Luxury Home Sales in Historic Charleston are WAY Up (or are they?)

pineapple-gate-house-charleston-sc

Well, some of the homes in the $960,000+ range in Historic Downtown Charleston might not be considered luxury like the one above. Maybe they are small in a great location, or fixer uppers, or just not up to your own particular definition of ‘luxe’, but I think we can all agree that most would consider homes starting just under $1,000,000 to be pretty high-end. And those homes seem to be a-poppin’.

For comparison, Charleston County home sales are up 27% overall, pending home sales (meaning those under contract) are up 27.8%. Historic Downtown Charleston sales over $960,000?? They are up 38% and 46.9% respectively. WOW.

See my little screen shots below for the proof in the pudding.

downtown-charleston-closed-home-sales

downtown-charleston-pending-home-sales

 

But let’s break it down before we get too excitable.

$960,000-$1,499,999 

You’ll see there is lots of action in the $960,000-$1,499,999 price range. 23 homes are on the market, 8 are under contract, and 21 have sold since January 1, 2013. (17 in the same timeframe last year). And honestly of what is left, there’s just not much that doesn’t need some sort of renovation. If a good one comes up any time soon, it will be gone pretty quickly.

$1,500,000-$1,999,999

If you skip up to the $1,500,000-$1,999,999 range, you might wonder why it has been weirdly quiet. 15 homes are on the market, 2 are under contract, and only 6 have sold. (2 in the same time frame last year, so there has been improvement). In this range, I have seen most of them, but these are two I haven’t and my interest is piqued.

1305673 – Details: 21 LONGITUDE LN, CHARLESTON, SC – $1,895,000 – not historic but fantastic location, first floor Master, vaulted kitchen…Kitted out with a wine cellar and generator.

1316231 – Details: 42 SOCIETY ST, CHARLESTON, SC – $1,949,000 – traditional Ansonborough Charleston single, Loutrel Briggs garden, lots of light. Worth a look.

Back to the analysis.

$2,000,000-$2,999,999

So the same drowsy pace goes for the $2,000,000-$2,999,999 range – 20 homes on the market, 1 under contract, and only 5 have sold (4 last year). Is this why my favorite at 113 Ashley hasn’t sold yet? Drat the soft 2-2.9M market.

113 Ashley Ave House

$3,000,000+

Strangely enough, when you move to the $3,000,000+ range, you see a huge jump in activity. 23 homes are on the market and 11 have sold since the beginning of the year (compared to only 3 last year).

My favorite in this price range was just purchased by a great couple, represented by a colleague of mine. The home was impeccable, spectacular, and in such pristine condition the inspector couldn’t even write up a report. The photos don’t come close to doing it justice.

1302788 – Details: 66 CHURCH ST, CHARLESTON, SC – $3,248,500

Beyond that one, my favorite of course is this. When I wrote about it two years ago, it was priced at $17,000,000.

1303255 – Details: 2 CONCORD ST, CHARLESTON, SC – $13,000,000

2 concord st

So, my dear readers, would you draw the same conclusion as I have? That this pop in luxury real estate sales is not across the board, but instead those numbers are purely driven by the “low-end” luxury and the “super-deluxe” luxury? Yes, indeed you would.

Any ideas what is driving it besides the increasing allure of this lovely city? I’m all ears.

So where does the Historic Charleston luxury real estate market go from here? Do all the sellers priced just over $1,500,000 drop their prices to be in the hot range? Do all the sellers priced just under $3,000,000 RAISE their prices to be in that hot range? It could work. After all, it’s partly about perception isn’t it?

3 Responses to “Luxury Home Sales in Historic Charleston are WAY Up (or are they?)

  • Robbie Hollings
    11 years ago

    Kristin,I love the read, keep up the excellent work!

  • CHARLES PEARSON
    11 years ago

    2 CONCORD ST…is gorgeous! Wish had the bucks to take…And yes, perception is everything. Keep up the great work.

    Cp

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