Midyear Data Shows Healthy Growth, Sustainable Gains in Charleston Real Estate Market

 

According to preliminary data released today by the Charleston Trident Association of REALTORS® (CTAR), 1,272 homes sold at a median price of $209,950 in July. Last July, 972 homes sold at a median price of $209,950 in the Charleston region.

 

Year-to-date, residential sales volume has increased 24% over this time last year and prices have risen by 10%. At the end of July 2012, 5,973 homes had sold at a median price of $182,400. This July, 7,417 homes have sold at a median price of $200,834.

 

Sales volume and median home price has increased steadily over the last 12 months as the Charleston region leads the state in terms of real estate market recovery. “Charleston is a very desirable place to be, aesthetically, but people and businesses are flocking here because of our thriving economy as well,” said 2013 CTAR President Owen Tyler.

 

At the REALTOR® Association’s midyear market update last week, research economist Dr. Joseph Von Nessen cited the region’s strong economic growth over the last year as a major contributor to the area’s strengthened housing market, but did warn that slowing job growth could have an impact on sales later in the year.  “We may see a slight adjustment in the pace of sales growth, but as Dr. Von Nessen mentioned, it’s unlikely that we will see any type of contraction in the market” said 2013 MLS President, Dave Sansom. “We expect to end the year showing a significant gain in sales volume over 2012 and ongoing growth in pricing as well—especially as inventory remains at this low level” added Tyler.

 

Inventory has held steady in the mid-5,000 home range for most of this year, with 5,770 homes listed as actively for sale in the Charleston Trident Multiple Listing Service (MLS) at the end of July. Comparatively, there were slightly more homes for sale at the end of last July, when 6,328 homes were on the market.

 

June AdjustmentPreliminary figures for June 2013 indicated 1,314 homes sold at a median price of $219,340. Adjusted figures now show 1,338 homes sold at the same median price.

 

Berkeley CountyIn July, the Berkeley County market posted its highest number of sales for the year, an increase of nearly 100 monthly transactions when compared to July 2012. 289 homes were sold at a median price of $170,000 in the county last month. Year-to-date, the county shows a 25% increase in sales volume with 1,566 total sales and nearly 4% growth in prices—a healthy, sustainable pace—as the median price climbed to $168,000.

 

Charleston County

Charleston County sales increased at a similar rate to those of its sister counties in July, with 702 sales at a median price of $265,000.  The county is tracking year-to-date increases of 24% in sales volume and 9% growth in prices—so far this year, 4,241 homes have sold in Charleston County at a median price of  $245,000.

 

Dorchester County

241 homes sold at a median price of $175,000 in Dorchester County in July.  The county leads the region in year-to-date sales volume growth, with 26.5% more sales than 2012 and stability in pricing, with less than 1% variance over 2012’s year-to-date figures. So far in 2013, there have been 1,387 residential transactions with a median price of $167,215.

 

Data prepared by the Charleston Trident Association of REALTORS®

Just how expensive is it to buy a parking spot?

What does $465,000 buy you in London? A parking space (but just for 91 years)


                                                                    Courtsey Kay & Co

This parking space in London's Hyde Park Gardens is on sale for $465,000

By Henry Austin, NBC News contributor

LONDON -- A parking spot has been put on the market in Britain's capital for an eye-watering $465,000.  

Measuring just 11 feet by 12 feet, the space is located in the exclusive Hyde Park Gardens neighborhood near Buckingham Palace, where houses often cost millions of dollars and parking is also at a premium.

Despite costing almost twice as much as the average U.K. home, real estate agents Kay and Co said several people have already expressed interest in the six-figure spot, which is being sold with a 91-year lease.

"We anticipate that the space will attract interest from local residents eager to secure parking close by," associate director Mathew Abernethy said. He added that the company had sold two spaces in the same row for more than $387,000 in the past 18 months.

 

"You have a large apartment there that has sold for over $9 million that doesn't have any parking and the people who are in the sort of bracket want parking," Abernethy said. 

However, the company had also sold a studio apartment nearby for just $775 less than the price of the space.

With parking rates in some parts of central London average about $60 for 24 hours and parking fines start at $123, Abernethy pointed out that calculated over the course of the lease the daily rate works out to just $14.25.

"When you look at it in those terms it's very cheap," he said. 

With space at a premium in cities worldwide, the price of parking has risen across the globe.
In 2009, a parking spot in Boston sold for $300,000 and it was reported last year that a spot in Manhattan was on the market for more than $1 million.

However, $465,000 would buy you a four-bedroom house in Kansas City.

Charleston School Rankings Released

 

(information below compiled for CCSD & Chris Winston, Editor of the online Patch.com) 

The Charleston County School District saw its federal accountability grade fall 6 points in 2013.

The district scored 83.2 on the 100-point scale, for a B grade, in 2013. In 2012, the Charleston County School District scored 89.2, also a B.

The grade, posted for each school and district statewide and released by the S.C. Department of Education on Thursday morning, is part of the federal No Child Left Behind legislation.

State Education Superintendent Mick Zais was granted a waiver to change from the federal Annual Yearly Progress scorecard (Met/Not Met) to a new scoring system that he believed provided more depth to districts and parents.

According to SCDE spokesman Jay Ragley, every district, school (charter, magnet or traditional) and subgroup (race, gender, etc.) was given the same targets for 2013 in reading/language arts and math. And those goals represented an improvement, or increase, over 2012.

