SC: RiverHouse Bucks The Tide With Recent Sales Surge

GEORGETOWN, SC – September 7, 2008 – While the U.S. real estate market is by all accounts mired in the mud of slumping new home sales and the many challenges faced by both subprime and even mainstream lenders, one waterfront community on the South Carolina coast is bucking the tide with strong summer sales of home sites just south of the state’s third-oldest town. RiverHouse, a new gated residential community tucked away along the pristine shoreline of Turkey Creek near Georgetown has seen strong demand for its single-family home building sites since sales began in June.

“Considering the marketplace conditions that have existed for nearly two years now, we know conventional wisdom would have led most developers to delay planning and infrastructure work on a new community the size of RiverHouse,” commented Jason Luquire, managing partner. “While we have certainly made some adjustments in terms of phasing the project and limiting our available inventory of home sites, we steadfastly believed that we could still offer a compelling value to today’s savvy buyers given our spectacular wooded setting along inland lakes, expansive marshes and our riverfront building sites with private docks. With sales of home sites exceeding $1 million in just a few weeks time, we are certainly glad we forged ahead,” he said.

Adding to the positive momentum at RiverHouse was the announcement in late July that the community was named one of the country’s “2008 Top Amenity Communities” by Ideal Living Magazine (www.ideal-living.com). RiverHouse was recognized by the publication for its environmentally responsible master plan that protects vital marshland and woodland habitats, its extensive list of community amenities including a River Kitchen, boat docks and storage, community pool, hiking trails and much more, and its architectural guidelines based on traditional Low Country designs and finishes.

While those factors were all a big plus for Mike and Deni Karpowich, one of the first buyers to secure a home site at RiverHouse, the convenient location just 10 minutes from Georgetown’s historic waterfront, 30 minutes from Myrtle Beach and 45 minutes from Charleston – combined with the Carolina’s best prices and land values for a waterfront community –made buying at RiverHouse an easy decision. “My wife and I were amazed to discover such tranquility and beauty just minutes from Highway 17 yet a world away from the big city and hustle and bustle of Myrtle Beach,” said Mike.    “Best of all, we can be in downtown Georgetown by boat in about the same amount of time it takes us to drive, and we have direct access to Winyah Bay, the Intracoastal Waterway and open Atlantic as well.”

RiverHouse is clearly off to a strong start. With roads and utilities already under construction for the first 172 home sites, Luquire hopes to stretch the community’s early success into 2009 and beyond. “There is no telling when the tide will finally turn for the real estate market nationwide, but we are fortunate to be located in what we consider to be South Carolina’s final frontier for affordable waterfront community living. Even in tough times, buyers know a good value when they see one, and every indication is that we have exactly what many of them are looking for,” he said.

RiverHouse is a master-planned gated residential community offering waterfront, water view, lakefront and wooded home sites just south of historic Georgetown, SC.   Prices start well below $100,000. For more information call 1-877-577-4411, go to www.riverhousesc.com, or visit the sales office at 815A Front Street in Georgetown, SC.