December’s Holiday Season is upon us in the Low Country! There will be several tree lightings ceremonies around town on the first of the month. The Charleston Holiday Market runs from Dec 2nd-16th in Marion Square. Drayton Hall is having Candlelight Tours all month long. The Charleston Christmas Special will be at the Charleston Music Hall on Dec 14th-17th and on the 19th-23rd. The SC Stingrays are back on the ice too. Dock Street Theatre will be performing A Christmas Carol through Dec 22nd. The Queen Street Playhouse will bring back their Holiday Variety Show as well. There will be lots of New Years Eve celebrations on Dec 31st, so be careful out there. Here is your December calendar:
1: Charlton Singleton’s Holiday Spectacular, Charleston Music Hall
1: Light the Lake, Colonial Lake
1: Rocabillaque, Gaillard
2: Holiday Market, Carnes Crossroads
2: Holiday Swing with Charleston Jazz Orchestra, Chas Music Hall
2: Sarah Brightman Christmas Symphony Tour, Gaillard
2: Winter Pickers Hullabaloo Flea Market, Firefly Distillery
3: Charleston’s Oh Happy Day Christmas Performance, Circular Church
3: Oyster Roast, Drayton Hall
5: Crowder Milk and Cookies Tour, Chas Music Hall
6: Nurse Blake Comedy Tour, N Chas PAC
6: Rudolph the Musical, Gaillard
7: Holiday Market, Grand Pavillion Wild Dunes
7: Kameron Marlowe, Chas Music Hall
7: Matt Rife Comedy Tour, N Chas PAC
8: Allman Betts Family Revival, Gaillard
8,9: Wood Brothers, Chas Music Hall
9: Charlie Brown Christmas, Gaillard
9: Holiday Pops, N Chas PAC
9: Holiday Parade of Boats, Charleston Harbor
9: Supernova Sea Light by Starlight, SC Aquarium
10: 28th Annual Christmas Light Parade, Mt Pleasant
10: 2nd Sunday on King Street
10: Big Band Holidays with Wynton Marsalis, Gaillard
10: Chanukah in the Square, Marion Square
12,13: Holiday Spectacular, Gaillard
13: Gullah Christmas Concert, Boone Hall Plantation
14: Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder Christmas, Riviera Theater
17: Dorrance Dance Nutcracker Suite, Gaillard
17: Oyster Roast, Firefly Distillery
18: Chamber Music Charleston the Night Before Christmas, Sottile Theatre
22: Charleston Symphony Holiday Pops, Gaillard
26: Nutcracker Magical Christmas Ballet, N Chas PAC
29: Blue Dogs Homecoming Concert, Chas Music Hall
31: Flip Flop Drop, Folly Beach
31: NYE at the SC Aquarium
Real estate sales continue to be slightly tepid mostly due to the rise in mortgage rates. Mortgage rates are now over 7.5% for a national average. The Fed is trying to navigate a soft landing in its goal to lower inflation to 2%. There was economic news in November that the economy might be slowing. This is what the Fed wants to hear in regards to lowering inflation. There is hope that this will maybe bring an end to their interest rate increases. Year to date, the Charleston area is down almost 20% in transactions versus this time last year. November through January are typically slow months for sales. The median sales price in Charleston continues to be strong and is now over $410k.
Meanwhile, the Charleston area economy has been doing great. The first day of the Dubai Airshow brought a stream of sales for Boeing, including a $52 billion deal with the host country’s Emirates Airline. The second day brought more when Ethiopian Airlines agreed to order 11 Dreamliners. Breeze Airways is offering new service from Charleston to Newburgh starting Feb 16. Carpenters Woodworks and Restoration, a family-owned business specializing in custom woodworking and restoration, is expanding of its operation in Charleston County. The $1.54 million investment will create 20 new jobs. Charleston Southern University has adopted a program called Buc Promise that makes it the first private school in the state with a tuition guarantee that covers the cost of tuition for qualifying students. An affiliate of Northbrook-based Pine Tree, in partnership with London-based Blue Coast Capital, acquired Azalea Square, a market-dominant shopping center in Summerville for $59.7 million. Quicksort Rx, a software-enabled service company that provides pharmacy supply chain management solutions for health systems, will grow its corporate headquarters with an expansion in Charleston County. The $220,000 investment will create 41 new jobs over the next three years.
We are committed to providing our clients with an unparalleled level of service. We strive to have you feel and experience our commitment to you all while helping accomplish your real estate goals. That is truly what it is all about! Please reach out to us if you have any questions or if you are thinking of buying, investing, or selling a home!
