‘It’s like A Traffic Jam On The Interstate’
The Post and Courier reports from South Carolina. “Mount Pleasant has more than double the number of homes for sale than last year, and town leaders are worried. As of Sept. 6, Mount Pleasant had 1,399 homes on the market. On Sept. 5, 2005, the town had 645 homes for sale. ‘What the trend means is something that we don’t understand completely,’ said Councilman Joe Bustos.”
“In April, May and June, Berkeley, Charleston and Dorchester counties had 3,903 homes for sale compared with 2,798 homes on the market for the same period last year. ‘I think it’s a lending bubble. Lending is out of control. The way some people finance their homes is crazy,’ said Brad Rundbaken, a real estate appraiser.”
“Councilman Paul Gawrych also expressed concern at the committee meeting about houses that aren’t selling like they used to. ‘All of a sudden, there’s a flood of houses out there that are for sale. Why are there 1,300 houses on the market right now? Are we doing the right things?’ Gawrych said.”
“Amy Campbell Kelly wishes she had listed her $315,000 home for sale in Snee Farm three months ago when the market was better. ‘Everything was selling like crazy,’ Kelly said.”
“Now, things are different. ‘If I would have listed this in May, I have a feeling it would have sold in two weeks,’ she said. Instead, she’s shown her home only twice in three weeks.”
The Courier Journal from Kentucky. “Roger Burke was relying on recent history when he bought a house across the street from his in St. Matthews last year to remodel and sell. ‘Normally, in this neighborhood, properties sell in the first few days,’ said Burke, who has had the house on the market since June.”
“Henry Cochran is willing to wait for a bargain. ‘I look at the price of houses, I’m looking to knock $25,000 to $30,000 off the price,’ Cochran said.”
“When the Louisville real estate market was on its way to a third consecutive record in annual sales in the first half of last year, Cochran might have been more concerned about losing a good house and Burke probably would have sold his by now. But the balance has shifted this year.”
“Builders have gotten the message. They took out 41 percent fewer permits for one- and two-family residential buildings in July and 44 percent fewer in August than they did last year.”
“Real estate professionals are reluctant to call Louisville a buyer’s market, because they think the term suggests a decline in property values. Adam Hall, president of the Mortgage Bankers Association of Louisville, put it this way: ‘There’s going to be a lot more choices for the buyers out there and probably a lot more competition among sellers to get their properties sold.’”
“Burke has dropped his asking price from $275,000 to $259,500. ‘I’ve had an enormous amount of traffic,’ he said. ‘But I think everybody is being ultra-cautious right now.’”
“Cochran said he has seen about 20 houses, including Burke’s, and ‘probably half of them were empty.’ More houses are on the market in Louisville. Realtors took 589 listings and had about 300 sales during a typical week in August last year, Hall said.”
“Opinions vary on why so many homes are for sale. Hall said, ‘we’re all going to have to be a little more creative’ in using nontraditional lending tools: having sellers pay the upfront mortgage points; loans that require only interest payments in the first few years; and having sellers or builders pay some of the interest for the first few years.”
“But those mortgage products have critics who wonder whether they are responsible for some of the increase in homes on the market. ‘People are getting into loans that, for one reason or another, they cannot afford,’ assistant professor William Cahaney said. ‘And they’re getting into them because lenders are doing everything they can to get people into the loan.’”
“Burke figures he’ll find a buyer eventually. ‘I’m in hopes this house will be appealing to somebody who’s downsizing,’ he said. ‘But they’re stuck with not being able to sell their house, so it’s like a traffic jam on the interstate.’”
‘What the trend means is something that we don’t understand completely,’ said Councilman Joe Bustos.”
It means your houses aren’t selling and the trend is down. Thiw quote cracks me up…denial is so strong.
Simmsays…fun with ipod shuffle
http://americaninventorspot.com/steves_new_ipod_shuffle_exlusive
- ‘What the trend means is something that we don’t understand completely,’ said Councilman Joe Bustos.”
Hey Joe, understand that it means prices are just starting to DECLINE … it become very clear very soon.
- “Roger Burke said ‘Normally, in this neighborhood, properties sell in the first few days,’
Listen up Roger….that was not NORMAL!
Right, how can a national bubble be denied when people in Kentucky fully expect their house to sell in ‘a few days’?
