Cameron Keegan - Greenville SC Realtor

In a Forbes article yesterday, they ranked the most afforable areas in the US to weather the economic downturn. They based their analysis on affordability, property taxes, and job growth.

Greenville County, SC ranked #5! They even used Main Street as their headline photo.

Just thought I would share that.

Source: http://www.forbes.com/2008/11/12/cheap-cities-affordable-forbeslife-cx_hc_1112realestate.html

____________________________
Cameron J. Keegan - Realtor
Prudential C. Dan Joyner Realtors
Mobile: 864.238.7109
Greenville SC Real Estate

In a recent ranking of "2008 Best Cities for Relocating Singles", Greenville actually ranked 21st, of the 100 metro areas in the rankings.

This ranking was based on a multitude of criteria ranging from population demographics to an adventure index.

Yet another positive story relating to the Greenville area, and why it continues to be a great place to consider when thinking about your next move.

See full article below, and click here for more Greenville SC Real Estate.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

WASHINGTON, Oct 30, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Relocation industry group Worldwide ERC(R) and Primacy Relocation today announced at ERC's Global Workforce Symposium that Boston/Quincy, MA; Nassau/Suffolk, NY; New Haven, CT; New York/White Plains/Wayne, NY/NJ; and Edison, NJ are 2008's Best Cities for Relocating Singles among U.S. metropolitan areas.

In this fifth and final annual survey, the two organizations once again partnered with Bert Sperling's BestPlaces to identify the cities with the most to offer relocating singles. Using statistical profiles of the largest 100 U.S. metro areas, the survey focused on the criteria most relevant to singles, with the rankings reflecting the ease of transition during a relocation.

Unlike other "best" surveys, the ERC/Primacy Best Cities for Relocating Singles survey measures the issues impacting a newcomer's experience in the weeks and months immediately following a transfer. This year's survey placed an increased emphasis on those economic factors most affecting singles, including an area's unemployment rate, percentage of recent job growth and availability of affordable rental housing. New data was also incorporated this year, measuring an area's arts and recreation opportunities and the overall population growth.

"Relocating to a city can be both exciting and overwhelming for an individual," said Michelle Vallejo, SCRP, GMS, Primacy's President, The Americas. "This survey identifies those factors that help ease the transition for singles, while helping HR professionals better predict the success rates of their employee transfers."

"It's well known that the success of a relocation is strongly reliant on the transferee's ability to assimilate into the new community and recreate his or her support, social, medical and lifestyle networks," said Cris Collie, CAE, Chief Executive Officer of Worldwide ERC. "Our newest 'Best Cities for Relocating Singles' survey provides substantive information for companies whose ranks of renters, a group largely comprised of singles, have been on the rise."

Statistics Used in Ranking the Best Cities for RelocatingSingles:
Population Criteria:
Local single population aged 25-34
Male-female ratios
Diversity and density

GrowthEconomic Criteria:
Cost of living index, rental rates and availability of rentalproperty
Job growth vs. unemployment rates
Higher education costs, including in-state and out-of-state tuitionrequirements

Quality-of-Life Criteria:
Adventure index
Prevalence of restaurants, bars, health clubs, sporting events andconcerts
Percentage of population utilizing online dating and subscribing to magazines geared towards singles
Annual rainfall, snowfall and high/low temperatures
Property and violent crime rates

Worldwide ERC is the membership association of choice for corporate and government relocation managers, real estate companies, goods movers, and a range of service firms and individuals from industries relocation-related workforce issues. Global workforce mobility trends information are at their site. ( http://www.erc.org/)

Sperling's BestPlaces puts facts about cities and living in the hands of the public, so they can make better decisions about best places to live, work, retire, play, or relocate.

Primacy Relocation is one of the top third-party employee relocation providers in the world, and is the largest to focus all technology and resources solely on relocation and global assignment (expatriate) management. Primacy administers programs for employers throughout the Americas, EMEA and Asia regions. Core services include home sales, destination services, household goods move management, and overall program administration. In addition to its Memphis headquarters, Primacy has offices in Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York, Omaha, Sacramento and Washington D.C. (Government Services), as well as Amsterdam, Basel, Geneva, Hong Kong, London, Montreal, Munich, Paris, Shanghai, Singapore and Zurich. Primacy is online, in nine languages, at primacy.com.

