Charleston SC Real Estate Market is getting assistance from it's City as Charleston is named the country's most livable city. Charleston continues to receive notable distinctions as one of the best places to live in the world.
Mayor's Conference Names Charleston Most Livable City
Charleston, SC - Charleston has been named one of the "most livable" cities in America during the US Conference of Mayors in Providence, RI.
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Mayor Joe Riley (web | news | bio) and Mayor Kevin Foy of Chapel Hill were awarded the first place honor inn the 2009 City Livability Awards Program.
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For the past 30 years, cities have competed for this very prestigious award, which recognizes mayoral leadership for developing and implementing programs that improve the quality of life in America's cities.
The winning cities were selected by former mayors from a pool of over 200 applicants for their healthy hometown program and river revitalization project respectively.
Sponsored by the US Conference of Mayors and Waste Management, the program focuses on mayoral leadership, creativity and innovation, and broad impact on the lives of city residents.
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"Our City Livability Awards Program gives the Conference a chance to highlight mayoral leadership in making urban areas cleaner, safer and more livable," Executive Director and CEO of the U.S. Conference of Mayors Tom Cochran said. "We are grateful to Waste Management for its 19 years of support of the City Livability Awards Program, and for the opportunity to showcase the creativity and commitment of mayors and city governments across the country."
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Waste Management is the nation's largest provider of waste management services and its support makes the City Livability Awards Program possible.
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"We are honored to again partner with the USCM and sponsor for the 20th time the City Livability Award. It's a big deal to us and we care passionately about the livability of our cities," Mr. Caldwell said
For the full story please visit: http://www.wciv.com/news/stories/0609/632038.html
Charleston SC Real Estate
A full service Charleston Area Real Estate Brokerage with 4 offices located in the Goose Creek, Mount Pleasant, Sullivan's Island, and West Ashley Areas of Charleston SC. Services include residential sales and property management including long term and vacation rentals, and commercial sales and leasing.
1-800-886-3406
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Professor Tim Allen of the College of Charleston launched the Charleston SC Real Estate Home Value Index which estimates home values on a monthly basis taking into account specific characteristics of the homes. This estimate of value allows for the tracking of home values in the Charleston area based on local characteristics.
A summary of the index is as follows:
Home Value Index
The College of Charleston Home Value IndexSM is prepared monthly for the tri-county area, and quarterly for smaller geographic areas in the Charleston community, by Professor Tim Allen, Ph.D., Director of the Carter Real Estate Center at the College of Charleston's School of Business and Economics. The index is a "constant quality" hedonic price index that is calculated by estimating prices of individual property characteristics using data provided by the Charleston Trident Association of REALTORS® from its Multiple Listing Service. The index tracks the value of a "typical" home in each defined geographic area (tri-county and smaller areas) over time. The index should not be interpreted relative to the value of any particular home, but to the value of a "typical" home with the contributions to value from home's features evaluated at the average estimated price of those individual features.
Download a white paper explaining the methodology used to create the index.
May 10, 2009
The College of Charleston Home Value IndexSM indicates that the value of a typical home in the Charleston Tri-County Area fell by 5.17% in April. In comparison, the change in the index value was -1.29% in February and -3.38% in March.
Download the May 10, 2009 Home Value Index.
The Carter Real Estate Center welcomes requests for specialized market analysis reports on a contract basis. Professor Tim Allen can be contacted at 843.953.8121 or via e-mail at allent@cofc.edu.
Home Value Index Archive
Charleston SC Real Estate
A full service Charleston Area Real Estate Brokerage with 4 offices located in the Goose Creek, Mount Pleasant, Sullivan's Island, and West Ashley Areas of Charleston SC. Services include residential sales and property management including long term and vacation rentals, and commercial sales and leasing.
1-800-886-3406
South Carolina's Supreme Court puts a stop to foreclosure sales on properties backed by Fannie Mae. Halt will give Charleston homeowners an opportunity to participate in the federal loan modification. Charleston SC Real Estate Market should see a positive impact from this order.
S.C. Supreme Court halts some foreclosure sales
By Ashley Fletcher Frampton
aframpton@scbiznews.com
Published May 5, 2009
The S.C. Supreme Court has issued a temporary restraining order on some foreclosure sales to give homeowners eligible for a federal loan modification program the opportunity to participate.
Chief Justice Jean Toal issued the order at 4:50 p.m. Monday at the request of the Federal National Mortgage Association, better known as Fannie Mae.
In a petition filed Friday, Fannie Mae asked the court to prevent judges in South Carolina from selling foreclosed owner-occupied one- to four-unit properties with mortgage loans backed by Fannie Mae. The petition asked for a halt of up to 90 days for sales scheduled for this week.