Are all the new loan poducts going to vanish when foreclusures rise? These lenders have to figure that a good portion of the loans will fail. Is all the new business they have gotten going to compensate for the risk? I have to beleive that a lot of the new financeing is here to stay. If they pulled these products at this point it would cripple the economy.Most first time buyers do not really have any savings. People with cash seem to be ones that gained equity in their homes.
Prices will correct in time. I am not even looking at existing homes because prices are still in fantasy land. The new builders cannot afford to sit on inventory. They will cut prices first to adjust for current market conditions. KB home has been the most aggressive from my experience.
The lenders will have no choice but to tighten lending requirements as foreclosures rise. They have to sell their loans on the market, and the loans will get very difficult to sell at a profit if too many are defaulting. Probably the new “creative” loans will still be available, but only to people with good credit records and sufficient incomes. None of this stuff of qualifying a teaser rate if your income will not cover the current 30 year rate. Of course, people with good credit and sufficient incomes will probably stick with fixed rate or regular ARM’s if it looks like rates are going down.
arizonadude,
I’d love to be able to say that these “products” will wither and die as they rightfully should but I’ve talked with a number of MB’s that assure me that while “standards” will tighten somewhat they are here to stay! That’s been a concern of mine as well. It’s a real “falling knife catcher” enabler!
nnvmtgbkr, care to weigh in?
The standards will revert (IMHO actually overcorrect) because they have to mitigate risk. That alone will limit these types of loans to only those that can safely use them. Otherwise, people that can’t afford a home won’t get one, period.
Hmmm, a bit distracting, that new Ipod Shuffle. But Apple must be missing the Ipod mini cuz the new Nanos look like me. I still have my mini. It’s hard to lose, I can see it! HAHA!!
LOL, not look like me!! should say look like it to me! Dang, I’m distracted this morning. Sorry!
Thinks it has to do with getting tired of getting reamed by a desperate seller because I’m renting. Asshats don’t seem to understand that I am unemployed and spouse is a school teacher. We can’t find a tin can to buy with that income. HAHA!!!
Hall said, ‘we’re all going to have to be a little more creative’ in using nontraditional lending tools:”
OK, so what would getting a “little more creative” than what we have seen in the last few years entail?
put your 0 down on a credit card
There is a big market of people who will need housing eventually and are currently not being served by “establishment” lenders and realtors-that group is Prisoners. You’ve got over a million men and women who might have made a mistake or two, but who hasn’t? Why not tap into this group. Most of them have the opportunity to make several dollars a day performing functions such as roadwork or making license plates. Many more make a lot more than that if you consider the value of cigarettes and other “intangibles” they may trade in. Why not put that money to work building a stake in a place to live after they get out? “A house after the big house” can be the motto. Just work with the wardens to have some of this hard earned money direct deposited into an escrow account, and we’ll give a neg am loan with minimal payments of whatever they can afford. I’m sure the neighbors of these currently empty houses will be glad to see some new life being breathed into these places. Worried that your wages as an excon won’t cover the mortgage once you get out and we switch you to a traditional mortgage? Don’t worry-I’m sure you can rent some rooms to some of your old prison mates who didn’t have the foresight to get in on the ground floor of this opportunity!
Hilary Clinton is leading the Democratic Party charge to restore voting rights to convicted felons. Added to the social parasites that make up the Democratic Party’s core base of votes, the addition of millions of ex-felon votes (in exchange for all manner of new programs and bribes from Uncle Sam, no doubt) would give the Democrats a permanant stranglehold on our political establishment. So your “houses for convicts” program may not be that far off.
America…what a country!
I don’t understand how being convicted of a felony takes away your right to vote. At least after your sentence has been served, full voting rights should be restored. That may not sound attractive, but it’s the only way a healthy open democracy can work. Voting is not a privilege, it’s a right.
An “open democracy” equals a mobocracy. When people discover they can vote themselves benefits that someone else has to pay for (as the welfare parasites and AARP geezers have already figured out), and unscrupulous politicians pander to their ilk to get elected, the productive sectors are squeezed tighter and tighter to pay for the increasingly bloated parasite class and the huge bureaucracy set up to service it.
People who commit felonies are, with few exceptions, people of limited intelligence and poor judgement. We have too many voting cretins already: we don’t need millions more.
at least she’ll have FREEE-er healthcare
roflow…………….