Source: Primacy Relocation and Worldwide ERC(R) Rank 2008 Best Cities for Relocating Singles(TM) - MarketWatch

With the dismal reports on the national news (and sometimes local), I thought I would shed some light on the state of our local market.

Did you know that the average sale price of an existing home is still rising in the Greater Greenville area? Surprising, I know, since everyone in the media makes it sound like the "real estate crisis" is national. In fact, Greenville had the 9th highest appreciation rate in the most recent price index by the National Association of Realtors. Better yet, The PMI Group Inc. (an organization responsible for identifying risk for lenders) released a report on October 1st, 2008 showing that the Greater Greenville area has "a less than 1% risk of decline in average sale price over the next 2 years."

Something else you might hear about all the time is the foreclosure crisis. Here's another reality that you may not hear on the news too often. According to RealtyTrac (the same organization where the news gets their info), Greenville has a rate of foreclosure 65% below the national average. Actually, in the list of the top 100 markets by population, Greenville ranked 88th for number of households in some stage of foreclosure.

Another term you may hear from time to time is "absorption rate" or "inventory". This has always been a reliable gauge of where a market is leaning (buyers market, sellers market, or neutral). The absorption rate is calculated by counting all of the properties currently on the market, and figuring out how long that inventory would take to sell based on the number of sales in the past. While the national average is approximately 11.5 months (indicating a strong buyer's market), the absorption rate in Greater Greenville is approximately 6.5 months (indicating a neutral market leaning toward the buyer).

One story currently all over the news, is that lenders have limited funds to give potential buyers. It is true that someone with a 570 credit score may have difficulty finding 100% financing nowadays. In markets where prices are on a downward slope, of course lenders have tighter funds, but in lower risk markets such as Greenville, the funds are still readily available.

I sincerely hope that this information helps. If you are looking to buy, interest rates are low, and prices are still rising. I recently realized that if I were to ask my financial advisor to "find me an investment that has averaged a 3.14% yearly gain over the past 5 years, with the ability to write the interest off my taxable income, not pay any taxes on gains up to $250,000 after 2 years, and has a less than 1% risk of decline for the next two years", he would laugh at me.

That's the reality of the Greenville market.

_________________________________________
Cameron Keegan is a Greenville SC Realtor with more than 5 years experience in helping buyers and sellers with their Greenville SC Real Estate needs.

Every quarter, The PMI Group Inc. releases their risk index, which basically measures the likelyhood of a decline in average home price over the next two years. The Fall 2008 Risk Index was released this morning.

Just thought I would post the fact that the Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson area continues to have a "less than 1% risk of decline in average sale price over the next 2 years."

Ever since I started checking this risk index, our market has held the same "minimal" rating for risk of decline. In fact, I have compiled more than 5 years worth of data from the Greenville MLS, which completely supports The PMI Group's risk index.

With all of the doom and gloom in the national media, I thought I would post this information here, since it contradicts most of what we hear, even on our local news.

Cameron Keegan
Prudential C. Dan Joyner
Greenville SC Real Estate

Source: http://media.corporate-ir.net/media_files/irol/63/63356/pmi_eret_fall08.pdf

I recently came across a report from Realtor.com that shows search trends in various markets around the United States. This data compares searches in July 2008 to July 2007. It is pretty interesting that consumers are searching significantly more in the markets that have been publicized as being in crisis. For instance, Stockton, CA has consistently ranked very high in depreciation rate, but 140.9% more people were searching for homes in Stockton, CA in July 2008 compared to July 2007. Las Vegas showed a similar trend, with a 93.9% increase in search activity on Realtor.com.

Greenville, which has consistently ranked high in appreciation on various reports ranging from the OFHEO Home Price Index to the National Association of Realtors index, also ranked fairly well in search activity on Realtor.com. In fact, 12.2% more searches were performed for Greenville/Spartanburg/Anderson in July 2008 compared to July 2007.

Any increase in search activity is welcomed, and justified. After all, Greenville had the 4th highest appreciation rate in the US, according to the 2nd quarter OFHEO Home Price Index.

Source: http://marketing.realtor.com/julysearch/

________________________________
Cameron J. Keegan - Realtor
Prudential C. Dan Joyner Realtors
http://www.GreenvilleMOVES.com