Some call them “secondary cities” but to those who’ve invested in real estate there, locations such as Charleston, Isle of Palms and Mount Pleasant SC are anything but first-rate locations. This is the point that’s driven home in an Oct. 27, 2017 article from Mansion Global, a Dow Jones & Company publication that focuses on high-end real estate and buyers who have their eye on the world’s best markets for business and pleasure. According to the article, those researching real estate sales in U.S. regions that haven’t been overdeveloped should turn their eyes to the south. That’s because, as Mansion Global points out, the price of admission is lower in Charleston or Mount Pleasant compared to say, New York City. Therein lies the hook; it’s time to look past Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles if we want to find prime real estate in strong or emerging markets with well-established healthcare, educational and commercial markets.
As the article outlines, a “secondary city” is one with a population well under 3 million residents but remains in the crosshairs of real estate companies due to their influx of new residents. Charleston, which has added approximately 100 residents per day in recent years, has a population of about 134,000 people. While Mount Pleasant SC is called home by far fewer than that (approximately 84,000 as of 2016), its proximity to one of South Carolina’s hottest cities will likely boost its reputation among luxury real estate and business-minded investors.
“What happened is that real estate investors and developers came out of the financial crisis and looked to those big gateway markets because of their relative safety,” Mitch Roschelle, a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers, told Mansion Global. “But now, as time has passed and those cities have gotten crowded, they’re saying, ‘where’s the safe place to be where not everyone else is?’”
If you care about scenic settings, infrastructure and quality homes, then Mount Pleasant SC is the place to be. This town that’s a mere 20-minute drive from downtown Charleston is also known as the “pleasant side of the river.” Founded in 1860 and now the fifth-largest city in South Carolina, Mount Pleasant SC was recognized in 2006 as one of Money magazine’s top 100 places to live. For those exploring oceanfront property in the South Carolina region, there are plenty of places on the market in Mount Pleasant with asking prices hovering around the mid-$400,000 mark. If you’re interested in obtaining advice regarding real estate sales in the Mount Pleasant or Charleston region, we advise readers to trust local real estate services companies who can offer a thorough knowledge of the towns they cover and local clients they’ve since turned into year-round residents.