By many accounts, the nation is in the midst of a real estate slowdown.

Second quarter prices show the greatest deceleration in three decades, according to a federal oversight group. Yet in the same time, the Charleston-North Charleston market jumped 16.42 percent year-to-year and ranked 47th out of 275 metro areas.

Separately, Market Opportunity Research Enterprises reported a 12.2 percent increase in average home sale prices this spring from a year ago. And a Charlotte researcher said rental activity is picking up in the area with more than 3,500 apartments planned or under construction.

That's not to say Dorchester, Berkeley and Charleston counties haven't seen housing sluggishness, with homes remaining on the market longer and sales declining a little. But price figures are encouraging.

The federal rates come from the Office of Housing Enterprise Oversight and are based on the percentage change in a specific time. Charleston-North Charleston ranked between two Florida areas, Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville at 46th and Fort Walton Beach-Crestview-Destin at 48th.

In the second quarter, prices rose 3.87 percent in the Charleston area. That would mean a $200,000 home would be worth $207,740 after 90 days.

Just missing the Top 10 was Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach, soaring 23.84 percent between June 2005 and June 2006 to place 11th.

The Charleston area report from Rocky Mount, N.C.-based Market Opportunity Research Enterprises showed the average new or resold home price at $314,005 in June, up from $279,976 the same period a year earlier. The median, or midpoint, price rose 9.2 percent to $206,948 from $189,450 a year before. Sales dropped by 1.7 percent to 6,727 in the second quarter from 6,846 in the same period of 2005. Spurring the decline was a 4 percent dip in sales of existing homes.

New home sales actually inched up 5 percent. Sales of single-family homes increased, but condo and townhome sales volume dropped in the quarter. Lot sales dropped 9 percent, while lot prices fell 34 percent.

Home sales surged 14 percent in Berkeley County and dipped .4 percent in Dorchester County. They slid 7 percent in Charleston County, which comprises 57 percent of the market. Berkeley County also showed a healthy 16 percent boost in average home prices to $224,658 from $193,535 a year ago, while the average prices eased up 12 percent in Dorchester County to $202,098 in the second quarter from $180,540. The Charleston County average was $388,819, up 14 percent from a year ago.

In rentals, Summerville is considered the hot spot with eight developments, said Real Data Apartment Market Research in Charlotte. In all 556 new units came on the market as of March, but 654 units were converted to condos. The vacancy rate eased up to 7.6 percent as of August from 7.4 percent six months earlier.

"The combination of new supply entering the market and current demand patterns suggest that vacancy rates will increase over the next year and could rise above 9 percent," said Alan Brady, multifamily analyst at Real Data.

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