Collins Group Realty 2009 Year End Newsletter

STATE OF THE MARKET

Toll Free: 800-823-7516 Chip Collins Owner & Broker-in-Charge

2009 vs. 2008 Home Sales Sales Volume: While 2009 started out even less vibrant than 2008 (which was no banner year itself), a “rally” in the last two quarters has put production back on track to essentially match that of 2008. In particular, activity in October and November has been substantially above the same months in 2008, suggesting that more buyers are becoming active in a year-round marketplace.

Average Sales Prices: The average sales price of a home in Hilton Head dropped from $869,323 in 2008 to $723,106 in 2009 (a 16%+ decline), while the average sales price of a home in Bluffton dropped from $318,032 in 2008 to $279,573 in 2009 – or roughly a 12% decline in average values. Average villa values dropped most significantly, falling from an average sales price of $401,554 in 2008 to $268,065 in 2009 – a whopping 33% decline!

For more detailed information on the market performance of any particular segment of our area, please email or call us anytime. We will be glad to do the research and provide you with a valuable market update anytime!

Collins Group Realty – A Successful 2009!

What’s Selling: In 2008, the percentage of home sales on the Island under $500,000 was 28%, and that number has jumped to 46% in 2009, demonstrating that buyers are focused on lower-priced properties AND that MORE properties fall into that price category than in 2008. For properties priced between $500,000 and $1 Million, the percentage of sales dropped from 49% in 2008 to 37% in 2009…and the price category of over $1 Million accounted for only 16% of total home sales on the Island in 2009. Similar trends established Greater Bluffton where the percentage of sales under $200,000 went from 35% in 2008 to 42%

in 2009, while the other price categories all showed a smaller percentage in 2009 vs. 2008.

I might summarize our marketplace in a single word: Soupy - There’s a little bit of everything all mixed in!

From the increasing presence of short-sales and foreclosures to the nice jump in ocean/waterfront sales to the disappointing lack of homesite sales, there are stories of success, failure and everything in between in our current marketplace. It has become increasingly difficult to predict when sales will occur, which homes will sell right away vs. which ones will sit, whether a qualified purchaser will actually GET his/ her loan, etc.

In all, though, our market is ANYTHING but boring, and at Collins Group Realty, we are very proud to be beating the odds. We have outperformed the market in our increase in number of sales (up 40%), our increase in our volume of sales (up 10%), and our increase in overall market-share (up 30%) – and we give our THANKS TO YOU for your continued support and business!

In 2010, we hope we can earn the opportunity to serve YOU AND YOUR REFERRALS with your real estate needs in buying or selling property in the greater Hilton Head Island/Bluffton marketplace. We are available everyday and around the clock, so PLEASE CALL ON US ANYTIME. We look forward to serving you!

From all of us, have a VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR!

www.CollinsGroupRealty.com

In Greater Bluffton: 843-837-6700 On Hilton Head Island: 843-341-6300

Andrea Albright Buyer Specialist

Serena Crisan Buyer Specialist

Ann Eden Buyer Specialist

Joan Weaver Buyer Specialist

Holiday Food Drive A Collins Group Realty holiday tradition continued on Saturday, November 21st with our annual Food Collection! This year’s drive took place in the communities off of Spanish Wells Road on Hilton Head Island and was a huge success!

Carl Girth

2009 STATE OF THE TEAM UPDATE Collins Group Realty is not only alive and well…but we have had a very successful and exciting year! Increasing our sales performance by over 40% from 2008 is the icing on the cake of rewarding accomplishments we have had this year:

with our clients has created some terrific new communication avenues, such as our company blog, our company Facebook page, our monthly market pulse report, our weekly pending-sales report among others.

 Our move in the Spring to our new

has perpetuated our annual food and toy drives, earned us the Hilton Head Association of Realtors President’s Cup Award, and even prompted us to invest in fresh wrapgraphics so that our Community Vehicle (15’ box truck) shines as it serves so many local charities, churches, non-profits, and annual events.

office location on Hwy 278 has increased our exposure while creating a very convenient operation-base for our Island-wide business.

Bluffton Specialist

 Our launch of an all-new user-friendly Bill Weis Bluffton Specialist

Carrie Collins Client Care Coordinator

The team collected nearly 700 pieces of non-perishable food items to benefit local charity The Deep Well Project!

