Charleston Area Real Estate Market Makes Month Over

CHARLESTON AREA REAL ESTATE MARKET MAKES MONTH-OVER-MONTH IMPROVEMENTS

Year-over-year data continues to show the difference of a non-incentivized market

CHARLESTON, SC—(June 10, 2011) According to preliminary data released by the Charleston Trident Association of REALTORS® (CTAR) 804 homes sold at a median price of $179,945 in May, which reflects 8% less buying activity and a 4% reduction in median price when compared to May 2010, when 878 homes sold at a median price of $186,497, as buyers were responding to the appeal of the homebuyer tax credit.

Sales volume grew by 4% and median price increased by 3% from April to May.

"We anticipate declines in year-over-year sales volume through the third quarter of this year. The data we’re analyzing thus far in 2011 reflects activity in a non-incentivized market, so it’s difficult to draw meaningful comparisons over last year’s figures” said 2011 CTAR President Rob Woodul.

The tax credit required a ratified contract to be in place by April 30, with an initial closing deadline of June 30. Legislation enacted in July 2010 extended the deadline to September 30.

“Most of the transactions encouraged by the appeal of the tax credit closed in May, June and July of last year—we saw huge gains in sales volume during those months” said Woodul. “It’s unlikely that we’ll reach those levels this year and we won’t really be able to determine how well our market is adjusting until later this year” he added.

There were 8,895 homes listed as actively for sale with the Charleston Trident Multiple Listing Service as of May 31, 2011.

April Adjustment
Preliminary numbers reported for April 2011 indicated 776 homes sold at a median price of $175,000. Adjusted numbers now show 801 sales at a median price of $177,000.

BERKELEY COUNTY
192 homes sold at a median price of $147,815 in May. This data reflects a decrease in both sales and prices when compared to May 2010’s 202 sales at a median price of $165,517.

The area with the highest sales volume is bordered by Goose Creek-Monck’s Corner and Highway 52, where 42 homes changed hands. Daniel Island logged the County’s highest median sale price at $310,000, while the County’s most affordable area is Cross and Bonneau, where the median price was recorded at $55,000.

CHARLESTON COUNTY
421 homes sold at a median price of $226,000 in Charleston County in May. This reflects a decrease in sales and stability in pricing when compared to May 2010’s 475 sales at a median price of $228,000.

The most active area of Charleston County was Mount Pleasant, where 118 homes sold. The highest median price of $1,335,000 was on Sullivan’s Island while the most affordable area of the County is again in North Charleston (inside of I-526).

DORCHESTER COUNTY
165 homes sold at a median price of $164,900 in Dorchester County. This reflects stability in both sales and prices when compared to May 2010’s 170 sales at a median price of $165,000.

The highest sales volume in occurred in the Summerville/Ridgeville area of Dorchester County, where 21 homes changed hands. The area of North Charleston bordered by Summerville and Ladson recorded the County’s highest median price at $171,257. The most affordable area of Dorchester County in May was Saint George and Harleyville, with a median price of $58,000.

With approximately 3,500 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®. To learn more, visit www.CharlestonRealtors.com.

UPDATE: Homebuyer Tax Credit Passes; Still Pending President Obama's Signature

Congress Passes Homebuyer Tax Credit Extension and Expansion.

Today the United States House of Representatives, by a vote of 430-12, joined the Senate in passing the Unemployment Insurance Bill, which contains the Homebuyer Tax Credit extension and expansion.

The bill now goes to the President for his signature, possibly tomorrow.

Homebuyer Tax Credit Extension Fact Sheet below:

TENTATIVE Agreement in Senate on Homebuyer Tax Credit

Homebuyer Credit Gets New Life

Key lawmakers in the Senate have tentatively agreed to extend the existing $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers and also offer a new $6,500 credit for existing homeowners who have lived in their current residence for a consecutive five-year period in the past eight years.

Home buyers must be under contract by April 30, 2010, and close before July 1. House Democrats have expressed concern about the cost of the tax credit for the government, and allegations of abuse have resulted in an IRS probe of the program.

Source: Wall Street Journal, Corey Boles and John D. McKinnon (10/29/09)

© Copyright 2009 Information Inc.

First-Time Homebuyer Credit Provides Tax Benefits to 1.4 Million Families to Date, More Claims Expected

The IRS has released IR-2009-083 reporting that about 1.4 million taxpayers have filed (or amended) their 2008 income tax returns claiming the $8000 first-time homebuyer tax credit. The IRS release also reminds taxpayers of the importance of getting to closing before the December 1 expiration of the credit and publicizes a YouTube video it has prepared to help taxpayers understand the basics of the credit.



