July is here and the temps are heating up! The Fourth of July is right around the corner but there won’t be any public firework displays this year. There’s still not much to list in the way of events but the local beaches seem to be packed. The Firefly Distillery is planning a celebration on the Fourth at their new North Charleston location near Park Circle. Sadly, Jestine’s Restaurant on King Street recently announced that it will be permanently closing. SC is primarily open for business, but the Covid confirmed case numbers have risen dramatically in the last two weeks. This has resulted in the City of Charleston (among other local municipalities) requiring people to wear a mask in public spaces. Several restaurants that had opened have temporarily closed again due to the increased number of confirmed Covid cases.
On the real estate front though, we’ve been setting crazy records in terms of buying activity. Before May, the most any week ever saw in terms of properties going under contract was 458 back in 2018. 400-425 was a fairly easy number to anticipate in the spring over the past 3-4 years. We’ve exceeded that 458 record from 2018 for each of the last seven weeks and we’ve gone over 500 for the last three weeks! We’re seeing many homes go under contract without the buyer ever seeing the home in person. Virtual or 3-D tours have become very important. The inventory of homes for sale is very low. Since 2015, we’ve had about 5,000-5,500 active residential listings at any moment. It’s been extremely consistent in that range. In late 2019, we dipped under 5,000 and we are now down to under 4,200 active listings. New listings and new construction just can’t keep up with the demand. One of the most amazing stats looks at the number of homes for over $1M. Usually, each week we expect to see about 15 single family homes go under contract in the Charleston tri- county area. Over the past three weeks, we’ve had 112 go under contract for over $1M! This is incredible and proves that people are moving to the Charleston area!
ArkoniK, a UK automotive manufacturing company that specializes in custom-made Land Rover Defenders has selected Charleston as its North American headquarters. The Special Vehicle Operations will restore and customize Land Rover Defenders for a global market. They will also create an electric vehicle in 2021. Technology businesses in our area added jobs at the second fastest rate among all the cities in the US last year, second only to Charlotte, NC according to an industry trade group. In 2019, the tech sector workforce grew by 5.8%. Raleigh, NC came in at third place. What an awesome place to live!
We are committed to providing our clients with an unparalleled level of service whether buying or selling a home. We strive to have our clients feel and experience our commitment to them while helping accomplish their real estate goals. That’s truly what it’s all about! Please let us know how we can help you!
