Hilton Head Island was wrapped in a shroud of fog several days ago. Cold ocean water from the rapture of the deep moved by upwelling met warmer air from our landmass, creating fog. Shortly after, a blanket of pollen that looked like gold dust covered the island.
While temperatures in colder climes plunged into the teens, single digits or below, our island temps were often in the balmy 60’s and low 70’s with beautiful sun-filled days. The weather complimented a variety of events, not the least of which was the vast, changing salt marshes which were transforming, the changes in mud and grasses mostly unnoticed by the human eye. Early nest builders like the Bald Eagle gathered the breaking brown cord grass, gathering stalks for their nests. Occasionally, according to local master naturalist, Captain Patte Ranney, large white pelicans (related to our more common Brown Pelican) stop in our area while migrating this time of year from the Gulf to Canada. Normally they fly high overhead and are not observed at all. Consider it one of nature’s gifts if you ever see them.
A Lowcountry native, I never especially noticed the rust-colored marshes in the fall. One year an artist came to Hilton Head to paint some representational paintings for a local gallery. Among his work were a few rust-colored marsh scenes touched with umber. Now when I see rust and umber colored marsh I think of the artist, Harvey Kidder. Artists teach us about the world we live in; art informs the spirit. Hilton Head has long been an artist’s paradise. One of the largest membership groups on the island is the Art League of Hilton Head. I was involved in the group early on and served on the board for 16 years. Most of the artists I’ve met over time tend to be not only creative but interesting and gentle people.
Among the many art galleries on the island is the highly regarded Red Piano Gallery, co-owned (Morris-Whiteside) by Jack Morris, the former director of the Greenville County Museum which has one of the finest collections of Andrew Wyeth paintings in the United States. At one time a former owner of the gallery, Louanne LaRoche, featured the works of the famous Seattle-based glass artist Dale Chihuly, who has been designated a National Living Treasure. His work is in museums and collections all over the world. One of his fascinating installations took place in Venice, Italy. It consisted of 14 temporarily mounted enormous chandeliers over the canals and in the palazzos. It was a thrill to see his work here.
The annual Hilton Head Island Wine & Food Festival, fashioned after a popular wine special event founded by the Wall Street Journal, was held toward the end of January. The non-profit’s proceeds from a Silent Auction benefited educational opportunities for students in the Hospitality Management study programs at the University of South Carolina Beaufort and the Technical College of the Lowcountry. This effort is also supported through the John F. and Valarie Curry scholarship Fund.
Another popular event was the Lowcountry Soup Challenge, held at the elegant Westin Hilton Head Island Resort & Spa. Numerous restaurants were involved (we have over 200 restaurants). The Challenge helps fund the island’s non-profit Volunteer’s in Medicine, a free health clinic. First place was awarded to Hugo’s Seafood and Steak House for their Crab and Asparagus Cappuccino Soup with hazelnut broth and asiago cheese crackers. One year a former New Orleans resident, Ken Ballard, the owner of Kenny B’s French Quarter Café took first place with a Swamp Critter Stew. The chefs have a lot of fun with this “challenge”.
Some of our Indian Summer days brought out people wearing shorts and flip flops, fishing with long cane poles in a tributary off of Broad Creek in the shadow of Shelter Cove marina where sea-going yachts and sleek fishing motor yachts pulled at lines. An influx of our No. 1 real estate market, the Canadians, descended on the island, taking advantage of the exchange rate and low interest rates, driving more real estate sales.
Sales results of 2012 compared with 2011 show solid gains throughout the island. With closed sales up 10% to 177 the average price in Sea Pines is up 7% to $907,213 compared with $853,245 a year ago. Current inventory is 188 with homes averaging 93% of list price. We have clearly seen the recovery in residential sales island-wide continue.
The big winner in 2012 was villas with an exciting 20% jump in sales and a 3% increase in selling price. Inventory was down 10% from 2011. This positive trend is expected to continue in 2013 with strong sales, attractive prices and amazing interest rates.
The Sea Pines Resort had a phenomenal year in 2012, with an increase in occupancy, revenue and rental rates across the board. Home and villa revenue was up 16% from 2011 to 2012! This year we are off to a great start with future bookings 11% ahead of where we were last year. We are anticipating another banner year!
Showing posts with label hilton head. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hilton head. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Hilton Head Island's Changing Tides
As the summer winds down on Hilton Head, vacationers begin packing up to make the trek back to homes in other states. Some will have come from South Carolina or other nearby areas. They are called "the grits and gravy crowd." Vacationers who visit in the winter when it is too cold to get on their golf courses at home are called "the jet set". At the end of summer, the younger set have finished such activities as Crabby Encounters, Shark Tooth Necklace making, Sand Dollar Painting, Tie-Dye Fun, beaching, fishing, dolphin cruises, evening campfires in the Sea Pines Forest Preserve where ghost stories shiver young timbers and of course our favorite Alabama produced singer Greg Russell's dynamite concerts under the Liberty Oak near sleek yachts that rock gently in the famous harbor's placid waters. The tall, candy-striped lighthouse stands quiet guard over this colorful, fun, beautiful place.
Hilton Head's strong home sales in 2012 continued in July with a greater improvement rate over July 2011 sales than any of the state's 16 regions. We've seen four years of continued growth since the market bottomed in 2008. In Sea Pines alone, comparing the first six months of 2012 to all of 2011, residential sales are up 13%, villa sales are up 62% while lot sales are up 42%. Since there are so few lots available for sale, the best having been built on years ago, many buyers simply purchase an older home and long-term rent it until they are ready to tear it down and build. If it is close to the beach and in good condition, it can short-term rent by the week. Long-term rental properties are in short supply on the Island so this is a great time to buy (lower prices and low interest rates).
