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The Post and Courier Oct 25, 2005
A home worth seven figures is by no means a
one-in-a-million property, at least not in Charleston County.
More like one in 25.
While scarce in Dorchester and Berkeley counties, more than
3,500 homes in Charleston County have a value of at least $1
million. That's 4 percent of all homes on the tax books. And
that's just what they're assessed at -- many others will sell
for a million or more.
Three homes are valued in the eight figures, and another 50
are pegged between $5 million and $10 million, figures show.
In one sense, this comes as no surprise. The number of
homes selling for $1 million or more has climbed steadily in
recent years.
Ten years ago, only two home sales broke that mark. Today,
owners of 391 homes have their homes on the market for at
least $1 million in Berkeley, Charleston and Dorchester
counties.
Increasingly, homes in unexpected places are passing the
million- dollar mark.
Consider Inez Brabham, who with her husband bought and
remodeled a five-bedroom West Ashley home three
decades ago and raised six children there. She never
considered it to be more than a simple, comfortable house.
Now, the county says it's worth a million bucks.
"I never think of it in terms of what its value is,"
Brabham said. "I certainly didn't ever think of it being in a
$1 million category."
Her home isn't in a historic district. It's not on the
beaches or anyplace else where one might expect to find a very
expensive home. It's on South Edgewater Drive in a quiet
subdivision between Savannah Highway and the Stono River.
'Oh my God'
While hundreds of these expensive homes are found in
Charleston's historic district, they're even more common on
the beaches.
Kiawah Island and the Isle of Palms each have more million-
dollar homes than the entire city of Charleston, including its
historic district and suburbs.
Pam Harrington, who has worked in Kiawah real estate since
1978, said she remembers when an oceanfront lot there sold for
$60,000. She said the staggering rise in home values began
after the Ryder Cup was held on Kiawah's Ocean Course in 1991.
In 1990, the island had a record sale when the home at 30
Surfsong Ave. sold for $1.7 million. Today, it's difficult to
find a home there for less than $1 million.
"The house you purchase under $1 million is probably going
to be on a no-view lot a good distance from the beach and
amenities people want," she said. "It probably will be an
older home, built in the 1980s and in need of some upgrading."
While homeowners there are building wealth, in a way, the
steep increase in values also carries another price. High
values mean high tax and insurance bills, and some older
homeowners have been forced to sell, Harrington said.
"I feel so sorry for some of these folks. It's gotten
beyond them," Harrington said. "They came here with their
heart and soul. They loved it. They loved Kiawah and to see it
grow beyond them is difficult."
Sandy Stone is president of Island Realty on the Isle of
Palms, where more homes are currently for sale for more than
$1 million (43) than for less than that (37).
"It's a real psychological, 'Oh my God. How much higher can
it go?'" Stone said. "It's a shock, absolutely, but if you
move around the rest of the country and talk to other people,
we're not close. There are a lot bigger markets than us with
bigger numbers."
Stone started working in the local real estate market in
1978 and his goal back then was to sell $1 million worth of
property in a year.
"We kind of turned the corner in 2000 and all of a sudden,
everything was $1 million," he said. "I guess the next
benchmark, the next heart attack goal, is $10 million. It's
out there."
The county's four most valuable homes are all on Kiawah,
topped by the $17.8 million home owned by businessman Robert
McNair, who also owns the Houston Texans NFL football team.
The fifth most expensive home, at $9.7 million, is 32 Legare
St. in downtown Charleston -- also known as the Sword Gate
home.
The million-dollar home trend has been slower to catch on
in Berkeley and Dorchester counties. While both have seen a
few $1 million-plus sales, the two counties' tax books only
value seven homes in seven figures -- and all of them are on
Daniel Island.
Dorchester has seen four homes sell for more than $1
million, but the recent reassessment didn't value any homes
that high, partly because values were dated to Dec. 31, 2003,
Assessor Greg Thacker said.
"I expect after the next reassessment we will have several
million homes, but not at this time," he said.
While the vast majority of million-dollar homes are found
on the barrier islands, some can be found in just about every
cranny of Charleston County.
Assessors' figures show there are four in McClellanville,
five in Rockville and 17 on Edisto Island. The James Island
Public Service District has 77.
More to come?
Not surprisingly, as homes rise so high in value, so does
the tendency to fight the county over their taxable value.
Charleston County Assessor Mike Huggins said of the
approximately 3,600 homes valued at $1 million or more, the
owners of 588 -- or about 15 percent -- have filed an appeal.
That's three times the appeal rate for all properties.
"Typically, the upper end, as a percentage, you have more
appeals," he said.
That's because more expensive homes often are more
challenging to place a value on and because the higher the
appraisal, the more dollars are at stake on the owner's tax
bill.
And that's not all they're challenging.
Much of the grass-roots support for reforming property
taxes comes from neighborhoods in downtown Charleston and the
surrounding islands, where home prices, reassessment figures
and tax bills have climbed hand in hand.
If current real estate trends continue, expect several
thousand more $1 million-plus homes during the next
reassessment in four or five years.
Charleston County has almost 3,000 homes, townhouses and
condos currently valued between $750,000 and $1 million.
"I wouldn't be surprised to see the number double again in
the next reassessment," Huggins said.
"We're starting to see more and more investment-type
properties moving inland," he said. "I wouldn't be surprised
to see the number (of $1 million-plus homes) double again in
the next reassessment."
Stone said as long as the Lowcountry's economy continues to
hum, anything's possible.
"Nationally, we're still a good deal, even at $10 million,"
Stone said. "I've heard it said that Charleston is just fixing
to break loose. It hasn't happened yet."
David Munday and Yvonne Wenger contributed to this report.
Contact Robert Behre at 937-5771 or rbehre@postandcourier.com.
Contact David Slade at 937-5552 or dslade@postandcourier.com.
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