Let’s take it a step further, actually and “outsource” our prisons away from these “brick & mortar” institutions, and turn some of these empty McMansions into correctional facilities. Certainly many are remote enough from any major popualtion center or public transportation to be secure. Many of them have “turret style” towers and such that could be used for guard towers. I’m sure you could fit 40-50 prisoners in there if you divided it into 8X10 cells. Most already have gourmet kitchens that could accomodate the dietary needs of such a population.
Sammy, would you feel better if those ex-felons promised to only vote GOP and join a major corporation in screwing americans over? Hmmmm.
edit to add, let them become ex-felon Republican voters who work to help corporations find more ways to slurp at the public trough! Now that’s American!
Funny, I’m beginning to wonder if we are only supposed to be feeling sorry for Republicans getting screwed in the housing market here.
“An “open democracy” equals a mobocracy. ”
Wow. When was the last time people debated whether or not we should have a democracy? The American Revolution maybe? Or the women’s suffrage movement? Amazing! It’s like we thawed someone from the 16th century out and can ask him questions!
Sir, your views on slavery, if you please? Next, the divine right of kings.
I don’t understand how being convicted of a felony takes away your right to vote.
Just getting “acused” by some PMS’ing emotionally deranged female of domestic violence, will cost you your 2nd Amendment Right to own a firearm.
And nobody says boo.
BAAAAAAAAAAAAAA….Sheeple for shearing!!!!!!!!!
Knockwurst - This country was not founded on democracy. The idea of democracy basically started with Andrew Jackson, not the American Revolution. Original idea even then was that only landowners should be able to vote - a very reasonable stipulation. Democracy’s a pretty good idea in an extremely homogeneous culture or until the welfare state takes over.
I’m with Sammy S. on this one - not so much on the felon issue but, yeah, it we do have a mobocracy of voters. Voters should prove citizenship and show either income or property tax payments. If they can’t do that, then a poll tax, say $10. Everybody who votes should prove some stake in the system.
Sorry, still OT, but I’m still waiting for someone to explain why voting should be a privilege and not a right.
Because in a society in which has strayed so far from its Constitutional roots that the chief function of government has become transfer payments voters can steal the productive assets of a society, and therefore are subject to having their so-called right called into question.
Wow. I knew the housing bust was going to get ugly, but now we want to sacrifice democracy? Our leaders–specifically Dubya and Greenspan–who got us into this mess. But it’s the people who will have to get us out. (Thundering populist applause and whistles…)
I don’t understand how being convicted of a felony takes away your right to vote.
My understanding: This has roots from old Common Law England. You will sometimes see old sentences of “a year and a day”, which was the breakpoint between retaining several rights of Englishmen (? I think) and losing those rights. One of those landowner rights was being able to vote.
I’m search for a link to this, but I don’t have time at the moment.
As for modern day, the Hilary stuff is just nonsense. Fox news rots the brain, I doubt the govt would have inveigled the people into this stupid war without it.
“The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.”
-Thomas Jefferson
Right on!
Then I guess it has ceased to exist. Who is John Galt?
I thought we already had these?
(Guard gated communities …..)
Sammy, would you feel better if those ex-felons promised to only vote GOP and join a major corporation in screwing americans over? Hmmmm.
You clearly haven’t read too many of my posts. I despise the GOP only slightly less than the Democrats. The GOP has been hijacked by the neo-cons and the “monied interests” Thomas Jefferson told us to beware. I’d like to see a Republican Party that stands up for Main Street, not Wall Street.
My main point is, we won’t get a better government until we get a better class of voters. Only those who put more into the system in taxes than they take out in benefits (i.e. those who pay the bills) should have the privilege of deciding who should govern us.
Another major and very fair improvement in the voting system would be that government workers can’t vote due to the obvious conflict of interest. Fed workers can’t vote in Fed elections, state workers can’t vote in state elections, and local gov’t workers can’t vote in local elections.
Keep going.
If you have kids in school you can’t vote on bond issues. (Of course, it also follows that if you DON’T have kids in school you can’t vote on bond issues.)
If you frequently inhale air, you can’t vote on environmental issues.
Conflict of interest testing for voting? Kinda leads to the slippery slope, don’t ya think?
I don’t think people who live in the US should be allowed to vote on matters that concern them. They would be too shortsighted and think only for themselves. We should be governed by UN decree.