Kent Collins Business Development Manager

Holiday Toy Drive Gail Bonnett Closings Manager

Kimberly King

The team also just completed our second annual toy drive benefiting Bluffton Self Help! Held on Saturday, December 12th, we were able to collect a multitude of toys for children of our less fortunate neighbors.

Listings Manager

Ollie Wingfield Office Manager

Much thanks to the wonderful residents of Fern Lakes, Lake Linden, Pinecrest and Martin’s Place for their generosity and help in bringing some holiday cheer to local children who might otherwise have to go without.

real estate website has proven to be very effective in “creating conversations” with literally 1,000’s of new buyer and seller prospects.

 Our

focus on education has landed us a series of new designations, which better enable us to serve a wide and robust base of clients.

 Our commitment to quality staffing and enhanced resources has provided us with the foundation for a service platform that clients consistently rate as “Excellent”.

 Our team-structure has strengthened and supported our sales agents with ideasharing that enables us to anticipate and overcome obstacles in each unique transaction.

 Our investment in technology has launched a whole new level of informationbased services by our Group, such as our weekly video Q&A series.

 Our genuine desire to stay connected

 Our interest in community involvement

 Our family-style Group environment has allowed us to support one another through a variety of personal events, successes, and challenges, reminding us what makes Collins Group Realty so special to US on a daily basis.

In all, we’ve got no complaints. We have great hope and promise for what we will accomplish in 2010, and we are more grateful than ever before for the continued business, support and referrals that YOU provide us. I am so very, very proud of the Group’s commitment to putting each client’s goals, happiness and success FIRST, for I know that this attitude and outlook alone is what guarantees that Collins Group Realty will continue to grow and thrive regardless of market conditions.

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Team Designations Our long-standing commitment to continuing education continued in 2009! In late July Chip, along with Buyer Specialists Ann Eden and Joan Weaver attended the annual StarPower Conference in Denver.

The three-day event featured over one hundred twenty five presentations by founder Howard Brinton and other top producers and industry experts. As usual, the team came back energized and with some wonderful ideas.

A Decade of Sales in the New Century tified Distressed Property Expert (CDPE).

The course focused on assisting the increasing number of homeowners affected by short sales and foreclosures, and provided attendees with the tools they need to streamline their distress-sale procedures.

Chip is now the most successful local Realtor to achieve the CDPE designation!

cludes training on how to negotiate with lenders, protect buyers, limit risk, and offers resources to help stay current on both national and state-specific information on the distressed property market.

Andrea also just completed courses to become to an Accredited Buyers Representative (ABR), also from the National AssoAlong those same lines, Buyer Specialists ciation of Realtors.

Andrea Albright, Ann Eden and Serena Crisan earned Short Sale and Foreclosure Meanwhile, we are happy to announce Resource certification from the National that Chip earned his designation as a Cer- Association of Realtors. The program in-

Increased Online Presence This past year also saw the launch of our new and improved website… www.CollinsGroupRealty.com! The site presents potential buyers the opportunity to search the entire Hilton Head Island MLS for property using exclusive “Power Search” Technology and provides clients with custom tailored up-to-date information. The user-friendly site also offers individualized, self-managed accounts and expanded information on all listings, mortgage information, and market statistics.

Visitors can sign up for our e-newsletter, ask to be connected with a local mortgage

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broker, learn more about local plantations/ neighborhoods and much, much more!

The re-designed site also features our newly expanded blog at http://blog.collinsgrouprealty.com.

Featuring a great mix of real estate, local, national and team news as well as market stats, Lowcountry events and more, the blog is a great resource for locals and visitors alike. Check it out and let us know what you think!

Awards

Did you know that as a past client of Collins Group Realty you are eligible to use our 15’ box truck for free, for life? Perfect for local moves, transportation of items to storage and more, the truck has been freshly wrapped with new graphics and is looking really sharp! If you’d like to reserve the truck, please call us at 800-8237516 or email our office manager Ollie at Ollie@CollinsGroupRealty.com.

During the past year, we are very proud to have been awarded the Hilton Head Association of Realtors (HHAOR) President’s Cup Award! This annual award is presented in recognition of the stand-out company that participates most significantly in the HHAOR through service, time, support, and more.

We’ve been working hard in 2009 to improve our “tools of the trade”!

become more involved with social networking and have joined the countless ranks of Facebook users. We’d love for you to become a Fan of our page...simply search for Collins Group Realty on www.facebook.com!

