Charleston new home construction update
With national new home starts declining by 4.5% to an annual rate of 791,000 units, the lowest since records began in 1959 and building permits, a sign of future residential projects declining by 12% to an annual rate of 708,000, the lowest on record since 1960, builders have obviously scaled back and tightened their belts significantly. Compared to October 2007, builders began work on 38% fewer homes and with the builder confidence index at 9 (that's right nine) out of 100, the immediate future looks bleak.
So what's happening in the Charleston new home construction market.
Spec building has not gone the way of the dinosaur in the Charleston real estate market but it has been sharply cut back. Builders will generally always want to have some homes at various stages of construction from foundation to drywall to almost finished available for buyers who need to move now rather than later. But I've noticed that there is much less finished inventory available just sitting there with incentives galore in order to sell the property. There is some, just not anywhere near the seemingly endless supply of a couple of years ago when the builders first started to notice declining unit sales without cutting back on new starts.
We had a presentation at our office today from Centex, the largest builder in the Charleston area and they were pointing out new energy efficient construction designed to lower your energy costs by over 20% with better insulation, energy star appliances and a fancy gadget that told you how much energy your home was costing in real time as you turned on and off lights and appliances.
Now while I'm sure the gadget will be fun for the truly neurotic, the good news from Centex was that there was no price increase for the better construction they are offering so basically, you're going to get a better home for the same amount of money as before. And if you can catch one that is finished that they really want to sell, that would be even better (and they told us they had a few).
Most recent statistics from the Charleston MLS indicated 10,644 available homes for sale in the Charleston area. Preowned homes accounted for 8194 so 2450 new homes are available for purchase. But there really aren't 2450 new homes sitting there under construction because many have not been started and are indicated in the MLS as proposed construction.
Click here for much more on Charleston new home construction including available new home listings by price point, links to major Charleston area builder websites and 10 reasons to have an agent accompany you to a new home community.
And just a word to the wise, there is not a single good reason to go by yourself and not bring an agent.
It's really not as self serving an idea as it might seem. The fact is, you won't save a penny and it may even cost you if you don't have an agent accompany you when you visit a new home community.