   
North Charleston Real Estate North Charleston is the second largest City in South Carolina and has neighborhoods for all tastes. There is the very cool Park Circle area which has become the Green Building metropolis in SC and features new home construction with builders focusing on neotraditional design and green building practices plus an area of beautiful Arts and Crafts era homes that has become wildly popular with many young professional families. Park Circle is also home to the original downtown North Charleston and features a quaint downtown area along East Montague with local eateries such as EVO Pizza, The Barbeque Joint, Aunt Beas, Madra Rua Irish Pub, and cool shops plus a Farmers Market at the Circle where people normally gather to play Frisbee Golf! There are several golf communities in North Charleston, from the gated Coosaw Creek Country Club to the booming Wescott Plantation. North Charleston also has several riverfront communities that feature estate homes overlooking the beautiful deepwater Ashley River that brings you out to the Charleston harbor. On the opposite side of the City you have the amazing Waterfront Park overlooking the Cooper River and site of an excellent 4th of July celebration with bands and entertainment at the amphitheater and the coolest children’s playground. Riverfront Park also is packed with really nice sculptures and the Old Shipyard memorial. North Charleston is in the middle of everything – making it easy to commute to jobs in downtown Charleston, Mt pleasant, Summerville, Hanahan, North Charleston, the Air force Base, the Navy Base, Vought, Global Aeronautica, Google in Goose Creek . . . you name it, you are there in just a few minutes! Just like North Charleston has a community for most every person, it also has a very broad range of prices, in 2009, the highest residential sale was 1,300,000 to a low of 8,000! The average sales price so far for a single family home in 2009 is 177,774, after reaching a four year high in 2007 of 190,308; good news for sellers is that the homes that are selling really aren’t on the market too long, with an average Day on Market of 90 days. Summerville Real Estate Summerville is a true Southern Gem. It was a community that was founded as a summer retreat for the plantation owners in downtown Charleston and now has become one of the most desired Charleston area addresses. There are several things that attract people to Summerville – the strong schools that are part of the Dorchester II School district, the quaint downtown with a town square and tons of boutique shops and restaurants, the great Flowertown Festival in the spring, the historic homes, and all the modern conveniences you could ever need all in one town (target, Lowes, Superpetz, Belk, movie theaters, Ross . . .)! Plus – the good prices on real estate. There has been a building boom around the periphery of Summerville and affordable land prices have meant that builders have been able to provide affordable homes to buyers – and let me say – nice homes, there are a variety of builders building homes in subdivisions with large amenity centers and really nice features in the homes – granite counters, stainless appliances, hardwood floors, porches, etc. and there are builders building homes on estate sized lots so you can have some room to roam. In the last four years, prices on single family homes were creeping steadily upward until the recent market slow down. In 2008, prices settled back down to an average sales price of 210,000 (down from 222,387 the previous year), halfway through 2009, we are looking at an average price of $183, 348 with over 35 months of inventory still on the market! Attached Homes (condos, townhomes) show an even greater adjustment, with an average sale in 2007 of 147, 00, to 132,245 in 2008 down to 118,726 halfway through 2009. Downtown Charleston Real Estate What is not to love about living in downtown Charleston?! Imagine this – you wake up on a Saturday morning, hop on your bike and ride over to the Farmers Market that has local produce, live cooking demonstrations, arts and crafts and is held at Marion Square – right in the heart of the City. After having morning breakfast at the Farmers Market you can take a bike ride up and down the streets and look at the gorgeous historic homes on every street and listen to the stories being told by the Carriage drivers as they pass by with a load of tourists. Go home and hang out in either your incredibly chic newly constructed condo overlooking the harbor or in a historic home of all your own and have a lazy afternoon. Wander back out in the evening to have an incredible meal at one of the many restaurants that is home to a James Beard award winning chef. After that, you can walk on over to the Galliard or one of the many other venues for a little culture or humor, and then walk along the waterfront through the riverfront park that wraps around the entire city. On Sunday, you can drive on out to the beach or kayak in the harbor and plan your next meal! Plus, you are right next to a major Medical facility with the Medical University of South Carolina and there are two other colleges right in town – College of Charleston and the Citadel, so there is bound to be something interesting going on! With all these great features, it is not a huge surprise to see that downtown Charleston is weathering the current storm rather well – the average sales price has made considerable climbs with a minimal dip last year – in 2005, the average sales price for a single family home was $671,243 and rose substantially to a high of $855, 795 in 2007. Average sale price made a small drop to $812,368 in 2008, but already halfway through 2009, the average sales price for a single family home is at $948,737! However, those sales in 2009 have been coming with some serious negotiating – the average difference between list price and sales price was a substantial 88.56%! |