2000: 2001: 2002: 2003:

$646,051,956 $553,082,860 $710,463,579 $795,933,946

2004:$1,079,365,160 2005:$1,536,320,662 2006:$1,097,018,425 2007:$1,008,001,456

2008: $715,566,634 2009: $594,533,523

2005 was clearly a banner year for the total amount of real estate moved in the marketplace, nearly tripling the volume of sales just 4 years prior in 2001! Sales volume this year is back to 2001-2002 levels. It is also worth noting that so many new products were made available in the 2003, 2004, and 2005, feeding a high demand for a wide variety of properties and price-points and putting Bluffton on the map as one of the fastest growing areas in our region.

2000: 2001: 2002: 2003:

852 William Hilton Parkway (Hwy 278)

$622,540 $561,949 $604,711 $697,808

2004: 2005: 2006: 2007:

$737,331 $775,947 $797,643 $848,899

2008: $729,255 2009: $559,616

In 2005, we reached the “uncle point” – the point in time when buyers and sellers alike concluded that it wasn’t reasonable for values to escalate year-over-year so aggressively. This caused sellers to be more motivated to sell, and buyers less enthusiastic to buy. However, just like turning around an ocean-liner, the shift doesn’t happen over night – it takes time. Accordingly, there was a lag time when highly-appreciated property still sold into 2006 and even 2007, resulting in a continued climb in “average” sales prices. The drop-off, however, occurred much more rapidly and severely as 2008 and 2009 demonstrated. At this time, on average, prices are back to 2000-2001 levels. For buyers who didn’t get involved in the market 10 years ago, this might be that rare second-chance to hop on-board before prices begin to escalate once again!

Average Home Sales Price/List Price Ratio (1st 11 months of each year): 2000: 95.40% 2001: 92.87% 2002: 94.14% 2003: 96.50%

New Office

After seven years in our office at 105 Professional Building, we happily moved to a new location in April! We are now doing business from the Savannah Bank building on Hwy 278 between Hargray and Ronnie’s Bakery! With a more convenient location and an abundance of well-planned workspace, we have settled in nicely and love giving tours. Stop by if you’re in the Usually presented to larger firms, CGR is neighborhood! one of the few boutique, independent real estate firms to have been bestowed with this honor!

We are also delighted to share that our office manager, Ollie Wingfield, was presented with the Outstanding Sales Assistant Award from the Hilton Head Island Multiple Listing Service!

Total Volume of Home Sales (1 st 11 months of each year):

Average Price of Homes Sold (1st 11 months of each year):

We’ve also recently begun posting informative and property-related videos on YouTube. We’ve got some great media up During the past few months we’ve also at www.youtube.com/collinsgrouprealty.

Community Vehicle

Somehow, year after year, it always seems hard to believe how fast time “flies”. And now, here we are actually wrapping up the first decade of the “new” century, so it only seemed appropriate to look back at the sales statistics for the past ten years in the greater Hilton Head Island marketplace.

2004: 95.57% 2005: 95.74% 2006: 94.58% 2007: 93.86%

2008: 92.44% 2009: 91.90%

With the highest-spread from list price to sales price this decade, 2009 has proven to be a year where it is difficult to accurately say what a property may be worth. Buyers have become more brazen in making “low-ball” offers in their zeal to secure a great buy, while agents and appraisers are left with a much smaller base of comparables from which to estimate market value for new listings. With the substantial increase of short-sales and foreclosures mixed into the inventory, seller motivation to capture a ready, willing and able buyer has resulted in a greater level of price-flexibility, on average, when it comes to negotiating a deal.

Number of Closed Home Sales/Number of New Listings/Percentage of Turnover (1st 11 months of each year): 2000: 2001: 2002: 2003:

1,340 / 2,002 / 67% 1,161 / 2,339 / 50% 1,382 / 1,644 / 84% 1,458 / 1,658 / 88%

2004: 2005: 2006: 2007:

1,984 / 2,339 / 85% 2,397 / 3,215 / 74% 1,829 / 3,707 / 49% 1,727 / 5,002 / 35%

2008: 1,427 / 4,767 / 29% 2009: 1,392 / 3,998 / 35%

The “peak” is pretty easy to spot in this series of statistics with 2005 dominating the chart for the number of individual home sales this decade. However, as a percentage of new listings that came on the market during the same period, 2003 and 2004 were very impressive years of sales. Since the peak of unit-sales in 2005, the inventory has been steadily growing to the record-breaking level we find it at today.