In my opinion.. No, it hasn't even gotten close to bottoming in the Charleston area.

Evidently, thinking it wasn't susceptable to a downturn in the real estate market, the Charleston/Mt Pleasant market didn't even begin to start cutting prices until very recently, long after other areas in the country had begun foreclosures and slashing prices realizing how bad the situation was. So, in my opinion, it still has a long ways to go and it's going to get a lot worse in the next few years. The tourist industry (a precursor for your area) has already shown a significant downturn. Visitors are potential buyers. The job scene is about nil in the area, so you're not getting an influx of relocating employees. Which leaves the retirement people, who have to be able to sell their homes in this downturned market and rely on their investment savings (also gone south). So who's going to buy?

The lower end market is about the only source of activity and a lot of that is due to the $8k tax credit and simply the affordability of homes in the $200k range. The condo market has been stale and having problems several years ago and it's only getting worse.

The mid and upper end market is simply delusional. I see the same houses over and over that have been on the market for over a year. They all have the same cookie cutter floor plan, nothing spectacular to set them apart and most all of them on situated on postage size lots with little to no privacy. Most of the $400k+ houses would be in the lower-to- mid 200K range inland. When I see a house I like, it's usually in the $800k+ range. Far, far beyond what we could sell our similar house on acreage with large oak trees for. And no trees, all house with no privacy whatsoever.

We've been researching the area for 5 yrs. Meanwhile our property has lost value. And we're not about to "sink" our savings into a falling market.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/32773345

Not only my thoughts on the matter.