Fannie Mae sought the temporary injunction so it could implement the Obama administration's Home Affordable Modification Program, which lowers monthly mortgage payments for eligible homeowners.
Obama announced the program Feb. 18, and the U.S. Treasury Department issued guidelines for implementation on April 6. All Fannie Mae-approved servicers must participate in the program for eligible loans.
Without the restraining order, Fannie Mae argued, homeowners eligible for the program whose homes were sold through foreclosure proceedings would miss out on the chance to participate.
"This qualifies as irreparable injury for which the court should provide redress in the form of a temporary injunction," the petition said.
Fannie Mae did not have time to seek relief in the lower courts, the petition to the S.C. Supreme Court said.
Officials with Fannie Mae and the company's attorneys in Columbia could not be reached today for comment.
It's unclear whether similar Fannie Mae is pursuing similar restraining orders in other states.
The temporary restraining order that Toal issued prevents the foreclosure sale of any property with a loan owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac or held by a servicer that signed an agreement to participate in the Home Affordable Modification Program.
Many counties in South Carolina hold foreclosure sales on the first Monday of the month. Toal's order stays any sales that took place Monday from moving ahead.
By May 15, plaintiffs in foreclosure suits subject to the court order must provide all parties with a statement on whether the loan can be modified under the new federal program, Toal's order said.
Mortgages that qualify remain under the injunction. Mortgages that don't qualify or are not modified can continue in the foreclosure process.
Dorchester County had a foreclosure sale scheduled for today. Gail Evans, assistant to the master-in-equity, said the county stopped the sale of most residential properties to ensure it did not violate the Supreme Court's order.
For the article visit: http://www.charlestonbusiness.com/news/27508-s-c-supreme-court-halts-some-foreclosure-sales?rss=0
Charleston SC Real Estate
A full service Charleston Area Real Estate Brokerage with 4 offices located in the Goose Creek, Mount Pleasant, Sullivan's Island, and West Ashley Areas of Charleston SC. Services include residential sales and property management including long term and vacation rentals, and commercial sales and leasing.
1-800-886-3406
The time to buy Charleston SC Real Estate is now! Homebuying in Charleston becomes even more attractive as homeownership cost drop significantly based on reduced home prices and lower interest rates in comparison with household income.
Homeownership costs drop in South Carolina, across country
Staff Report
Published April 16, 2009
The monthly cost of homeownership continues to drop in South Carolina and across the country, leading a California real estate consulting firm to call this the most attractive homebuying opportunity since 1971.
The Housing Cost to Income Ratio measures the relationship between the median-priced single-family home and the median household income. The ratio is computed and reported nationally, as well as for individual communities.
Nationally, the monthly cost of homeownership has declined 43% from its peak in July 2006. The current ratio of 25% is a decline from 44% in 2006.
"These numbers are significant," said Hal Von Nessen, president of RESH Marketing and host of the weekly radio program "Your New Home Columbia." "Most buyers are concerned with the monthly cash requirement for their home, be it an apartment or single-family home. With interest rates declining to under 5%, and with the moderation in home price increases in South Carolina, the total cost to buy a new home has been declining."
Recent figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Freddie Mac, Economy.com and the Irvine, Calif., consulting firm John Burns Consulting indicate that, except for in coastal areas, housing is more affordable in South Carolina than in most other areas of the country.
Housing Cost to Income Ratio for S.C. Communities
| City Anderson Charleston Columbia Florence Greenville Myrtle Beach Spartanburg |
Housing Cost/Income 18% 26% 18% 22% 23% 30% 21% |
These ratios compare to 17% in Atlanta, 22% in Charlotte and 25% in Raleigh.
Because of the moderation in housing prices and lower interest rates, the National Association of Home Builders reports that 55 million families - half of all U.S. Households - can afford today's national average $200,000 median-priced home.
Depending on the area, more than 40% of South Carolinians can afford the median-priced home in their community. Other factors determine the specifics of how much home an individual is qualified to purchase, but the moderation in prices, tax credits, low interest rates and a large selection of homes available mean monthly payments are often lower than rental expenses for homes priced below the median.
To read the article please visit: http://www.charlestonbusiness.com/news/27199-homeownership-costs-drop-in-south-carolina-across-country?rss=0
EXIT Realty Charleston Group , Charleston, SC
A full service Charleston Area Real Estate Brokerage with 4 offices located in the Goose Creek, Mount Pleasant, Sullivan's Island, and West Ashley Areas of Charleston SC. Services include residential sales and property management including long term and vacation rentals, and commercial sales and leasing.
BIC/Owner of EXIT Realty Charleston Group
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