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.
