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Home prices continue to rise in Charleston more than anywhere else
in the nation.
The median sale price of an existing home in the Charleston metropolitan
area rose 19.7 percent last quarter over a year earlier, the National
Association of Realtors said Wednesday.
The price in Charleston rose from $101,200 to $121,100 in that
time period.
Median is the midpoint, meaning half sold for less and half for
more. The report does not include new houses.
Nationally, the median price for existing homes rose 6 percent
in the second quarter. The second-highest increase was 16.6 percent
in Bradenton, Fla.
Charleston also topped the list of price increases in the last
quarter of 1997 with a 16.7 percent increase from a year earlier.
So what's going on in Charleston? Interest rates are low, but
that's true everywhere. What's different here?
"It doesn't surprise me at all that Charleston leads the nation
in home price increases", said Charleston Southern University
economist Al Parish.
He attributes rising home prices to an influx of workers attracted
by new jobs created after the closing of the Charleston Navy Base
and Naval Shipyard.
Charleston created 17,000 more jobs the first half of this year
than the first half of last year, which is three times the national
average, he said.
"Many of those new workers are moving into the area from elsewhere,
and they have to live somewhere" he said.
Increased demand naturally drives up prices, he said.
The population in the Charleston area has been growing 3 percent
annually for the last three years and even more in Mount Pleasant,
he said.
New workers are moving into existing houses because builders
can't build new houses fast enough to keep up with demand, he said.
Despite the price increases, Charleston remains below the
national average for housing prices, making it an attractive place
to live, he said.
Charleston Trident Association of Realtors president Robert
Pratt gave a similar assessment.
"Supply and demand drive the market, and Charleston is hot right
now", said Pratt, a commercial real estate agent with RE/MAX Professional
Realty.
ED: Dave Munday can be reached at 937-5720 or at DMunday@PostandCourier.Com.
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