Portions of the following is copied from a newsletter put out by a fellow Realtor and statistician, Doug Holmes. He has given me permission to copy and share it with you.
March is here and the weather will get better. We had 2 ice storms during February. Are you kidding? That never happens here. Anyway, there's lots to do in Charleston these days. Second Sundays on King Street will be more enjoyable with the warmer temps. Lots of people will be getting ready for the April 5th Bridge Run as well. The biggest upcoming event is the Family Circle Tennis Tournament which starts at the end of March and goes well into April. Serena and Venus will be here again and Serena is the defending champion. They always say how much they love Charleston. Well, lots of others do too. Charleston has been voted #1 US city by Conde Nast Magazine for 3 years in a row and Travel and Leisure just ranked us #10 most romantic city. Here’s a YouTube video on our Conde Nast achievement: http://youtu.be/WrhIXE8tz2E. March will also host the Food and Wine Festival, a St. Patrick’s Day Festival, and the 67th House and Garden Tour. At the North Charleston Performing Arts Center you can see the Circus, Stingrays Hockey games, Hootie and the Blowfish, the Oak Ridge Boys, and Bill O’Reilly and Dennis Miller. Umphrey's McGee, Nickel Creek and Tony Bennett are on tap for April. At the Charleston Music Hall, you will be able to see comedian Aziz Ansari, Widespread Panic, Jason Isbell, and comedian Mike Burbiglia. Hate to get ahead of myself here, but already received an early birthday present; tickets to see Dropkick Murphy right here in Chucktown on my birthday, May 8!
The real estate market is starting 2014 out with a bang. Buying activity is just as good as 2013 when we were up 22% in terms of number of transactions over 2012. Median sales prices continue to rise as we make our way back to those peak levels we saw in 2006/7. We shouldn’t have too many under water anymore by the end of 2014. Those closest to downtown and the ocean have seen the best appreciation. Mt Pleasant, James Island, West Ashley, and downtown have all done very well. North Charleston has recovered nicely as well, in large part due to Boeing. Summerville and Goose Creek continue to improve but have been a little slower to recover since they are further from downtown. There are still great buying opportunities all over the city, but the bottom has certainly passed. Sellers are less motivated now that the market is definitely appreciating.
As always, feel free to contact me with any real estate related questions you may have or issues you would like to see discussed in my blog and I will try to keep you updated and interested!