008 and a rebound in the real estate market in areas of the country from where a great many Charleston buyers come from, ie. the northeast and mid-west. In the past few weeks I have seen a slight increase in interest from potential out of town buyers. Whether this trend will continue into the near year and result in actual home sales only time will tell. I am cautiously optimistic. I would love to hear the opinions of other Realtors who are participating in this forum. It would also be interesting to hear how the down real estate market has affected the decision to relocate to Charleston or other areas under consideration by out of town forum members.

[DJShymansky]

Out-of-town Buyers are indeed very motivated. Their motivation, however, in moving to the lowcountry is severely tempered by their reliance on an out-of-town sale. I have quite a few clients waiting on an out-of-town sale. However, the in-town buyers as well are starting to see the big picture and realizing that if it's even remotely possible, this is the year they're going to be looking for a new home, or their first home.

Sellers are starting to understand, and have been becoming more reasonable in their initial asking prices. I agree with Joe's estimates and I'd expect at least 1/3 of licensed real estate agents in 2007 to be in other careers in 2008 or to have switched to part-time.

[tjtrimeloni]

If Charleston is still your city of choice and new home sales is where you would like to land, I recommend Dorchester or Berkeley County areas as there are still new home communities dominating sales in those areas - Summerville, North Charleston and probably Goose Creek. Good Luck

[moneill]

We are out of towners -- Atlanta area. Our house has been up for sale since the middle of February. Problem -- little to no activity. We had a little spike last week but still not enough to get the job done. It is very discouraging. We are hoping for folks relocating form out of town.

I see that builders aren't building on spec. This is a bit of a problem for us because when we sell -- we probably will have a quick closing. With spec homes being a rarity these days, we'll have to hope the resale market will have what we are looking for. It's tough to buy a resale when the last couple of houses you bought were new construction.

[flgrammie]

I wish I had bought an older home instead of a brand new one. The brand new ones aren't being well built, and the inspectors don't care.