“After the Big House - YOUR House.” It has a nice ring, plus, to help with the mortgage payments, the owners can both sublet rooms and retrofit the basement into a crack lab.
Our leaders–specifically Dubya and Greenspan–who got us into this mess. But it’s the people who will have to get us out. (Thundering populist applause and whistles…)
Ah, yes. The sheep and lemmings who put imbeciles like Bush and slimeballs like Clinton into office, then took advantage of irresponsible government fiscal policies to take on insane levels of debt for things they couldn’t afford (houses, most notably) are going to “get us out of this mess”?
Bwhahahahahhaha! Please step away from the crack pipe.
Is knockwurst really that stupid? Any one who gives it much thought knows that democracy is a foul institution. Long live the republic!
The only way we can have truly good governance is to put somone with a higher calling in charge. Maybe a priest. Or an Imam, someone who prays a lot and knows what God’s will is for the rest of us. If that fails, then maybe an Atheistic social engineer. I’m sure the Communist Party of the People’s Repbublic of China could loan us a couple.
to right things” the councilman thinks he can rule the market- what a FOOL !
‘What the trend means is something that we don’t understand completely,’ said Councilman Joe Bustos.’
This guy should run for President!
At least one thing is certain- there is no national housing bubble!!
Everytime I read the details of X city/area it is the same details. Local yocal can’t understand why inventory is up %, sales down X % and prices flat to declining. Then the yocal pulls out the NAR handbook as the “reporter” asks a question and spews the same garbage.
You mean all the crap by the “experts” and intellectuals that
there is NO BUBBLE. Because:
1) All real-estate is local and NO national bubble is possible.
(fill in your rationalization here).
2) The actual costs of housing hasn’t really increased because the new loan products make it more “affordable”.
3)The demand is from Baby-boomers retiring, immigrants, both legal and illegal make demand continuous forever.
4) It’s just market FUNDAMENTALS….supply and demand.
5) Were running out of land.
6) Real Estate has been UNDERVALUED for years.
7) Jupiter is aligned with Mars.
Our local paper had an article on the housing bubble in northern Indiana. Home permits are down 49% comparing August 05 to August 06.
Bill,
I grew up in Indiana. I lived in Decatur and North Manchester. My parents are from Huntington and still reside in North Manchester.
There is a housing bubble in Indiana? I figured the “funny money” might make its way there to an extent but I couldn’t fathom any speculation. How fast have prices risen? I currently live in West Palm Beach, FL so I have seen my share (and then some) of speculation and suicide financing. Any info is appreciated as I a curious. Thanks.
You mean the mini mansion market on Lukens Lake has dried up? The equity vultures from Wabash and Warsaw must be in a panic.
and IN has the best price to income ratio in the country
hope IN goes right to work’ soon
that would help
Yeah, THAT would help… wages would fall, and your equity would fall further. “Right to work,” that’s the ticket!
Pragmatically speaking, I guess it’s this guy’s job to pump his town. And part of that is being evasive and playing ignorant about skyrocketing inventory and falling values. We’ll be seeing a lot more dumb comments like that from other elected townspeople across the country.
Opinions vary on why so many homes are for sale. Hall said, ‘we’re all going to have to be a little more creative’ in using nontraditional lending tools: having sellers pay the upfront mortgage points; loans that require only interest payments in the first few years; and having sellers or builders pay some of the interest for the first few years.”
Mr. Hall, attention, Mr. Hall. What do you think led to this crazy bubble to begin with? If these crappy things hadn’t been pushed by your industry, we wouldn’t be in this trouble. Care to rebuttal?
No, we’re all going to have to get real and learn to use time honored products such as a 30 year fixed mortgage and 20% down. Sellers will have to be creative to sell however, since the only money left on the table would be honest money, and honest money is a whole lot harder to come by.
Have y’all thought about what sales would look like if, starting today, ALL buyers were required to bring 20% to the table? I think we’d see a 95% drop in sales for a long time. Price drops would be ugly. But eventually people would remember that thing called saving money.
Would actually be a positive thing, to have buyers bring 20% to the table. Sellers would have to drop their prices to get a sale completed - and isn’t that our goal? Do any of us want to pay top dollar for a depreciating asset because the seller is either greedy or underwater or both?
It’s pissing me off that sellers think the correct price for their house should be what they owe plus profit - or at minimum, what they owe. What the market wil bear sounds foreign to them, but it is a fair way to buy and sell.