With 104 closed home sales in Sea Pines (if I seem to focus on Sea Pines, it is because I've lived here, by the beach, for over 40 years) in the first 7 months of 2012, the average price is up 5% to $926,728 compared to $880,120 a year ago at this time. The villa market has always been a hot market on Hilton Head until a couple of years ago. Now villa sales are up dramatically all over the Island with Sea Pines seeing a huge jump with 74 sales compared to 46 last year. Currently there are only 114 villas listed for sale compared to 161 in 2011. Naturally the lower priced inventory has been selling resulting in lower priced villas being cleared out. The same is true with homes although now we are seeing higher end homes selling, many for cash. Buyers feel that Hilton Head is a good place to put their money. Foreigners obviously feel that way since sales to them in this country have increased 24% in 2012 reaching $82.5 billion and growing. We've seen buyers from Russia, Italy, England, Germany, etc. coming to the Island.
The Hilton Head Town Council has been considering plans to use town land and money to create a new commercial district in the Coligny area near the beach. Plans first included a hotel, parking garages, a new park and new plazas with outdoor cafes, shops and restaurants (some of which are already there). Condominiums or apartments would occupy a second story above the retail space. Now comes a decision not to subsidize or support redevelopment of viable existing commercial enterprise or install public improvements. Instead, funds from a tax-increment finance district will be used to improve parking in the Coligny area, adding green space, upgrading nearby streets and establishing a presence for the University of South Carolina Beaufort's new center for event-management and hospitality training. There is also a new University of South Carolina Beaufort Gateway Campus across the bridge from Hilton Head, near Sun City that includes a nursing school
The current Hilton Head center is operated by USCB in space rented from Sea Pines and offers credit and noncredit courses as well as certificates and training for industry professionals. About 60 USCB students were enrolled for the spring semester, and the center has trained more than 360 hospitality workers. Chancellor Jane Upshaw calls it "a wonderful success" and says, "We have plans to expand the program to include coastal ecology, island environment and sustainability and offer more seminars."
She said the university had discussed plans for a campus on Hilton Head that would serve about 200 students and offer extended learning courses for residents and retirees through Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. The plan would have a sustaining appeal to seniors with on-going learning for younger people as well as filling unused rental units during the off-season. The plan accomplishes giving the Coligny area a unique identity while recognizing why it is residents live there, which is because of the forest and the beach.
Hilton Head's strong home sales in 2012 continued in July with a greater improvement rate over July 2011 sales than any of the state's 16 regions. We've seen four years of continued growth since the market bottomed in 2008. In Sea Pines alone, comparing the first six months of 2012 to all of 2011, residential sales are up 13%, villa sales are up 62% while lot sales are up 42%. Since there are so few lots available for sale, the best having been built on years ago, many buyers simply purchase an older home and long-term rent it until they are ready to tear it down and build. If it is close to the beach and in good condition, it can short-term rent by the week. Long-term rental properties are in short supply on the Island so this is a great time to buy (lower prices and low interest rates).
With 104 closed home sales in Sea Pines (if I seem to focus on Sea Pines, it is because I've lived here, by the beach, for over 40 years) in the first 7 months of 2012, the average price is up 5% to $926,728 compared to $880,120 a year ago at this time. The villa market has always been a hot market on Hilton Head until a couple of years ago. Now villa sales are up dramatically all over the Island with Sea Pines seeing a huge jump with 74 sales compared to 46 last year. Currently there are only 114 villas listed for sale compared to 161 in 2011. Naturally the lower priced inventory has been selling resulting in lower priced villas being cleared out. The same is true with homes although now we are seeing higher end homes selling, many for cash. Buyers feel that Hilton Head is a good place to put their money. Foreigners obviously feel that way since sales to them in this country have increased 24% in 2012 reaching $82.5 billion and growing. We've seen buyers from Russia, Italy, England, Germany, etc. coming to the Island.
The Hilton Head Town Council has been considering plans to use town land and money to create a new commercial district in the Coligny area near the beach. Plans first included a hotel, parking garages, a new park and new plazas with outdoor cafes, shops and restaurants (some of which are already there). Condominiums or apartments would occupy a second story above the retail space. Now comes a decision not to subsidize or support redevelopment of viable existing commercial enterprise or install public improvements. Instead, funds from a tax-increment finance district will be used to improve parking in the Coligny area, adding green space, upgrading nearby streets and establishing a presence for the University of South Carolina Beaufort's new center for event-management and hospitality training. There is also a new University of South Carolina Beaufort Gateway Campus across the bridge from Hilton Head, near Sun City that includes a nursing school
The current Hilton Head center is operated by USCB in space rented from Sea Pines and offers credit and noncredit courses as well as certificates and training for industry professionals. About 60 USCB students were enrolled for the spring semester, and the center has trained more than 360 hospitality workers. Chancellor Jane Upshaw calls it "a wonderful success" and says, "We have plans to expand the program to include coastal ecology, island environment and sustainability and offer more seminars."
She said the university had discussed plans for a campus on Hilton Head that would serve about 200 students and offer extended learning courses for residents and retirees through Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. The plan would have a sustaining appeal to seniors with on-going learning for younger people as well as filling unused rental units during the off-season. The plan accomplishes giving the Coligny area a unique identity while recognizing why it is residents live there, which is because of the forest and the beach.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)