It was another good year for Hilton Head area home sales

Following similar footsteps from 2013, real estate sales in the Hilton Head area for the past year fared well. While not a boom year, 2014 was another solid recovery year.
Last year, home prices posted modest gains, that's two consecutive years of increased property prices, a very positive real estate trend.
The median sale price of area properties for the 12-months period of 2014 increased by 2.3 percent. For the same period, the average sales price increased by 2 percent.
The percent of list price received was 95.4, the same for the past two years. In some plantations and developments, a number of offers came in at the full asking price.
Last year's inventory of homes for sale improved from the year before, up nearly 10 percent. This increase represent a movement from 'not many homes to choose from' to a market approaching normalcy.

Other measures of real estate market activity (e.g., pending sales, and days on market) did not experience major fluctuations.
There were some ups and some downs from 2013 to 2014, which strongly suggested market stabilization, which is a precursor to growing market values.
Interest rates also affect real estate sales. Fortunately, the rates continued to remain low for the entire year, and they are still very attractive.
Two other pluses for Hilton Head and Bluffton areas are our "coastal attractiveness" and the fact that this is a great place to retire, which helps keep the areas economy very strong.
As a matter of fact, Beaufort County continues to be one of the fastest growing counties in the US, with more people, organizations and business moving here on an ongoing basis.
After long 5 years (2007-2011) of depressed real estate sales and declining property values, it's great to see the housing pendulum beginning to move in the right direction.
No one know for sure what will happen with Hilton Head real estate in 2015. However, based upon the past three years of positive market statistics and January's current sales activity, things are looking bright.
Sellers seem confident, out-of-state buyer calls are increasing, and many agents, including me, are busy showing properties.