Housing: Best recovery bets

Charleston, S.C.


Median home price: $192,000

Value lost since 2006: 14.1%

Forecast gain through 2011*: 2.9%

Lovely, historic Charleston has a lot going for it but, for decades, growth wasn't one of them.

The core city lost population for decades until things started turning around in the 1960s. Since then the number of residents has increased to 100,000 from a low of about 60,000.

Economically, the city has ridden a tourism surge; it has added large numbers of hotels, bed-and-breakfast inns and restaurants over the past 40 years. And there has also been a jump in tech jobs.

Job losses have been a problem lately, however, with an unemployment rate of 10.2% in December, higher than the national average.

After recording modest home price declines over the past three years, Charleston is poised for a comeback, according to Fiserv and Moody's Economy.com. Prices will climb an average of 2.9% between now and September 2011.

Reprinted from CNNMoney.com

http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2010/real_estate/1002/gallery.Housing_recovery_bets/8.html

SC Safe Home program issues more than 1,000 grants in coastal counties

Staff Report
Published Feb. 22, 2010

The S.C. Department of Insurance's SC Safe Home program has awarded 1,018 grants to S.C. homeowners, according to Scott Richardson, the department’s director.

"In the little more than two years since it began, the SC Safe Home program has helped more than 1,000 homeowners with mitigation projects aimed at strengthening their homes against the destructive winds of a hurricane," Richardson said.

SC Safe Home offers coastal homeowners grant funds to assist in the strengthening and fortification of their homes.

Grants of up to $5,000 are available for owner-occupied homes. They may be awarded on a matching or nonmatching basis. To date, SC Safe Home has awarded grants totaling about $4.57 million to homeowners in Beaufort, Berkeley, Colleton, Charleston, Dorchester, Florence, Georgetown, Horry, Jasper, Marion and Williamsburg counties.

According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, every $1 spent on mitigation saves $4 in possible losses and the resulting reconstruction costs.

“Structures retrofitted through SC Safe Home are more attractive risks to insurance companies,” Richardson said. “Homeowners that completed mitigation projects have reported premium reduction savings of up to 24% on their property insurance.”

Of all the grant recipients, 76% chose to retrofit their roof systems. Homeowners who replaced their windows with impact-resistant systems and hurricane shutters report an average savings of 29% in their energy costs.

For more information, call 803-737-6207.

Uber Kewl in Downtown Charleston, Midtown

Charleston Area Residential Real Estate Market Continues to Show Improvement

CHARLESTON, SC—(February 10, 2010) Preliminary data from the Charleston Trident Association of REALTORS® (CTAR) shows 416 homes sold in the Charleston region in January, at a median price of $193,500.

Long-Term Review: January Sales
“2010 looks to be off to a great start. It’s clear that in terms of median home prices, we’re heading in the right direction. While we don’t expect median prices will make huge gains this year, they should remain relatively stable as we work our way through an inventory that is still larger than usual” said Jeremy Willits, 2010 President of the Association.

At the close of the month, there were 9,171 homes actively listed for sale with the Charleston Trident Multiple Listing Service, a 13% decrease from January of 2009, when there were 10,636 homes on the market.

Long-Term Review: January Median Sale Price
BERKELEY COUNTY
Preliminary numbers for January 2010 in Berkeley County show 82 sales at a median price of $161,000. Final numbers for January 2009 recorded 117 properties changing hands at a median price of $161,996.

CHARLESTON COUNTY
Charleston County led the region with the largest sales and price increases. Preliminary data for January 2010 shows 231 closed sales at a median price of $245,000. Final numbers for January 2009 show 210 properties sold at a median price of $234,950.

DORCHESTER COUNTY
Preliminary data shows 81 properties sold at a median price of $150,000 in January 2010 in Dorchester County. In January 2009, final numbers show 91 homes sold at a median price of $160,000.

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With approximately 4,000 members, CTAR’s mission is to promote the highest standards of professionalism, ethics, education and technology, and to ensure that its members are the primary source for real estate services in the South Carolina Lowcountry. Only those who are members of the Association of REALTORS® and its parent organizations are called REALTORS®.

Motivated Seller on Isle of Palms

Wonderful home or even a great beach rental, a real steal for only $650,000

Price Adjustment on James Island

Real estate experts predict trends

Monday, 08 February 2010

By Ashley Fletcher Frampton
aframpton@scbiznews.com

CHARLESTON -- Younger generations looking for smaller homes, urban lifestyles and sustainable communities are among the forces that will shape the future of real estate development, two local experts said Friday.

Those younger generations will also question the value of homeownership, something developers must overcome, said Diana Permar, principal of local real estate consulting firm Permar Inc.

Permar, speaking to a crowd of more than 200 developers, attorneys, planners and others gathered in downtown Charleston for the state’s annual Urban Land Institute conference, didn’t try to predict when the market will rebound.