Here are the individual 2013 results for Charleston County schools:
MT PLEASANT ACADEMY A 100.0
SULLIVANS ISLAND ELEMENTARY A 100.0
BUIST ACADEMY A 100.0
CHARLESTON SCHOOL OF THE ARTS A 100.0
ACADEMIC MAGNET HIGH A 100.0
FT JOHNSON MIDDLE A 99.9
STILES POINT ELEMENTARY A 99.8
DRAYTON HALL ELEMENTARY A 99.3
ASHLEY RIVER CREATIVE ARTS A 99.2
JENNIE MOORE ELEMENTARY A 98.8
ST ANDREWS SCHOOL OF MATH & SCIE A 98.7
BELLE HALL ELEMENTARY A 98.6
JANE EDWARDS ELEMENTARY A 98.5
LAING MIDDLE A 98.5
EAST COOPER MONTESSORI CHARTER A 98.5
CHARLESTON CHARTER SCHOOL FOR MA A 98.5
ORANGE GROVE CHARTER A 98.3
HAUT GAP MIDDLE A 97.5
MINNIE HUGHES ELEMENTARY A 95.5
SPRINGFIELD ELEMENTARY A 95.5
MILITARY MAGNET ACADEMY A 95.2
CHARLESTON DEVELOPMENTAL ACADEMY A 95.2
STONO PARK ELEMENTARY A 95.0
LINCOLN HIGH A 93.2
WANDO HIGH A 93.2
MATILDA F DUNSTON ELEMENTARY A 93.0
HARBOR VIEW ELEMENTARY A 92.5
THOMAS C. CARIO MIDDLE A 92.3
MAMIE WHITESIDES ELEMENTARY A 90.8
MURRAY-LASAINE ELEMENTARY A 90.1
CHARLES PINCKNEY ELEMENTARY A 90.0
OAKLAND ELEMENTARY B 89.6
JAMES ISLAND CHARTER HIGH B 89.6
MALCOLM C HURSEY ELEMENTARY B 87.8
MOULTRIE MIDDLE B 87.3
JAMES ISLAND MIDDLE B 87.2
C E WILLIAMS MIDDLE SCHOOL FOR C B 87.1
MORNINGSIDE MIDDLE B 85.3
JAMES B EDWARDS ELEMENTARY B 84.9
JAMES ISLAND ELEMENTARY B 83.4
MITCHELL ELEMENTARY B 82.5
E B ELLINGTON ELEMENTARY B 81.2
PEPPERHILL ELEMENTARY C 77.0
MARY FORD ELEMENTARY C 74.4
CLYDE SANDERS ELEMENTARY C 74.0
HUNLEY PARK ELEMENTARY C 72.2
ST ANDREWS MIDDLE C 71.9
LADSON ELEMENTARY D 69.9
W B GOODWIN ELEMENTARY D 66.5 B
BURKE HIGH D 66.2
CHARLESTON PROGRESSIVE D 63.2
WEST ASHLEY HIGH D 62.2
MT. ZION ELEMENTARY D 62.0
C C BLANEY ELEMENTARY D 61.2
A C CORCORAN ELEMENTARY D 60.4
NORTH CHARLESTON ELEMENTARY F 59.6
JERRY ZUCKER MIDDLE SCHOOL OF SC F 59.6
EDITH L FRIERSON ELEMENTARY F 57.5
NORTHWOODS MIDDLE F 57.1
EDMUND A BURNS ELEMENTARY F 54.9
PINEHURST ELEMENTARY F 54.9
LAMBS ELEMENTARY F 53.7
JAMES SIMONS ELEMENTARY F 52.8
GARRETT ACADEMY OF TECHNOLOGY F 52.5
ST JOHNS HIGH F 50.4
ANGEL OAK ELEMENTARY F 47.8
BAPTIST HILL HIGH F 47.6
APPLE CHARTER SCHOOL F 47.2
MEMMINGER ELEMENTARY F 46.8
NORTH CHARLESTON HIGH F 46.2
WEST ASHLEY MIDDLE F 43.9
R B STALL HIGH F 38.9
CHICORA ELEMENTARY F 34.0
ST JAMES-SANTEE ELEMENTARY F 20.0

Also on Thursday, the state released figures on high school exit exams.

More than 83 percent of the 2,820 Charleston County students who took the exit exam for the first time passed.

Here are Charleston County schools, the number who took the test for the first time and the percent who passed:

Academic Magnet High 160 100.0
Baptist Hill High 59 91.5
Burke High 79 59.5
Charleston Charter School for Math and Science 54 90.7
Charleston School Of The Arts 153 99.3
Garrett Academy of Technology 157 73.2
Gregg Mathis Charter High (Youthbuild) 11 45.5
James Island Charter High 336 85.1
Lincoln High 24 66.7
Military Magnet Academy 57 91.2
North Charleston High 101 57.4
R. B. Stall High 240 58.3
St. Johns High 65 80.0
Wando High 897 94.2
West Ashley High 427 74.0

To read the original article visit http://mountpleasant-sc.patch.com/groups/schools/p/federal-standards-charleston-county-schools-remain-a-b_3ef2712e?ncid=newsltuspatc00000001&evar4=picks-1-post&newsRef=true