Collins Group Realty
www.CollinsGroupRealty.com
A Decade of Sales in the New Century 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. Total Volume of Home Sales (1st 11 months of each year): 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.
Average Price of Homes Sold (1st 11 months of each year): 2000: 2001: 2002: 2003:
$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%
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 (1 st 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.