For more information from the IRS please visit this link http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=213375,00.html

AUGUST 2009: RESIDENTIAL MARKET REFLECTS END OF AN ACTIVE SUMMER SEASON

Pending Sales Show Largest Increase Since 2005, Median Prices Up 3% from July

CHARLESTON, SC—(September 11, 2009) Likely a result of the $8,000 homebuyer tax credit, pending sales increased 23.8% over August 2008—the largest increase in the Charleston market since 2005. Preliminary data from the Charleston Trident Association of REALTORS® shows 658 residential properties sold in August at a median price of $187,840. As of the 10th of September 2008, 711 properties had changed hands at a median price of $202,250.

Median prices continue to fluctuate variably, showing a 3% increase from July. The gap in year-over-year differences continues to close—preliminary numbers show a 7% difference in prices from one year ago.

Inventory dropped slightly, with 10,796 homes currently listed for sale with the Charleston Trident Multiple Listing Service.

BERKELEY COUNTY
Berkeley County had 125 closed transactions at a median sale price of $172,248. Accounting for one quarter of the county’s total sales, the most active area in Berkeley County was near Highway 17-A and College Park Road.

CHARLESTON COUNTY

322 homes sold in Charleston County in August, at a median price of $240,000. Once again, the area south of Highway 41 in Mount Pleasant showed the most activity in Charleston County, with 59 total sales.

DORCHESTER COUNTY

Dorchester County showed 166 properties sold at a median price of $169,864. 63 of Dorchester County sales took place in the Summerville/Ladson area.

90-DAY ADJUSTMENT: May 2009

Preliminary data from May 2009 showed 678 sales at a median price of $187,000. Adjusted numbers show 734 sales at a median price of $183,950.

CTMLS is now makes available adjusted sales reports 90 days following preliminary reports. The MLS is a user-driven system, with a number of factors that could delay entry of transactions beyond the preliminary reporting day on the 10th of each month. The adjusted figures reflect all transactions entered into the system up to 100 days after the close of the month.

HOMEBUILDERS SAY BANK CREDIT CAN HELP ECONOMY

Monday, 24 August 2009
By Mike Fitts
mfitts@scbiznews.com

COLUMBIA — Several top Southeast homebuilders contend that federal regulators need to let more banks make loans to homebuilders so that the industry can help revive the American economy.

Regulators have told bankers that new housing construction is a highly risky loan category in this economy, and the resulting constriction in credit is prolonging the industry’s woes, several leaders of the home building industry said Thursday.

The Carolinas and Georgia have relatively healthy economies, except for the credit crunch, said David Crowe, chief economist of the National Association of Home Builders.

With the exception of metro Atlanta, these states never took as high a run-up in the boom years and have seen relatively less damage in the downturn, he said.

If credit were to become more available, homebuilding could increase, and a ripple effect would be to boost weakened employment, he said. The housing industry could have a strong impact on jobs because so many other industries also rely on it, he said.

Homebuilding is about 15% of the U.S. gross domestic product and has led the economy out of previous recessions, Crowe said.

Congress should make clear to regulators that it’s time for more lending to homebuilders, said Frank Wiesner, CEO of Olde South Homes in Raleigh, N.C. Homebuilding has been buoyed on the lower end of the market by the $8,000 credit for new buyers, but that boost is winding down, as the program will end in the fall.

Steven Mungo, CEO of Mungo Cos. and president-elect of the Home Builders Association of South Carolina, agrees that the crunch is limiting economic revival. He said he was contacted by a builder who had five homes under contract to build, but the bank would lend him money for only three. The builder asked Mungo to take on the other two.

Such tight credit will make a bad housing market worse, Wiesner said. This year is likely to produce the fewest homes built in the U.S. since the 1940s, when the country’s population was half its current level, he said.

Obama administration to expand housing plan

By ALAN ZIBEL, AP Real Estate Writer Alan Zibel, Ap Real Estate Writer – Thu May 14, 6:33 am ET

WASHINGTON – The Obama administration is expected to expand its mortgage aid program on Thursday, announcing new measures that would help homeowners avoid a blemished credit record even if they don't qualify for other assistance.

The new initiatives are expected to include ways to allow borrowers to avoid foreclosure by selling their properties or giving them back to lenders, according to people briefed on the plan who declined to be identified because it has yet to be announced.

