Reports of local housing slump greatly exaggerated
BY JIM PARKER
While home prices are barely treading water nationwide, there are dozens of individual cities, including Greater Charleston, that performed swimmingly in the past year. House values in Berkeley, Dorchester and Charleston counties as of Sept. 30 climbed 13.67 percent from a year earlier, according to the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, which keeps tabs on secondary mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The Charleston-North Charleston metro area ranked 48th out of 275 cities surveyed. Meanwhile, home values gained 1.52 percent in the past three months. And they are up 60.7 percent in the past five years.To give an example, a typical $200,000 home in the Charleston area in 2001 now would be worth $321,400, having risen $3,040 in the summer months and $27,340 from a year before.
By comparison, home prices increased 7.79 percent across South Carolina since last fall, ranking 26th of the 50 states and District of Columbia. Values rose 7.73 percent in the United States overall.
The five-year picture is enlightening. Take Myrtle Beach-North Myrtle Beach-Conway, one of the most sizzling housing regions in the past year. It ranked sixth nationwide with a 21.74 percent jump, including a whopping 5.96 percent surge in the third quarter. Yet the appreciation in the past five years is just slightly ahead of the Charleston area at 65.96 percent.
Elsewhere in the state, the yearly increases and rankings were Anderson, up 4.95 percent, 166th; Columbia, up 4.65 percent, 173rd; Greenville, up 4.46 percent, 176th; Spartanburg, up 3.24 percent, 203rd; and Florence, up 1.65 percent, 238th.
Ladson born and raised
Look soon for 312 one-, two- and three-bedroom luxury rentals of 780 to 1,260 square feet with garden tubs, patios and decks. Attractions will include a cyber cafe, swimming pool, fitness center, gourmet grill, billiards room, 52 detached garages and landscaped grounds with old-growth trees and scenic wetlands. And it’s all new, off Ladson Road.
The apartment complex, which broke ground this fall, is called Alexan Wellborn Village. Trammell Crow Residential is the builder. The rental units are part of a planned community called Wellborn Village, located just east of Palmetto Commerce Park. The first apartments should be ready for occupancy by the summer.
“TCR is pleased to be entering the Summerville submarket with this premier community,” Robert Morgan, managing director of Trammell Crow Residential, said in prepared remarks.
Developing charity
The projects that M. Anthony McAlister Jr. usually is involved with are cited in millions of dollars. But a recent one is counted in dimes and brings widespread awareness to a worthy cause.
Head of Mount Pleasant-based McAlister Development, the businessman was honored at the March of Dimes Real Estate awards breakfast at Charleston Place hotel.
The award, established in 1998 by the South Carolina Chapter of the March of Dimes, focuses on a member of the real estate community who has demonstrated a history of service. The Post and Courier is a sponsor of the event.
McAlister’s recent projects include the Central Mount Pleasant development between Hungry Neck Boulevard and Venning and Rifle Range roads. As proposed, it would have 907 residences and 450,000 square feet of commercial space.
Looking for a home in Charleston SC? Dustin Ryan of Dunes Properties can help. Visit www.dustinryan.com to view all homes, condos, and vacant land currently available.
