Lower Berkeley Condo Will Offer Leases

In another sign of the deteriorating housing market in the Charleston area, there is this report that a local condo is going to offer "more choices" for customers this year, including leasing options because "[t]hese are the things we see the market demanding." The article provides the following details on the offers:

“It’s three miles from I-526, 10-15 minutes from anywhere,” she says.

Allison McQueen, project manager with The Berry Co., oversees the property. Leases are for six months and up and come with a $50 application fee, $300 refundable deposit and $100-$150 nonrefundable fee. Pets are allowed with a $400 nonrefundable fee.

Currently, half of the residents are renters and half buyers, Layton says. But of the leasing group, 85 percent are interested in rent-to-own. “We have a lot of options for people when they walk through the door,” Layton says.

To get to Palmetto Place condominiums from downtown Charleston, cross the Ravenel Bridge to Mount Pleasant in the left two lanes onto U.S. Highway 17. Continue to the North Charleston exit onto Interstate 526. Follow I-526 to the Clements Ferry Road exit. Take Clements Ferry for about four miles. Turn left at the traffic light at Jack Primus Road. Palmetto Place is on the right. An alternate route is to stay on Highway 17 before turning left onto S.C. Highway 41. Take Highway 41 across the Wando River, taking the left fork onto Clements Ferry. Turn right after four miles onto Jack Primus. The complex is on the right.

This is a bad sign for condos in the Charleston area.

SC Real Estate Investor Awarded $4m

The Los Angeles Times reports that real estate broker from Charleston, Richard C. Davis, and others from his firm, Trademark Properties, won a $4 million jury verdict for their role in helping to create the A&E show "Flip this house". The trial was in federal court in South Carolina, not sure if Davis would have been so successful if the case had been in federal court in Los Angeles.

Startling Real Estate Numbers

I found this on ChuckTown Homes Blog, another Charleston real estate blog. The "SOLD" numbers, apparently of houses sold during September 2006, 2007, and 2008 were listed as follows:

September 2006, 1464 homes sold.
September 2007, 971 homes sold.
September 2008, 696 homes sold.

This could be affected by a number of factors, such as weather, seasonal economic patterns, etc. I would have to see the date for the other months to confirm that the drop is so dramatic. For example, it's possible that in August 2008 there was a significant increase in sales over 2007 that partially or completely balances out the drop in September. I simply don't know. It also lists that:

A home worth $200,000 in September 2007 is now worth $176,000 on average based on real statistics from the Charleston MLS. If that trend continues for the next 12 months as expected the price of the same home will be $154,880 in September of 2009.

I don't know if price trends can be expected to work in such a linear fashion, but the numbers are a little shocking. It is not clear if the price declines are affecting all aspects of the market or just lower-end sales, in the 29401 zip code, which is more affluent, it is possible that prices have not fallen as much.

Real Estate price declines in 29401, Charleston

From Trulia.com:

29401 Year-Over-Year: 13.9%.
Charleston Year-Over-Year: -9.0%

It looks like prices are doing worse in 29401 than in Charleston at large, probably because they had further to fall. Although if you go and look at their graph of median sales in 29401, it looks to have picked up recently. It's too early to tell whether this is a few outlier sales or a trend of increasing home sales in this area.

Obama outraises McCain in 29401

This is kind of stunning:

Obama raised $546,949 in the Charleston area, slightly more than the $524,320 raised by McCain.

While most experts may think that peninsular Charleston south of Calhoun Street is solidly GOP turf, Obama actually out-raised McCain in the 29401 ZIP code $137,305 to $89,960.

May say as much about Obama's strong campaign this year as GOP lack of enthusiasm for McCain. If Mark Sanford was running for President, I doubt Charleston would be raising more money for the Democratic candidate.