Charleston, North Charleston, Summerville, Hanahan Homes

I read an article this morning that has me a little riled up (REO’s Topic Du Jour in Washington, by Carrie Bay) . . . HUD is going to hold REO properties off the market for  12-15 days in order to give community organizations, municipalities and non profits the chance to buy homes at a “discounted” price of 1% less than appraised value so those groups may either rehab, rent, resell or demolish the homes.   They felt the need to do this because often these organizations were being beaten to the punch by real estate investors.

So here is what has me all lathered up . . . Why is the government trying to suppress a private market?   Why is it wrong for an investor to buy a property with which they are likely going to do the exact same thing that the aforementioned agencies are going to do… and probably more efficiently, to boot?!   Is our collective memory so short that we forget that a good portion of the real estate mess right now is due to the government pushing loan programs in order to get poorly qualified people into homeownership?!   Folks who had tenuous, poorly paying jobs that found the cost of homeownership was more than they could handle and then had to go through the absolutely demoralizing foreclosure process.   Let™s not continue marching down that road.

I like real estate investors; they should have a straightforward, fair chance at the market.    I also think the program really isn™t doing any great favors for the non profits – 1% off the appraised value?   Just wait until the properties are on the open market and go find a good Realtor who will get you a better deal.

I was at the Charleston Trident Association of Realtor’s Residential Market Update this morning and heard some stats/facts about foreclosures in our area that I felt were worth passing along since it is on so many people’s minds  . . .

• Although Foreclosure’s are up 133% in the Charleston market in the past year  (this includes the entire statistical area, not just downtown Charleston), that number  only represents .07% of the total housing inventory and translates to the following – for every 128 homes sold in Charleston, 1 was a foreclosure.   Thus, many conventional resales are still more attractive to buyers than are foreclosures!
• Berkeley County has the third highest foreclosure rate of all counties in SC
• Charleston has the 4th highest foreclosure rate of all counties in SC
• Dorchester County has the highest foreclosure rate of all counties in SC.   There was an audible gasp around the room when this was announced.   I suspect that this rate is tied to the fact that the building boom in Dorchester County was in full force as the market started to turn.   In fact, Dorchester County was ranked as one of the fastest growing in the country, so now there is a glut of undervalued homes  - too much inventory to absorb by today™s market, leading to more distressed homeowners, which can lead to . .   foreclosure.   Especially since foreclosure moratoriums have been lifted.

On a positive note, there are signs that private investment figures are increasing in 2010, employment rates have been increasing without a substantial increase in new construction permits, so there might be pent up demand for housing boiling away under the surface.

A while back I blogged about plans to redevelop the Charleston Amtrak station and was super excited about it because it currently is such an eyesore.   Now, I am happy to report that another œwelcome mat for Charleston is getting a facelift “ the Union Pier.   The Union Pier now houses the cruise ship terminal and if you ever sit at Fleet landing and look over at the terminal, it is an ugly, squatty run down building tucked into a mass of blacktop.   Luckily, it is about to go through a metamorphosis which will end up providing a much more appropriate launch pad for all those lovely cruise-ship passengers.   It is important to keep the cruise passengers happy because they will bring a reported $37 million to our economy in the next year from the 61 ships that will visit our port. It will also have a nice impact on the streetscape up and down Market Street because during the reconfiguration, they plan to remove all the buildings along the port behind the Old Customs House so people will actually have a view of the water from one of downtown Charleston™s most heavily trafficked streets!   The Port plans to provide public access to the waterfront in these areas with some small parks and alternative use of the cruise terminal space on non-active days.   They are also addressing traffic concerns by extending an existing route to alleviate traffic on East Bay. Overall, I say this is an astounding win-win for all.   Check out the pier plan here