Charleston new home construction alive and well
Despite the recent new home sales reports indicating new home construction is at the lowest level in seemingly forever, new home construction in the Charleston area can be considered very much alive and well.
According to the Charleston MLS, there are 448 new homes that are finished and ready to be sold and occupied (not the Occupy Wall Street way but more conventionally for either cash or a mortgage) and an additional 334 new homes that are in some state of construction. There are also 513 new homes under construction that are currently under contract either contingent or pending.
But a whopping 458 homes are listed in the Charleston MLS as "proposed construction". Some might have renderings of the home just like the picture illustrated at the top while others might have a photo of a real house with a disclaimer somewhere in the listing that the picture is not of the actual house but of a similar home in the same or another neighborhood so you have to understand that you might not actually be able to see the home quite yet.
Most of the large national and regional builders continue to build some spec homes but certainly not in the quantity that were consistently getting started back in the mid 2000's. What you aren't seeing very much of are spec homes started by smaller builders and instead, they'll more likely be listed as proposed construction that won't get started until after there is a firm contract. Unfortunately, when the housing market slowed, many builders had to take a big loss or in even worse circumstances, lost those spec homes to foreclosure. Some lucky buyers (including several of my clients) were able to pick up some very good deals this way.
The best deals on new homes today would be on a home that is completed but unsold. That doesn't mean that there won't be some concessions by the builders on homes under construction or even proposed construction (one of my clients recently was able to negotiate a nice discount on a home to be built) but the best chance is when the home is sitting inventory.
You can search for all new homes for sale in Charleston by price range or just contact me for personalized assistance.