NEWS RELEASE

MarkeTech Information Services

Carolina Shores Publishing

PO Box 31

Charleston, SC 29402

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

John Milkereit 843-577-2777 or mprm@milkereit.net

Dennis Fassuliotis 843-971-1016 or dennisf@mtechpub.com

MAILING DATE: March 21, 2000

RESORT PROPERTY VALUES LIKELY TO GROW IN 2000, LIMITED LAND INVENTORY MAY DRIVE UP PRICES

Charleston, SC - The slowing of resort property sales in the fourth quarter of '99 may indicate that the rapid appreciation of resort property in the Charleston area may be leveling off at a conservative overall rate of eight to twelve percent growth this year. But, because of limited inventory of buildable lots in most beach areas, land prices could continue to jump by as much as 30 percent this year. These projections were included in the latest issue of the Investment Monitor, an independent news letter published quarterly by Dennis Fassuliotis. The report covers South Carolina's Kiawah, Seabrook and Wild Dunes (Isle of Palms) resorts, and this issue includes a year-end review of sales and prices for 1999.

Fassuliotis says that based on spending in '99, "prices for resort property are here to stay with volume edging out last year's (1998) record-setting pace by just over two percent" Compared to the same period a year ago, he says that activity in the fourth quarter showed that buyers paid over 65 percent more in sale prices for only one percent more units.

According to Fassuliotis, land prices could continue to increase by as much as 30 percent in the coming year. For example, he points to Kiawah Island's fourth quarter closings of $82 million. Fifty-one percent of that dollar volume was in land sales alone, that included 35 new lots released for sale for the first time.

With virtually no tracts of land remaining for development in the other resorts there were fewer lots to sell throughout the market and this supply shortage should continue. By comparison, land sales at Seabrook Island and Isle of Palms, combined, totaled $6.8 million for only 25 lots. "The shortage of available property for new home builders should put considerable upward pressure on land values over the next twelve months," he says.

Fassuliotis believes that the shortage of land inventory will influence the market overall in the coming year. "This should translate into, at least, a conservative growth rate of eight to twelve percent in prices for exiting homes and villas throughout 2000. While it is impossible to project a duplication of growth rates experienced the last three years, this shortage of lots for new construction could produce a fast rise and propel prices to increase by twenty to thirty percent above current averages," he writes.

The following charts show that prices continued to increase in the fourth quarter while volume in units sold declined.
CARI Fourth Quarter Total Volume (in millions) CARI Fourth Quarter Total Units
Resort
4Q99
4Q98
% Change
Resort
4Q99
4Q98
% Change
Kiawah
$82.2 $43 91
Kiawah
106 83 28
Seabrook
 $15 $15.5 -3.5
Seabrook
 49 66 -26
Isle of Palms
 $41.5 $25.2 68
Isle of Palms
 73 78 -5
CARI
$138.7 $83.8 65.6
CARI
228 227 .44
Fassuliotis heads MarkeTech Information Services located in Charleston, South Carolina. He can be reached by phone at (843) 971-1016, by E-mail at dennisf@mtechpub.com, and on the Internet at www.mtechpub.com. CARI (Charleston Area Resort Index) is a trademark of MarkeTech Information Services.

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Member: National Association of Real Estate Editors