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July 2008 - Posts

Thursday, July 31, 2008 3:13 PM

Charleston home price trends

While Charleston home prices go up one month and down another on either a median or average basis, the chart should demonstrate very nice price stability over the past year with the average price (red line) consistently hovering around $300,000 and the
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Thursday, July 31, 2008 2:13 PM

Charleston sales and inventory chart

The left axis (red line) represents unit sale and you can clearly see the trend of fewer sales during the first half of this year compared to last year. The right axis (blue line) represents inventory which has remained at elevated levels.
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Thursday, July 31, 2008 8:33 AM

Charleston real estate market report, June 08 inventory and absorption rates

Inventory in the Charleston real estate market seems to be increasing a bit from already high levels after showing some improvement earlier in the year. I personally wouldn't put my home on the market at this time unless either I had to move or really
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Thursday, July 31, 2008 8:20 AM

Charleston real estate market report, June 08 unit sales

June unit sale for both single family homes and condos/townhomes continue at lower levels than previous years. The big bump in sharply higher luxury condos and townhomes sales from earlier this year ended with a dismal month during June. All in all, it
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Wednesday, July 30, 2008 7:21 AM

Just Listed

Now you can view the newest Charleston MLS listings via RSS feed. View all Charleston area listings that were entered into the MLS in the past day or view the newest listings by community including homes for sale in Historic Charleston, Mount Pleasant,
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Wednesday, July 30, 2008 5:59 AM

Down payment assistance for FHA loans to be eliminated

Gift programs for down payment assistance will be eliminated for FHA loans effective in October as part of the housing bill just passed by Congress. Gift programs such as Nehemiah and Ameridream have been especially popular with first time home buyers
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 1 Comments
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Tuesday, July 29, 2008 6:13 AM

Pick an agent, any agent

Buyers and sellers of Charleston real estate pick their agents in any number of ways and it's pretty understandable considering that you can't turn over a rock and not find a real estate agent. There's always friends and family, neighbors
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Monday, July 28, 2008 5:35 AM

I'm a homeowner too

... and I don't like to tell another homeowner that their home just isn't worth as much as they might think it is. But sometimes you have to. I've met several potential sellers recently who asked me to list their home for sale. I did the research
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Saturday, July 26, 2008 8:47 AM

Randy Pausch

Randy Pausch passed away yesterday after his most courageous battle with pancreatic cancer. Read more about Randy in a great article by Tim Walker in The Independent and find the time to watch "The Last Lecture", 76 minutes and well worth every
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
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Friday, July 25, 2008 2:29 PM

Scary headlines, scary statistics

The S&P Case-Shiller Index is all the rage in the media these days and the headlines and the statistics simply look downright scary. And while the Charleston real estate market is no longer booming, Charleston home prices have held up rather well
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Friday, July 25, 2008 6:06 AM

How to NOT overpay when buying a home

The best way to NOT overpay when buying a home in the Charleston real estate market is to use a buyers agent and hopefully that agent will be me. Now, that might sound a bit self serving but if you hang in here long enough to hear this story, you'll
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Thursday, July 24, 2008 4:33 AM

The housing bill, duh

A clear reason why the American public gives Congress an approval rating currently estimated to be 9% can be found in the housing bill recently passed. Does anyone really think there is anything of value here other than shareholders and bondholders of
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 2 Comments
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Wednesday, July 23, 2008 8:19 AM

Is this any way to sell your home

A couple who were interested in retiring to the Southeast were taking a tour of various cities including the Charleston area that they thought they might be interested in moving to. We made arrangements to meet and spend the day showing them homes for
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 2 Comments
Tuesday, July 22, 2008 1:09 PM

Sign of the L at Wachovia

The big W from Charlotte posted the big L today reporting a whopping record loss of $8.9 Billion, more than the bank ever earned in a year. Most of the problems and losses at Wachovia were attributed to the purchase of Golden West Financial two years
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Tuesday, July 22, 2008 6:30 AM

An exciting new floor plan in White Gables, Summerville

I recently showed an out of town client homes for sale in White Gables in Summerville. They started their Charleston real estate search online and determined that White Gables was the only neighborhood they wanted to see. White Gables is a traditional
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Monday, July 21, 2008 5:48 AM

Real estate online search - you deserve better

I've written previously about the problems with inaccurate information on real estate listing sites. Now the LA Times did a study on searching online for a home at the most visited real estate websites. They found between 49 and 168 homes based on
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Saturday, July 19, 2008 5:48 AM

Can we walk?

Despite the record drop in price this week of a barrel of oil, I don't think anyone really believes gas prices will ever be cheap again. And one real estate trend that will be a result of $4 gas is the desire to live closer to work, shopping and activities.
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 2 Comments
Friday, July 18, 2008 6:33 AM

More photos please

... but not too many. The number one request that I get from Charleston real estate buyers who are searching online for listings is whether there are more photos available. The Charleston MLS permits real estate agents to provide up to 24 pictures and
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 2 Comments
Thursday, July 17, 2008 2:52 PM

Charleston property tax update

The South Carolina legislature reformed property taxes recently and some questions now have answers. (Of course, when laws are enacted, they need to be translated into English so we can understand them so it generally takes time.) I work with many people
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Wednesday, July 16, 2008 7:14 AM

The Big Picture

Barry Ritholtz calls it like he sees it. "The collection of ne'er do wells, clueless dolts, political hacks, and oh, let's just be blunt and call them what they are -- total Idiots -- expands into an ever larger circle. While the Republic
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 2 Comments
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Wednesday, July 16, 2008 6:34 AM

