HOUSING'S CRUCIAL ROLE
I believe housing is one of the main reasons why the consumer is still
spending. The question going forward is whether layoffs and rising energy
costs will be offset by housing increases and a stabilization of consumer
confidence sufficiently for the Fed to enable us to skid past the edges of
recession.
Dr Kendall S. Harmon
Summerville, South Carolina
Median home price rises 12.9%
Charleston area's one-year increase ranks 13th in nation at $147,500
Saturday, May 12, 2001
BY BOB LANG
Of The Post and Courier staff
The Charleston metropolitan area posted a 12.9 percent gain in the
median price of existing homes for the past year, according to the latest
survey by the National Association of Realtors.
The association's home price report, covering changes in 122 metro
areas nationwide, shows Charleston with the 13th-highest increase in the
country.
Specifically, the median price of an existing home sold in Charleston,
Dorchester and Berkeley counties during the first quarter of this year was
$147,500. That compares with $130,700 during the first quarter of 2000.
Other metro areas in the state showed single-digit gains. The median
existing-home price in Columbia climbed 3.8 percent ($107,900 to $112,000),
and the price in Greenville/Spartanburg climbed just 1.4 percent ($117,500
to $119,100).
Since 1998, the median existing-home price in the Charleston area has
climbed 22.9 percent, according to the report.
A median figure is the midway point among all prices, meaning half the
prices are lower and half are higher. Median figures are considered to be
more accurate than average figures in reflecting pricing trends. An average
figure includes all sales prices and can be skewed up with a small number of
high-priced properties mixed in.
The strongest median existing-home price increase was in Sacramento,
Calif., where the price rose 22.9 percent from a year earlier, according to
the association. Memphis was second at 16.8 percent, followed by the San
Francisco Bay area at 15.5 percent.
The average price of an existing home sold in the Charleston area
during the first quarter of this year was $192,516, according to Market
Opportunity Research Enterprises of Rocky Mount, N.C., which tracks local
housing and releases reports quarterly.
The average price of new and existing homes sold here during the
quarter was $195,304, according to MORE. |