One way would be to encourage a "short sale," in which the home is sold for less than the amount owed on the mortgage but the lender considers the debt paid off. Another option is a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure — in which the borrower gives the property to the lender to satisfy a delinquent loan and to avoid foreclosure proceedings.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan are scheduled to appear Thursday morning with some borrowers who have benefited from the government's housing aid program launched in March. An administration official said more than 55,000 offers have been made to modify borrowers' loans in its first two months.

Short sales are often seen as preferable to foreclosure because they don't harm a borrowers' credit record as much as a foreclosure, but real estate agents have complained that the process can drag out for months.

"The problem is it's never clear who in a bank has the authority to approve a short sale," said Howard Glaser, a mortgage industry consultant in Washington and a former HUD official. Federal standards "would speed the process for buyers and sellers by making it more efficient."

The administration estimated earlier this year that as many as 9 million borrowers will be helped through its "Making Home Affordable" initiative, including up to 5 million borrowers who are refinancing loans and 4 million who are modifying mortgages at lower monthly payments.

So far, 14 companies representing about three quarters of the mortgage market have signed up and are in line to pocket a portion of $50 billion in incentives to lower borrowers' monthly payments so they can stay in their homes.

"We are confident that banks and servicers will move as quickly as possible to modify these loans to avert additional foreclosures in the coming months," Donovan said earlier this week.

Meanwhile, the pace of the foreclosure crisis continues to accelerate.

The number of U.S. households faced with losing their homes to foreclosure jumped 32 percent in April compared with the same month last year, with Nevada, Florida and California showing the highest rates, foreclosure listing service RealtyTrac Inc. said Wednesday.

More than 342,000 households received at least one foreclosure-related notice in April. That means one in every 374 U.S. housing units received a foreclosure filing last month, the highest monthly rate since Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac began its report in January 2005.

April was the second straight month that more than 300,000 households received a foreclosure filing, as the number of borrowers with mortgage troubles failed to abate.

The April number, however, was less than 1 percent above that posted in March, when more than 340,000 properties were affected.

If you have questions about the real estate market in the greater Charleston, South Carolina area and specific questions about short sales and foreclosures, please feel free to call Owen at 843.224.5398 or e-mail him directly Owen@OwenTyler.com.

Tax Breaks for Real Estate Investors

Stimulus bill contains tax breaks for real estate investors

Thursday, 19 February 2009

By James T. Hammond SCBIZ Daily Staff

GREENVILLE -- Real estate investors and business owners can reap tax advantages by speeding up new investments and purchases into the current tax year.

Foremost among the new laws, says Mark Cooter, head of the real estate group at Elliott Davis LLC, are reinstated bonus depreciation rules. Set to expire Dec. 31, 2008, the bonus depreciation rules have been extended for one year, to now end Dec. 31, 2009.

The provision allows business and individuals a 50% bonus over standard IRS depreciation allowances, to encourage people to purchase fixed assets, Cooter said.

The tax benefit is large enough that it “will definitely change some behavior,” Cooter said.

Other tax provisions in the new stimulus bill include:

• Extended increases in IRS Code, Section 179, for claiming small business expenses. Up to $250,000 can be claimed on certain fixed assets placed in service during 2009.

• Increased net operating loss carry-back provisions. NOL losses in 2008 can be carried back five tax years, to 2003, and tax refunds for those years could be made possible under the provision. Previously, carry-backs were only allowed for two years.

• Cancellation of indebtedness. If a bank forgives a portion of a debt, such as a mortgage loan, a taxpayer must report the amount of debt cancelled as income. The new provision allows that new income to be spread over five years, until 2014, for tax purposes.

• New markets tax credits. The provision aim to promote capital spending in certain areas, such as poor urban areas. “It’s a very complex provision and few people will take advantage of it,” Cooter said.

• New home buyer’s tax credit. The new law allows a first-time homebuyer an $8,000 tax credit for the purchase of a new home.

Cooter predicted the tax credit for first-time homebuyers will not change many people’s behavior. If they had the money to buy a house, they’ll do it anyway. If they did not have the money to buy a house, it’s not enough money to help them qualify, he said.

Published Feb. 19, 2009

First Time Homebuyer Stimulus

The new stimulus package provides first time homebuyers with an $8,000 tax credit that would be available for the purchase of a principal residence on or after January 1, 2009 and before December 1, 2009.

The credit does not require repayment. Most of the mechanics of the credit will be the same as under the 2008 rules: the credit will be claimed on a tax return to reduce the purchaser's income tax liability. If any credit amount remains unused, then the unused amount will be refunded as a check to the purchaser.

If you have any questions regarding the new stimulus package or want to explore purchasing your first home, please feel free to call or e-mail, 843-224-5398 or Owen@OwenTyler.com.