Mortgage insurers and declining housing markets

The good news for the Charleston real estate market is that Charleston is not considered a declining market according to the mortgage insurers. A lot of the country is as mortgage insurers attempt to reduce risk. A big change is that borrowers can no
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 4 Comments
Tuesday, July 15, 2008 1:53 PM

Inaccuracy of real estate listings

Joseph Ferrara at Sellsius addresses the problem of inaccurate real estate listings that frustrate real estate agents, sellers and buyers. "Inaccuracy of listings on real estate listing sites is the Achilles’ heel which could lead to their
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 1 Comments
Tuesday, July 15, 2008 5:55 AM

Offshore oil and the Carolina coast

High oil prices have pushed the controversial ban on offshore drilling to the forefront. President Bush has lifted the moratorium , Congress and individual states will need to do the same. As is typical, the political parties are split on the issue. But
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 4 Comments
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Monday, July 14, 2008 6:07 AM

IndyMac Bank fails, what about FDIC insurance

With banking regulators taking over IndyMac Bank, you may be wondering how safe your money is. The WSJ had an an interesting article about how much money is on deposit at banks in excess of the FDIC insurance of $100,000 per depositor per bank. Click
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 4 Comments
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Monday, July 14, 2008 5:12 AM

A modest mortgage proposal

With the government throwing trillions of dollars around almost daily including the latest announcement of support for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, I think the government should just pay off everyone's mortgage. I'm not sure of the total cost but
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
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Sunday, July 13, 2008 5:58 AM

A solution to unwanted junk email

... winds up in my spam email folder. Rather ironic I thought. Hi Howard, I'd like to take the opportunity to introduce myself in hopes that you and I can work together and establish a business relationship in the near future. I stumbled across your
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Saturday, July 12, 2008 6:46 AM

Charleston home price update

A reader yesterday pointed out that my statistics were wrong. Apparently, he/she read in the Charleston Post and Courier that the median price of homes declined in June by 7.2% on a year over year basis from $215,000 in June of 2007 to $207,250 in June
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 2 Comments
Friday, July 11, 2008 8:53 AM

Trouble at Fannie and Freddie

The stocks of Fannie Mae (chart on left) and Freddie Mac are tanking faster than new rumors can circulate. Should the government (taxpayers) bail them out or are they really already quasi governmental anyway. Are they too big to let fail and what would
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
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Friday, July 11, 2008 6:03 AM

Charleston waterfront homes

Someone asked me to find them a beach house yesterday to use as both a second home and vacation rental. They were interested in a minimum 3 bedroom, 2 bath with a view of the ocean or at least a water view. They also wanted the property to be a foreclosure
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 2 Comments
Thursday, July 10, 2008 9:00 AM

Choose wisely when selecting a mortgage lender

Jim Duncan at RealCentralVA once said in a post, "When I advise my clients to use a lender whom I know and trust, it's not that I have any special ties, receive kickbacks, or anything else underhanded or shady. It's because I am looking out
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Wednesday, July 09, 2008 3:56 PM

All the news that's fit to print

The Charleston Post and Courier trimmed the size of the newspaper and changed the font. It is the South's oldest newspaper founded in 1803 but sometimes you wonder why they didn't trim the size even more when you see some of the stories. I had
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Wednesday, July 09, 2008 9:03 AM

The Charleston real estate blog

as seen by Wordle . Hat tip to Jim Duncan, RealCentralVA .
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Tuesday, July 08, 2008 12:18 PM

Mortgage reform proposed, mortgage abuse advertised

I've written about this subject many times and I know my friend Larry Cragun at Real Estate Undressed will be thoroughly disgusted by this. While the Fed is addressing new rules to protect future homebuyers, look who is advertising on the same Yahoo!
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 3 Comments
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Tuesday, July 08, 2008 6:21 AM

Real estate is local

I recently wrote a post stating that Case-Shiller is wrong . The point was that housing price declines were being overstated in the Case-Shiller index using only the 20 largest markets including many of the previously most overheated markets. Take a look
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Monday, July 07, 2008 11:18 AM

Are mortgage lenders taking a new approach

... with honest advertising. I was in my car running all the catch up errands this morning and heard an ad by Lending Tree on the radio that differed from most of the typical misleading and lies most lenders have been using the past few years. Lending
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 2 Comments
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Monday, July 07, 2008 7:14 AM

Refreshed and ready for business

What's that old saying, after you take a vacation, you need a vacation. After doing pretty much nothing for the past week other than sitting on the beach and reading a couple of books, it seems a little difficult this morning to get into the swing
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
Saturday, July 05, 2008 6:44 AM

Flood zones, flood insurance

An ask the agent question: Can I ask a question about flood zones and flood insurance? When a listing says a home in Mount Pleasant is in a flood zone does that mean that many or most of those homes will get water coming into their house? Will rivers
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 2 Comments
Friday, July 04, 2008 5:47 AM

Enjoy the 4th

Have a safe and happy 4th of July!
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
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Wednesday, July 02, 2008 5:30 AM

Statistics and the media

On vacation but I thought I would post a "best of". From the very early days of the housing crisis, a look at how statistics are presented by the media which almost creates a self fulfilling prophecy. Please read Median Price vs Average Price
Posted by Howard Arnoff | 0 Comments
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