Angelina Singleton: Hilton Head Island Real Estate Market Overview, February 2015

There has been talk of abundant cold and snow this winter (unless you happen to
live in California!). When weather patterns turn bad, like wicked bad, real estate
industry pundits tend to go gloom, assuming that Americans hungry for
homeownership are bothered by a little frozen precipitation. The nation will unfreeze,
inventory is expected to rise and home sales are widely expected to increase. These
are good times, indeed, and many of us now have an enchanting shared experience
that we can walk uphill to school both ways.
New Listings were down 1.5 percent to 474. Pending Sales increased 9.5 percent to
323. Inventory shrank 5.6 percent to 2,300 units.
Prices moved higher as Median Sales Price was up 6.6 percent to $264,250. Days
on Market increased 8.2 percent to 119 days. Months Supply of Inventory was down
5.1 percent to 7.5 months, indicating that demand increased relative to supply.

In national financial news, rumors that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could one day
be a thing of the past have people wondering about the future of the 30-year fixedrate
mortgage. But let's not sound the alarm just yet. A drastic change to lending's
gold standard is certainly not on the immediate horizon. Meanwhile, Federal Reserve
Chair Janet Yellen seems to have no immediate interest in raising interest rates for
the first time since 2006. The economy remains stable, which should keep housing
rolling through the short-named months.