If the last 12 months were the “new normal”, the next six months will be deemed “getting back to normal”. With the rapid rise in mortgage rates, the residential real estate market is catching its breath a bit. Metro Charleston is still seeing inventory levels below the pre-pandemic era, but agents and buyers alike welcome more inventory and a typical purchase process which includes inspections, due diligence periods, the ability to negotiate closing dates, etc. Sellers too are more attuned to real market pricing; especially as lending costs increase.
The luxury market continues to be driven predominantly by cash purchases not only from within the robust local economy, but also from major migration markets in the Northeast, Chicago area, and the West Coast which continue to create demand.
According to Charles Sullivan, one of the founding partners of Carriage Properties, “the biggest change we have seen in the last 90 days is buyers refocusing strongly on homes that have been more recently updated. Up until late spring, buyers were seeking every type of home.” He adds that “we still see continued supply chain and skilled labor issues for residential contractors. That’s the main reason buyers are pulling back from properties requiring significant updates due to time and cost factors.”
2022 will surely be a record year for Carriage and its agents, already closing nearly $300M in the last 12 months, boasting the highest average sale of any of the top 20 metro firms. “Teamwork is certainly the key to success in today’s market,” adds Olin Chamberlain, another of the firm’s founding partners alongside Sullivan. In addition to our local connections, “our longstanding affiliation with Luxury Portfolio International has helped us achieve this goal through their vast global network,” says the managing partners of Carriage Properties.
Founded in 2002 by Charles Sullivan, Olin Chamberlain, Judy Tarleton, Melinda Laurens, and Lynn Hanlin, Carriage Properties has established a formidable niche in the luxury market, not only in the downtown historic district, but also in the affluent communities east and west of the Charleston Peninsula. “We have clients who move back and forth between Charleston, West Ashley, Sullivans Island, and Mount Pleasant,” Tarleton points out. “Our agents have lived and worked in all of those neighborhoods for years, with very strong ties to those luxury markets.”
The team adds that experience in the real estate industry and the Charleston market will be extremely important as markets normalize for buyers and sellers. “Markets always adjust,” says Melinda Laurens, with over 40 years of luxury experience. “We are so lucky to be in this growing market here in Charleston.”
“We are a close-knit team of 26 agents here at Carriage Properties, constantly working together to solve problems and create solutions to benefit our clients and their goals,” says Laurens.
