Goose Creek the newest hot housing market

As a one-time securities broker, Brad Rundbaken applies certain principals acquired while trading stocks, such as tracking ups and downs by sector, in his online Charleston Market Report on real estate trends. So while Rundbaken, who also was in the appraisal business, is bearish on Greater Charleston as a whole, he sees bright spots.

"Even though the overall Charleston residential real estate market is in a higher risk status right now, that does not mean certain areas are not performing well," he wrote in his report for April.

An example? Mount Pleasant compared with Goose Creek. A few years ago, East Cooper was sizzling and Goose Creek was lukewarm. How times have changed.

Housing prices in Goose Creek have appreciated 12.3 percent since last year, he said, and the market has only 2.9 months worth of inventory — the time it would take at normal sales trends to unload all homes for sale. By contrast, Mount Pleasant has 10 months worth of inventory and an appreciation rate of 3 percent since last year, he said.

"I would consider Goose Creek a favored sector and Mount Pleasant an unfavored sector of the local real estate market. This was not the case about three years ago hence you can see the analogy of market rotation and a change in trend," he said.

Strong foundation

This eight-year-old company is not exactly a household name, even in its hometown. But Ladson-based Jessco Homes got some national exposure in May, when Professional Builder magazine named the business among the Top 400 builders in the nation.

Jessco, which placed 394th, was the only Charleston area company on the list and one of six in South Carolina. During a down year in real estate nationwide, Jessco had its best year, selling more than 150 homes.

Jeff Stall started the venture in 1998 after quick success with a few houses he built for rent. Jessco, which stands for Jesus and company, has more than 50 employees and is building in six communities.

Home and garage

Not so long ago, the garage was the place to store stuff, usually in a cluttered fashion that made it hard to even park a car there. But garage redesign has caught on. In 2006, homeowners spent $2.5 billion on remodeling existing garages, up from less than $1 billion a decade ago, according to Phoenix-based PremierGarage.

The company, which calls itself North America's largest provider of garage enhancements, has partnered with national homebuilder Pulte Homes, so that Premier Garage would do the work for Pulte homebuyers who want dream garages.

Jeff and Michelle Banfield run a PremierGarage showroom at 2635 North Okatie Highway in Ridgeland. "Pulte Homes has an enviable reputation in the home-building industry just as PremierGarage does in the garage enhancement industry," Jeff Banfield said.

"There's no better time for a homeowner to get their garage organized than when they move into a new home," said Russell Wyatt, vice president of homeowner services for Pulte Homes.