Yes TLM, I think about it ALL THE TIME.
I am positively obsessed with the idea.
A quick jab like that would quickly return the market to fundamentals and Americans would HAVE to start getting realistic about finances .
Once Americans got back to a dose of realism in that quarter, they’d start saving again. And be more concerned about planning for their futures.
Bernanke said a couple of times that “Americans have GOT to start saving again.” And Bush has been yammering about planning for your own retirement.
I don’t see how either of those things are ever going to take hold in the American psyche again without an abrupt cutting off of the “Who cares how much debt I’ve got” mentality.
Best way to do it: saving up for a 20% DP.
So what do we get instead? Downpayments on a credit card! Clearly, no one is concerned about getting this country on a sound track anymore.
I cannot wait to hear the Senate hearings next week on lending practises. That will tell us a lot about where our “leaders” are planning on taking us.
By the looks of the Senate “Housing Bubble and the Economy” hearings yesterday, things do NOT look good.
A lot of Senators came off like your local scum realtor with “Keep interest rates low! Help the stupid FB’s who bought into the ponzi scheme! Help the dumb Americans who can’t do math and took out a lousy loan! ” Don’t kill the golden goose that’s propping up and simultaneously STRANGLING this economy.
For some funny reason, even after reading this blog all summer, this particular story utterly and completely convinced me that this thing is going supernova right in front us. If even places like this, far from the acknowledged bubble areas, have seen a twofold increase in the number of homes for sale, then we are truly boned.
Everybody overbuild everywhere thinking baby boomers/cash from the coasts would be buying up the real estate . Builders thought they could get cheaper land in these places and just build and they will come . Builders also knew Lenders were putting marginal borrowers into property as well as the flippers .
You have similar over supply in almost all the cities in America . I have never seen anything like this .
Its hard for me to believe that the NAR/realtors/builders didn’t know what was happening ,but they just thought the party would go on for about 5 more years .They all got caught in a abrupt turn down with few buyers left .
In fact we are minus buyers because alot of buyers are going to lose their homes because they should not of been buyers to begin with .
I think this explains everything:
a href=”http://themessthatgreenspanmade.blogspot.com/2006/09/technology-driven-wealth-creation.html”>Technology-Driven Wealth Creation
Hey Ben!
Second try:
Technology-Driven Wealth Creation
What a bunch of crock. Who pays for these unbelievable studies? I guess this is how you protect someone’s legacy; rewrite history.
“Amy Campbell Kelly wishes she had listed her $315,000 home for sale in Snee Farm three months ago when the market was better. ‘Everything was selling like crazy,’ Kelly said.”
“Now, things are different.
From “It’s different here” to “Now, things are different.” I love it!
“….Real estate professionals are reluctant to call Louisville a buyer’s market, because they think the term suggests a decline in property values….”
Sure loved that “seller’s market” though didn’t they? If you were not sure who the ‘real estate professionals’ represented in a transaction, this attitude should clear that up.
‘Advantage losers’ just doesn’t have the same ring to it ……
It’s so depressing to drive that BMW while dressed to the nines - only to show a property whose value is falling.
Yeah, well they have to be ready for when the escort service beeps them that they have a “date”.
real estate professionals only represent one party in any transaction- themselves.
My experience has been they all represent the strongest link in the transaction. That’s what makes the deal happen.
As long as they are able to fulfill their fiduciary responsibility to their client on the surface, who is the wiser to what goes on behind closed doors. Now that we find ourselves in a climate of empowered buyers and ‘jealous bitter owners’, the potential for a deal happening is dramatically reduced. Hence, what works for agents in some markets is:
“Let’s just pretend that climate doesn’t exist here …..”
“As long as they are able to fulfill their fiduciary responsibility to their client on the surface, who is the wiser to what goes on behind closed doors.”
As I said, they only represent themselves. Anything said to them by either a buyer or seller is likely to make its way to the other side. Imagine a lawyer doing that? The lawyer would only do it once and then wouldn’t be a lawyer any more.
Man, are you naive….
I’m surprised to see this from Louisville, where I used to live. I didn’t realize they were selling so many homes there, but I check the median price every quarter. It hasn’t changed much. It was around 125-130K when I lived there 6 years ago, and I don’t think it ever hit 140.