Instead, she and fellow speaker Jim Chaffin, a principal with the development firm Chaffin Light Associates, painted a picture of what trends will drive development when it does.

Some of the shifts in demand are related to demographics and were emerging before the economy sank, the speakers said. Others are results of new, post-recession values.

Generational shifts

Chaffin said the baby boomer generation, those ages 45 to 63, has shaped real estate demand in the United States for years. The baby boomer generation represents about 78 million people.

That generation’s children, known as “echo boomers,” total about 76 million. With immigrants adding to that cohort, the echo boomers will eventually outnumber their parents’ generation, Chaffin said.

“They are our housing market,” he said.

Unlike their parents and grandparents, Permar said younger generations have seen risk associated with homeownership and will not necessarily view real estate as a safe investment.

That means a higher demand for rental housing.

Permar said the U.S. rate of homeownership peaked at 69% a couple of year ago, and it’s expected to fall to around 62% to 64% in the next few years.

Among those who will buy in the future, the demand will be for smaller homes, Permar said. Also, buyers will look for homes they can own for longer periods of time – homes that can adapt as their lives change.

Buyers will no longer look at houses as automatic teller machines, she said.

“Housing becomes housing again,” Permar said.

Over the last five years, Permar said many in the baby boomer generation have turned 50, which is the average age for buying second homes. Many have also turned 60, which is the average age for buying retirement homes.

Some developers think boomers hitting those milestones are waiting for the market to turn before making the usual real estate investments, Permar said.

But she thinks the moment may have passed for some 50- and 60-year-olds. Instead of buying new real estate, they have moved on.

“We shouldn’t depend on them,” she said.

Urban and suburban cores

Chaffin said a trend with both baby boomers and echo boomers is a desire to live in urban areas. The shift creates challenges for both generations and for developers.

Many in the boomer generation will try to sell their suburban “McMansions” in order to downsize and move to more diverse communities, Permar said.

Their challenge is that the generation between boomers and echo boomers – those who would be in a position to buy the McMansions – is a much smaller group, she said. So not everyone who wants to sell their large suburban home and move to the city will be able to do so.

Chaffin said echo boomers’ demand for urban housing presents a different challenge: Young parents might prefer to send their children to public schools in the suburbs. As a result, he predicted the increasing emergence of suburban town centers with amenities similar to those in cities.

Developers also face challenges in urban development, Chaffin said. Land is more difficult to find than on the fringes, it often costs more, and developers can face intense opposition from downtown residents resistant to change.

Green and sustainable

Both speakers said the move toward sustainable development and green building practices is a given.

“Frankly, it’s only a matter of time before all new buildings will be green buildings,” Chaffin said.

Developers who don’t believe that “will be roadkill,” he said.

Making the United States more energy efficient and less reliant on foreign oil requires more than new technologies like hybrid cars and wind turbines, Chaffin said. Land development patterns that reduce dependence on cars must be part of the answer.

Permar said the post-recession consumer mindset will reject ego-driven spending. Instead, consumers will focus more on sustainability and not being wasteful.

She told developers that their future success will come from conveying clearly what their values are and what values will shape the communities they build.

“It’s not just about price – it’s about value. And it’s about values,” Permar said.

Published Feb. 8, 2010

Economist sees slow revival in commercial real estate

Thursday, 04 February 2010
By Mike Fitts

COLUMBIA -- Real estate markets are likely to be bottoming out in 2010 and the slow pace of deals will begin to revive, according to a top economist at Grubb & Ellis.

Robert Bach, the national firm’s chief economist, gave his forecast of the market’s future to a gathering of Columbia real estate professionals Wednesday morning. While values and prices might still descend further, much of the damage has been done, he said.

“This is the year when people will be peeking out of their bunkers,” Bach said.

His optimism was reflected in an instant electronic survey of the room conducted by the firm’s local affiliate, Grubb & Ellis Wilson Kibler. The survey found that 69% of those in attendance held more optimism for 2010 over the past year.

Commercial real estate credit will continue to be tight, but lenders are expected to extend loans to existing customers, rather than take over properties in such a market, Bach said.

Credit is still a major problem for local real estate, according to the company’s audience survey. The survey found that 49% said that financing is the biggest obstacle to their success right now.

Office vacancy rates nationally are near a 20-year high and could peak in 2010. Rents will continue a gradual decline, he said.

Tenants are looking to make new leases in their current locations at better rates, more often than they are seeking to relocate, Bach said.

In Columbia, office vacancies will peak by mid-year, with rents reaching a low too, according to the company’s market projection.

Nationally, employment will bottom out, with better and worse months alternating. A revival in employment and wage growth is necessary to get consumers back into spending, he said. When they do, there is some pent-up consumer demand that could buoy retailers.

“My sense overall is that the economy will make it through this,” Bach said.