Welcome to the Collins Group Realty October Market Update | Hilton Head Real Estate

Last Updated November 23rd, 2010

Happy Thanksgiving!

Have fun and be safe as you enjoy family and friends this special time of year! We all have many things to be grateful for, and we certainly are grateful for having the opportunity to offer information and professional services to all of our real estate clients!

Welcome to this month’s Collins Group Realty Market Pulse. This has really evolved into a comprehensive tracking tool for understanding the trending in the Hilton Head Island/Bluffton real estate marketplace, and we hope you enjoy (and benefit from) it!

BEFORE YOU VIEW THE STATS, PLEASE TAKE ONE MINUTE TO READ THIS ANALOGY and consider how it relates to real estate market shifts. Consider an oceanliner boat making a turn – it is a slow process and the bow makes the turn before the stern, which sort of swings around ultimately in the same direction as the bow. The bow represents market activity, namely the volume of sales. The stern represents price trending. Since the bow precedes the stern in the turn, likewise price trending follows (and is steered by) the volume of sales. In 2005, the bow started to turn, with the volume of sales starting to drop off; however, prices still climbed (the stern still drifting in the initial direction before ultimately swinging around). It wasn’t until 2006-2007 when we ultimately saw the stern (price trending) fully move in the opposite direction. Fast forward now to October-November 2010, and you will see that the bow is starting to turn yet again (quite thankfully!). As evidence of this, you will see that the volume of sales is up nearly 20% from this time last year and that the inventory has started to level off and even drop a little bit. Of course, the same rules apply as they did in the 2005 turn of the “ship” but just in the other direction…so, we can expect that prices may not level off completely right away – the stern needs time to swing around. BUT (BUT!), the ship IS in its turn…and those who are watching will understand that NOW is the time to make a move on a purchase, because once the stern swings around, pricing will begin their trend upward.

Enjoy the stats…and let us know what questions or comments we can address – at anytime!

Best-

Chip Collins
Owner/Broker-in-Charge
Collins Group Realty