Some friends there bought I big house in a new development for around 150 a few years ago. The same house in the DC suburbs would be in the 400-500 range.
Just because it remains cheap doesn’t mean the town doesn’t have a bubble . If a town gets to much of a over supply of homes it can push prices down because of the over supply . It can be bad if builders build the wrong kinds of home for the area also.
There are no homes in the DC suburbs available in thye 400-500 range. 500-600 will get you a 3br ranch. So, your buddy’s housing would be in the 800-1mil range in the DC suburbs.
I consider Odenton a DC suburb. I mean, I can get to DC in half an hour. There are some newer homes here, 2 story, 4 bed, garage, for around 500. Still too much. Should be around 250-300.
I’m patient.
“‘And they’re getting into them because lenders are doing everything they can to get people into the loan.’”
No problem here, the government and DO-gooders can step right in and pass ‘feel-good’ legislation: “Before you can buy a house you have to take a certified 6 week course on home buying and understanding loan documents, after which, should you default you are totally liable for the all costs.”
They actually had these mandatory seminars for first time buyers in Seattle.
Every single person I know who attended was given advice on how to qualify for more house than they had originally felt comfortable with.
They felt they had been given positively outrageous, suicidal financial advice and this was back in the late 90’s! God knows what they’re advising people to do now.
What a scam. They all walked away feeling used.
‘I think it’s a lending bubble. Lending is out of control. The way some people finance their homes is crazy,’ said Brad Rundbaken, a real estate appraiser.”
Duh Brad-Where’d you pick up that brilliant insight?
Reviews gettin’ a bit sticky?
Like maybe this all started about 2/3 years ago?
You finally gettin’ into the game?
Tell the world something important like how many deals did you trash this week by checking the declining value box and shortin’ the contract price.
Any number more than 1, and you better have some coin in the kittery to pay the bills until you can find another line of employment.
Ain’t bein’ an appraiser just great-LMFAO!!!!!!
The amazing thing is they ran his “lending bubble” pull quote big across the front page, above the fold. I almost had to buy it at the newsstand. The MSM is catching up.
Mt Pleasant, SC should not be a surprise. We visit my sister’s house down there a few times a years. Could not believe the prices and number of new houses. Dinky little houses with $500K asking prices - with a beautiful view of the rear loading dock of the Bi-Lo grocery store - YUCK!
Where is Mt Pleasant is it upstate or neer the coast ?
Mt. pleasant S.C. has more than doubled the amount of homes on the market in a year. “We don’t completely understand what the trend means”, said Councilman Joe Busto.
It’s okay Joe, you’ve got a lot of company out there. We don’t understand what it means in Bellingham, WA either.
The whole country is mystified.
Pretty soon we’ll all be sleepwalking, Barely conscious , if this keeps up.
This is in response to TLM’s question above, “does anybody ever think about what would happen if we returned to 20% downpayments”?
Yes TLM, I think about it ALL THE TIME.
I am positively obsessed with the idea.
A quick jab like that would quickly return the market to fundamentals and Americans would HAVE to start getting realistic about finances .
Once Americans got back to a dose of realism in that quarter, they’d start saving again. And be more concerned about planning for their futures.
Bernanke said a couple of times that “Americans have GOT to start saving again.” And Bush has been yammering about planning for your own retirement.
I don’t see how either of those things are ever going to take hold in the American psyche again without an abrupt cutting off of the “Who cares how much debt I’ve got” mentality.
Best way to do it: saving up for a 20% DP.
So what do we get instead? Downpayments on a credit card! Clearly, no one is concerned about getting this country on a sound track anymore.
I cannot wait to hear the Senate hearings next week on lending practises. That will tell us a lot about where our “leaders” are planning on taking us.
By the looks of the Senate “Housing Bubble and the Economy” hearings yesterday, things do NOT look good.
A lot of Senators came off like your local realtor with “Keep interest rates low! Help the stupid FB’s who bought into the ponzi scheme! Help the dumb Americans who can’t do math and took out a lousy loan! ” Don’t kill the golden goose that’s propping up and simultaneously STRANGLING this economy.
We were in Mt Pleasant last year and it’s a nice place but the building going on was crazy. Lots of really, really nice homes right on the beach. No clue on the prices as we were just sightseeing. Lots of digging up of the main road, I assume due to the hectic pace of construction. Probably still cheap down there compared to New England prices.