Hilton Head Home Prices On The Rise!

Posted by Rick Turner on October 5th, 2012

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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Hilton Head on the Rise

Posted by Rick Turner on September 28th, 2012

The market statistics for the first half of 2012 are in, and according to the South Carolina Association of Realtors, home sales in Hilton Head are up 23.1%. This is a continuation of a three-year trend for the region making Hilton Head the hottest market in South Carolina. 

What’s more, home sales here have reached their highest level in the past 7 years, even outstripping the 2006 pre-recession year. This chart compares home sales in the first six months of each year listed, and it’s easy to see how Hilton Head properties are really on the move.

 If you’ve ever thought about purchasing in the Hilton Head area, this may be the best time ever to jump into the market. Visit our website to find properties of interest, and email me or give us a call at (843)…

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When the Prophet Says Buy. BUY!

Posted by Rick Turner on February 2nd, 2012

John R. Talbott, previously a Goldman Sachs investment banker, is a bestselling author and economic consultant. When it comes to the housing market he is also a prophet. When housing prices started to skyrocket in 2003, he published The Coming Crash in the Housing Market, correctly warning us that a real estate bubble was forming. Then in January 2006, he called the abolute peak of home prices in the US by releasing a new book, Sell Now! The End of the Housing Bubble.

Mr. Talbott, the person who accurately predicted the housing bubble and its bust, now has a new prediction - IT IS THE TIME TO BUY A HOME! In a recent article, Homes - Buy Now!, Talbott simply explains:

"I have been waiting for more than five years to offer this advice. It is now time…

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HILTON HEAD ISLAND-BLUFFTON REAL ESTATE - #1 IN SOUTH CAROLINA

Posted by Rick Turner on December 12th, 2011

The latest stats are in. Through November the Hilton Head Island-Bluffton area is again the #1 real estate market in South Carolina. And it has been #1 for 21 straight months.  

According to the South Carolina Association of Realtors, the number of our real estate transactions is up 8.2% over last year, which is twice the increase of the #2 market, Charleston. In fact, sales in the Hilton Head area are at the highest level in five years.

One of the axioms in real estate is, "All real estate is local," which means that each real estate market in America is unique. Some markets are cold. Some cool. Some holding steady. Some warm. Some warmer. [None are hot right now.] The Hilton Head area is the "warmest" market in South Carolina and one of the "warmest"…

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BE THE FIRST TO KNOW WHEN FORECLOSURES COME ON THE MARKET

Posted by Rick Turner on August 20th, 2011

Starting today home buyers have a new tool in their toolbox as they search for the area’s best buys: www.HiltonHeadBankOwnedHomes.com. This website created by our team here at Rick Turner and Associates provides home buyers with up-to-the-minute listings of all bank-owned, foreclosed homes, villas and lots presently on the market … as well as all short sale listings.

And better yet, you can choose to be immediately notified by email each time a new bank-owned foreclosure or short sale comes on the market!

Because the number of properties sold in the Hilton Head area is at a five year high, there are presently only 193 bank-owned homes, villas and lots left for sale, which is down to only 4.6% of the existing listings. The supply of distressed properties…

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MONEY'S NEVER BEEN CHEAPER

Posted by Rick Turner on May 11th, 2011

Amazingly 30-year fixed rate mortgages on Hilton Head Island and Bluffton, South Carolina, have been hovering around 4.8%. Our local rates track with the national averages. The chart above displays the historic proportion of today’s rock bottom interest rates with graphic clarity. MIND-BLOWING. The interest rates of the last 16 months are below all previous records tracked by Freddie Mac. Mortgage money has never been “cheaper” at a time when home prices couldn’t be more attractive.

These history-making low rates combined with an almost unprecedented drop in home values have made the monthly cost of owning a home today, according to the National Association of Realtors, the lowest since records began in 1970.

And there is no place for current…

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HILTON HEAD/BLUFFTON REAL ESTATE SALES SOAR 26% TO HIGHEST LEVEL IN 3 YEARS!

Posted by Rick Turner on November 18th, 2010

While real estate in much of the country languished, sales in the Hilton Head Island and Bluffton MLS have surged above 2008 and 2009 levels for 10 months straight. Through October 2010 total sales surpassed 2009 by 26%.

Further evidence of this "charged up" market is that Beaufort County, home to Hilton Head Island and Bluffton, was the hottest market in South Carolina for the 10th straight month as well.

Last In, First Out

For decades local Realtors have observed that the Hilton Head area is the "last one to go into a recession and the first one out." The data above certainly supports this observation. A National Association of Realtors truism is "all real estate is local". What's true in Chicago, NYC, Las Vegas or Atlanta is not necessarily true…

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FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER SOUTH CAROLINA BESTS FLORIDA AND ARIZONA

Posted by Rick Turner on September 23rd, 2010

For the 1st time in the history of tracking Baby Boomer's preferences, the Carolinas have become the #1 retirement destination of Boomers, according to newly released “2010 Baby Boomer Survey” conducted by Del Webb, America’s largest builder of active adult communities.

Though Florida and Arizona remain top contenders, the Carolinas have emerged as the preferred destination for retirement. Both younger and older Baby Boomers ranked either South or North Carolina first as their favored location in retirement – with the other Carolina ranking as their second choice.

There is a huge wave coming. This year in America there are 3300 people per day turning 65. Next year the Boomer Wave triples this number: 10,000 people per day turning 65! If you can beat…

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HOW MANY TIMES DO YOU GET A SECOND CHANCE IN LIFE?

Posted by Rick Turner on August 30th, 2010

While you were vacationing in Hilton Head so many of you passed through our Gateway Real Estate offices in recent years disappointed you did not purchase something earlier or discovering you had been priced out of the real estate market because of increasing prices. How many times did you say ... “If I would have known, I could have bought, I should have done it then.”Would-a! Could-a! Should-a!

Now is your chance again!

We are being revisited by so many fortunate people who are discovering that the recession has given them a second chance at buying that dream property at prices not seen since the 1990's. In fact, our real estate is selling here faster than in any other area of South Carolina, up over 40% from last year. Many have realized there…

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HAS THE HILTON HEAD ISLAND REAL ESTATE MARKET STABLIZED?

Posted by Rick Turner on May 1st, 2010

The numbers are in. The results in the Hilton Head area MLS show that real estate sales in the first quarter of 2010 have increased 59% over the first quarter of 2009. In the first quarter of 2009 there were 366 real estate purchases versus 583 in the first quarter of 2010.

A huge indicator of market stabilization is the chart below, showing that since June 2009 the Hilton Head MLS has averaged over 200 transactions per month. The market bottomed out in November 2008 through March 2009 where the sales pace averaged just over 100 transactions per month.

The Hilton Head area MLS encompasses the following areas in southeastern South Carolina: Hilton Head Island, Daufuskie Island, Bluffton, Okatie, Hardeeville, Beaufort, Beaufort County and Jasper County.

…

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