Foreclosures in Greenville
Looking back over 2010, it appears that Greenville foreclosures and distressed properties has become a significant part of the real estate market, yet are well below what is going on nationally. The local statistics are somewhat difficult to track, but based on data from the Greenville Real Estate Board, GGAR, I have arrived at some percentages that seem fairly accurate. For 2010, foreclosed properties sold were about 15% of the total transactions, and came in with a median price of $78,000. Nationally, foreclosures are about 25-30% of all transactions which puts Greenville County at about ½ the national rate. Short sales are pre-foreclosures sold for less than what is owed on the note and subject to bank approval-they represent about 3.5% of the all transactions in the GGAR data. Nationally, short sales were running about 7% of total sales, which puts Greenville in about ½ in that category as well. I expect foreclosures to increase in the Greenville market over the next year, but it will probably not reach the kind of market saturation you see on the national level. If you have any questions about the foreclosure market in Greenville, please
Old Greer Hospital Bought
The old Allen Bennett Hospital, which has been sitting vacant in the center of Greer for a year, has been purchased with the intention of turning it into an assisted care facility. Cardinal Real Estate Group will convert the hospital building into 167 assisted living units with 32 of them set up for Alzheimer’s care and 25 reserved for disabled veterans. Seven detached cottages will be built off the back for independent living. The former nursing center will become a call center for the Center for Disease Control and Prevention plus provide office space for area relief agencies. About 150 jobs are expected to be created.
The building has been serving the community since 1952 and is a bit of a landmark on Wade Hampton Blvd.; locals are pleased to see that it won’t be torn down and can continue to support those in need.
Lake Conestee gets Audubon Recognition
For bird watchers, Lake Conestee Nature Park is a real delight and not far from urban hustle bustle. The Audubon Society has brought some additional recognition to the area by declaring it an Audubon Important Bird Area (IBA), one of 18 in South Carolina. Lake Conestee is the winter home of the Rusty Blackbird, which has seen a serious decline in population over the past 30 years. But after their journey south from the breeding grounds of the Arctic Circle, you can still see large flocks of these musical birds foraging at our local lake. Better check them out now, they may be headed for extinction.
First Electric Bus Rolls off the Line
Only a few months after electric bus maker Proterra set up shop in Greenville, the first bus is already off the line. The new EcoRide BE35 model came out last December and is on its way for testing by the Federal Transit Administration in University Park, PA. When their final assembly plant is finished at CU-ICAR, Proterra expects to produce about 80 of the super efficient, fast-charging buses in 2011. Other models that are currently being used in California run up to three hours on a single battery charge and take only ten minutes to recharge. The company expects to develop a large overseas market for electric buses because foreign countries generally have about 20 times the amount of public transportation as the United States.
Current Weather
We’ve still got a few small piles of snow around after the winter storm that shut down Greenville last week, but things should warm up and make it history soon. Expect highs this week in the 50s and lows in the upper 30s with some rain at times.
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