By Katy Stech, The Post and Courier, Charleston, S.C.

July 13--The Charleston area's real estate market crested on a wave of tax incentive-supported home sales last month, pushing activity past the national market as the popular incentive winds down.

Home sales during June hit 1,022 transactions, the first time that sales crossed the 1,000-home threshold in nearly three years, according to the Charleston Trident Association of Realtors. A federal tax credit worth up to $8,000 combined with record-low interest rates and thousands of available properties to send sales surging, local experts said.

Falling prices also encouraged buyers during uncertain economic times: The typical home sold for $185,612 during June, a decline from a $192,626 median price from June 2009, the association said.

The region's real estate market growth has outpaced the rest of the country. Homes sold in the Charleston area so far this year topped last year's year-to-date sales by 31 percent, while national sales increased by about 16 percent. The association also includes in its data a few properties outside of but adjacent to the tri-county area.

"I think there's an American spirit of optimism in Charleston, and we have every reason to have it," said Kay Kennerty of AgentOwned Realty Co. in Mount Pleasant, citing the region's quality of life and economic development opportunities.

Most tax-credit home sales were expected to close by June 30, a deadline that later was extended by Congress. But with any temporary perk -- whether for cars or energy-efficient appliances -- the tax credit's gradual close comes with unnerving worries about whether the market will be able to continue recovering without it.

"Our hope is that is that the drop-off won't be dramatic and (that the tax credit) built legs on the market that could keep it going," said Jeremy Willits, a commercial real estate agent and president of the Charleston Trident Association of Realtors.

Beth Tavel of Carolina One Real Estate praised the credit but said she was surprised at the home-buying that continued after the tax credit's April 30 deadline.

"The tax credit helped to encourage people and give them some excitement to get out there, but we had as many -- if not more -- sales that weren't tax credit-related," she said. "Right after it expired, we still saw a good bit of activity."

National figures, however, hint at a possible slowdown. The most recent monthly pending home-sales index from the National Association of Realtors, which measures homes that have found a buyer but have yet to close, shows that the level of signed contracts dropped 30 percent.

Charleston's association couldn't provide a reliable local figure for pending or contingent sales because some real estate agents don't switch a listing's status before a property is sold.

Federal lawmakers introduced the program, which started in January 2009, offering an $8,000 tax credit to first-time buyers.

As the credit's original deadline of Nov. 30 approached, they extended it through April and expanded it to offer $6,500 to some existing homeowners.

The slowdown could mean that home sales for the year fall to the same level recorded in 2008 and 2009, according to an estimate by Carolina One real estate agent Doug Holmes.

"With the tax credit now gone, it's hard to imagine us selling more than 9,000 homes this year," he said in an e-mail, noting that 2008 and 2009 recorded about 8,800 and 8,100 homes sales, respectively.

He said one of the region's largest market challenges remains the daunting number of homes for sale, which sends prices spiralling as homeowners compete for a buyer. The association's figures showed 9,869 properties were listed for sale as of Monday.

Reach Katy Stech at 937-5549 or kstech@postandcourier.com.

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