All Blog Entries by Rick Turner

We sensed that sales were booming but had no idea how much. A little digging into MLS archives revealed the extent of the boom. In the first two months of 2013 the Hilton Head Area MLS, which includes Bluffton, Okatie and Beaufort, recorded 329 home sales, more than any January/February since MLS has been keeping computer records.

Obviously, this is beginning to push prices up, so if you are interested in the Hilton Head Area, please call us to take advantage of still super low prices and the banks, who are still "giving" money away at under 4%. For more details about our real estate market go to www.HiltonHeadMarketInfo.com.

If you want to own in this area, this spring may literally be the best time EVER to purchase! Go to our MLS search

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Hilton Head area home prices are on the rise! If you are going to buy here, now may be your best opportunity ever ... before prices rise further.  See chart below.

Hilton Head area real estate sales - best in seven years!

Another way to ascertain the vitality of a real estate market is the pace of sales. According to data from the Hilton Head area MLS that pace in 2012 was the best in seven years, even topping the pre-recession year of 2006! This rapid increase in the number of property sales is the primary factor behind the above referenced boost in prices. For more details about our real estate market go to www.HiltonHeadMarketInfo.com.

 

 

Thanksgiving is a time to reflect on the many things we are thankful for, and there were a lot of home sellers out there that were thankful that their Hilton Head Island home sold the week of Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving week is typically a good week for buyers looking to buy homes, villas/condos and lots in the Hilton Head Island area. This year was a blow-away year for buyers with sales up 42% over last year. Last year during Thanksgiving week they "gobbled" up 37 properties for $9.5M. This year the week produced 53 sales for a total of $13.3M.

The Hilton Head Island area real estate market has been the best in the state for three years running with sales in 2012 so far at a seven year high.

Thanksgiving may be over but the market is still

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We have seen mortgage interest rates reach historically low levels and with 2013 quickly approaching, it leaves us wondering where rates in the Hilton Head Island area are headed. No one knows better where rates could be headed than the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) who deals with this on a daily basis. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) is the national association representing the real estate finance industry, an industry that employs more than 280,000 people in virtually every community in the country. A recent article in Market Watch had this to say:

“After reaching record lows in 2012, mortgage rates are expected to creep up slowly in the year ahead, the Mortgage Bankers Association predicted.

Rates on the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage

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The Housing market in the Hilton Head Island area is surging. Not only is the real estate market as a whole surging in the Hilton Head area, so also are luxury home sales. The number of homes sold for over $1M are up from 87 sold in the first 10 months of 2011,to 99 in 2012, which is a 14% increase. Here are the specifics.

 

2011      

o   87 homes sold for total of $149.8M

o   69 homes in the $1M’s

o   12 homes in the $2M’s

o   2 in the $3M’s

o   2 in the $4M’s

o   2 over $5M

 

2012     

o    99 homes sold for total of $177.9M

o   75 homes in the $1M’s

o   13 homes in the $2M’s

o   6 in the $3M’s

o   3 in the $4M’s

o   2 over $5M

Even more compelling for the luxury home buyer is that the average…

 

 

 

Baby Boomers represent the largest generation in the history of America. A few years ago a Fortune Magazine article reported there were 77 million Boomers in the country, which is three times any previous generation in history.

History shows us that any time the Baby Boomer generation entered a new phase in life, the
US economy changed to accommodate their massive numbers. They have controlled the economy since their boom started in 1946.

The Fortune article touched on how Baby Boomers are now stampeding at a rapid pace toward their retirement years and will be doing lots of buying, just as they have done when they entered past phases.

Now that Baby Boomers are entering the retirement phase, where are they going? A recent

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The recession has created an opportunity for home buyers today, to own a home at less than half of what they would have paid six years ago. That’s a real estate sale of unprecedented historic proportions! A home that would have sold for $800,000 six years ago, is today selling for right around $488,000.

Six years ago, the interest rate on your 80% loan would have been approximately 6.34%, but the interest rate today, on that same home on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage is running 3.85% and even lower at times.

See the chart above.  Your monthly payment on your home that you bought six years ago for $800,000 would have cost you $3,978 a month. TODAY, as a result of drastically decreased home prices and historically low mortgage rates, you would

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If there was ever a time to buy real estate, especially in the Hilton Head Island area, now would be it. Home prices have dropped by an unprecedented 35- 40% as a result of the recession, a greater drop than even during the Great Depression. This one fact alone may make this the best time in the history of the United States to buy a home.

But, now add into your thinking that mortgage interest rates are at historic lows.

Freddie Mac has been keeping records of mortgage interest rates in America since 1971. As seen in the chart above, never in those 41 years have rates been this low. It’s almost like FREE MONEY!

This combination of rates not seen in most of our lifetimes and a shocking decrease in home prices has created the total

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WOW! In the first three quarters of this year 1712 homes have sold in the Hilton Head Island area, and the year is not over yet. This number is 9% higher than in the pre-recession year of 2006 and 10% more than the number sold in 2011. There are a couple of reasons for seeing these types of numbers in sales.

 

Historically Hilton Head is the last market to experience recession and the first to come out of it. We could credit this to the fact that the area is not only a premier vacation destination; it’s also one of the top retirement destinations in the country. Evidence of this comes from the South Carolina Association of Realtors. For three years now they have reported that the Hilton Head Island area has been the hottest real estate market in the

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Hilton Head area median home prices were on a decline since the recession began in 2006, but in the first half of 2011 these prices hit their low point. Now, in the first half of 2012, home sales are on the rise, and median home prices have increased 1.3%. See the chart below:

Pundits sometimes ask, "How do you know when you've reached the bottom of the market?” The answer is, “When you see it in your rear view mirror." We can now see the bottom in our rear view mirror.

This fall literally may be the best time EVER to purchase a home in the Hilton Head area... before prices rise even further. Visit our website to find properties of interest, and email me or give us call at (843) 816-0796 with your questions, or to schedule an appointment. Rick

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