2014 RBC Heritage Television and Radio Information

This weekend on Hilton Head Island, we will be celebrating both Easter and Heritage on Sunday.  We have listed below two sunrise Easter services and the television channels, schedules, links to the leader boards, websites and XM radio for the RBC Heritage 2014 on Hilton Head Island:

You can also tune into XM Satellite Radio – Channel 93 or 208 Thursday – Sunday for Heritage Updates or check out the PGA live leader board.

Easter Sunrise Services – Sunday April 20, 2014

The national housing market is dealing with an issue of supply and demand right now and it’s impacting both buyers and sellers.

Specifically, the national housing market has too few people selling their homes compared with the number of people who want to buy homes, according to a recent report from Standard & Poor’s/Case Shiller.

This is consequently driving home prices up, which in some cases is making available homes for sale unaffordable to buyers.

It’s certainly a unique situation and one that both home buyers and home sellers are going to need to learn how to navigate in the coming months.

Recent National Housing Market Activity Explained

Here’s what we know based on the recent Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller 20-city index:

• Last year saw a 13.4 percent jump in the average price of a home sold.
• Average prices nationally are expected to increase by single digits this year.
• The gains are expected to be the strongest in those cities with strong job growth, including Seattle and Austin.
• Meanwhile, lenders are beginning to ease barriers for those with less-than-ideal credit, meaning that these home buyers could find it easier to qualify for a mortgage and buy a home.
• Currently there are about five months worth of homes on the market, compared with 5.9 months in 2012 and 8.3 months in 2011.
• Part of the explanation of low housing inventory is the fact that about 19 percent of home owners remain underwater on their mortgages, which may deter some sellers from listing because their sales price may be less than what they owe.
• And an additional 37 percent are “effectively underwater,” which means that their sale would not be enough to cover the cost of listing their home as well as putting a down payment on a new home.
• But luckily, warmer weather, job growth and a more robust economy are expected to help encourage more home owners to list their properties this spring.

Experts also believe that the rise in home prices will help the problem correct itself. After all, as sales prices continue to rise, it will lure more home owners to list their properties.

This in turn could lead to more listings, which might ease the bidding wars among buyers and help lower sales prices to make them more affordable.

And That’s Paramount to First-Time Home Buyers

After all, this segment of the market really fuels market growth and promotes overall market health.

But right now, these first-time home buyers are buying fewer homes because of lack of affordability. For instance, they purchased 1.5 million homes in 2013, which is about 500,000 fewer than they would have typically, on average.

Still, that situation appears to be improving as well, albeit slowly. For instance, about 738,000 people ages 25 to 34-year-old found jobs in the past year, meaning they will have more disposable income and financial power to buy their own home

Add to that the fact that mortgage companies have eased their lending standards slightly to reach a larger audience and you have the right conditions for a greater housing market recovery.

Keeping An Eye on the National Housing Market for You!

We hope you found the above information helpful as a home buyer or home seller. We definitely believe that one of the surefire ways to have a successful outcome on the local housing market is to stay informed about what’s going on at the national level.

Check back again here soon for further updates. For now, we hope you have a great day!

Sometimes property owners are faced with the question, “Do I sell or rent my home?”  The answer depends  upon the current real estate market, home equity, (The difference between market value and mortgage value on    the home) and the property owner’s goals or circumstances. Read the rest of this entry

April represents spring beautifully on Hilton Head.  Not only is the Island busting out right now in bloom, but the temperatures are floating in the high 70’s, cool and fresh.  Some of Hilton Head’s biggest outdoor events are celebrated in April including the RBC Heritage, Easter Sunrise Beach Service, Historic walk/talks, farmers markets, Art Markets, Easter Eggstravaganza, Gregg Russell under the Liberty Oak, Mitchelville 5K, Reggae Run, Tour the Nina & Pinta, Salty Dog Easter Egg Hunt, and Hilton Head Air Days.

Come Celebrate Spring and April on Hilton Head

We have some great places for you to stay on Hilton Head Island including Oceanfront Resorts, luxury homes and villas.  Just let us know your travel dates via email and we will introduce you to Hilton Head beauty.  Thank  you.

If you’re currently trying to sell your property in the Hilton Head Area, great news: it’s about to get very, very busy for you and I.  That’s because national real estate experts are projecting that this spring will see even more home buying activity than is already expected for this time of year. Read the rest of this entry

Great News...about the Hilton Head Area.  We have put together a list of recent awards and accolades with links to these articles.  It is our hope that these will inspire you to make a trip or send an  inquiry to us or your REALTOR about the great properties and awesome place we live in.  138 properties sold since March 1st just on the Island and we will try to save you a seat!  Read the rest of this entry

Spring officially begins when the first azalea blooms on Hilton Head Island.  Not only does Spring in the Low Country give great reason for celebration, it offers some wonderful festivals on and off the Island.  We celebrate spring in the following ways:

Read the rest of this entry

Corelogic just released some exciting news from the national housing market: Home prices are back on the rise!

The real estate data provider reported that home prices increased 0.9 percent in January after falling 0.1 percent in December.

And this is indicative of a larger trend, Corelogic reported. After all, over the last 12 months, prices have actually risen a total of 12 percent, which is the biggest year-over-year gain in over eight years!

Home sellers are sure to be encouraged by this recent development because it means that they have a better chance of getting the price they want for their property.

Housing Market Gaining Strength, According to Recent Data

Here’s an overview of recent activity on the national housing market:

• Although home prices increased, total home sales actually dropped in January. The National Association of Realtors reported that sales dropped to their lowest level in 18 months.
• However, the total number of available homes for sale remained low, which is why experts believe prices increased, at least in part.
• The average rate on a 30-year mortgage showed a 1 percent year-over-year increase, which means that home buying costs are a little higher.
• Meanwhile, builders started working on 16 percent fewer homes in January when compared to December. That marks the second straight month for decline.
• Despite recent increases, national home prices are still 17 percent lower than when they were at the peak of the housing market bubble in April 2006.
• In three states (Louisiana, Nebraska and Texas), prices have set highs. Meanwhile, in 19 additional states, prices are within 10 percent of their peaks.
• Those states with the largest year-over-year price gains in January were: Nevada (up 22.2 percent), California (up 20.3 percent), Oregon (up 14.3 percent), Michigan (up 13.7 percent) and Georgia (up 13.4 percent).
• Mississippi was the only state to show declines in home prices.

Homes With Negative Equity are Decreasing

Also recently, Core Logic reported that a total of 4 million U.S. homes returned to positive equity in 2013.

This means that the total number of mortgaged residential properties in the country is now at 42.7 million!

Meanwhile, roughly 6.5 million homes (or about 13.3 percent of all mortgaged homes in the country), still had negative equity by the end of 2013.

The decrease in homes with negative equity is another piece of good news for home sellers because it means that home prices throughout the community will be on the rise!  And that is sure to affect the price they can get for their own property.

Your One-Stop Shop for National Real Estate News

Check back to our website on April 1 for more pertinent national real estate news that affects you.

After all, one of the keys to ensuring a successful outcome on the local housing market is to enter it as an informed and prepared buyer or seller.