Hawaiian Real Estate Market Update: Old Fashion, Top Notch Realtor Service

I was speaking with Kelly Barnes—a HomeGain agent and Realtor who uses BuyerLink—over the weekend about the market in Hawaii and he graciously agreed to send me an update, which I’d like to share.

Hawaii Real Estate Market Update

Every year a large number of military families relocate to Hawaii. In addition a good number of people relocate in Hawaii just to live in paradise. The good news is the value of Hawaii’s residential properties are still holding strong, unlike many areas on the mainland which have seen dramatic decreases in recent times.

On Oahu, although the actual “number” of residential real estate sales has slowed down, overall prices have been staying fairly steady. For instance, the difference in values of single family homes between this time last year and now is only a decline of 4.4%. Sales of 740 single-family homes and 1,121 condominiums were recorded in the April-to-June period this year.

Compared to the same time period last year, the 2008 sales figures showed a decline of 28.6% for single-family dwellings and a 30.7% decrease for condos. When these second quarter sales numbers were compared to the first quarter, we saw increases of 10.0% and 8.1%, respectively, according to the Honolulu Board of Realtors. read more

Posted by Louis Cammarosano on Jul 07, 2008 under Regional

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Melbourne and Brevard County Florida Real Estate Market Update

Mitch Ribak of Tropical Realty of Suntree, Florida provides mid-year update

Mid-year Brevard County Real Estate Internet Marketing Numbers are in!

Well it’s been a crazy year so far here in Melbourne, Florida and my real estate agents have been as busy as ever. Even though the real estate market is terrible here in Brevard County, Florida, Tropical Realty of Suntree is holding its own and is neck and neck with two other companies for first place in total closed transactions.

As most you out there, I’m sure you are showing a ton of customers just to get one home buyer. They are certainly taking their time making their home buying decisions. Where are those old glory days?!

Since I’m always talking about Internet Marketing, Lead Capture and Lead Conversion, I figured I would share with you our stats for the first half of the year. There are two reasons I want to share this info.

Firstly, I am proud as a father of my Agents and my staff (my kids). They have worked their tails off this year to keep their careers in line. They don’t want to hear about a bad market, they are making the best out of it. In fact, we wrote 35 homes for sale contracts this month which is a new record since our opening in 2005!

Secondly, I want you all to see the possibilities of what happens when you really dedicate your business to Internet Marketing. And yes, HomeGain’s Buyerlink program is a big piece of our success. Gone are the days where I spend two hours each day managing my keywords. So thanks to my awesome Agents and thanks to HomeGain for having the BuyerLink program!

Ok so here is what we got: read more

Posted by Mitch Ribak on Jul 03, 2008 under Regional

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Savannah GA real estate market: are you finding the same thing?

I will be cutting back on my contributions here because of time constraints, but I wanted to offer what I have found in the Savannah, GA real estate market and see if others are experiencing the same thing.

Looking at the first six months of 2006, 2007 and 2008, I used new home sales for each year from west Chatham and Effingham counties—where most of the new construction is taking place.

This year there have been 186 homes sold with an average sales price per square foot of $110.75 with an average sales price of $222,363, 145 days on the market and a 98% sales price to listing price.

In 2007 there were 350 homes sold with an average sales price per square foot of $119.05 with an average sales price of $220,410, 130 days on the market and a 100% sales price to listing price.

In 2006 there were 421 homes sold with an average sales price per square foot of $114.63 with an average sales price of $212,633, 131 days on the market and a 100% sales price to list price.

The biggest changes have been the number of homes sold and sales price per sq ft. Buyers are getting much more for their money, but fewer buyers are buying.

I then looked at resales in midtown Savannah to see how resales compare with read more

Posted by Mike Farmer on Jul 01, 2008 under Market Trends, Regional

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Use Hyper-Local Real Estate Statistics to Inform Your Clients

One of the most difficult aspects in today’s market is getting consumers to understand the difference between national, local and hyper-local real estate trends which could vary dramatically depending on your location.

More importantly, a client’s perspective in the market will in large part determine their expectations for a transaction. Many home buyers today feel that the water has run completely red with blood and many buyers believe that they can steal a home with this new found leverage. Many are excited about the possibilities and have heard the news reports about buying homes for 60 cents on the dollar.

If you don’t convey to your clients up front that this is not likely to be the case, you will have problems getting buyers and sellers to agree on a price at which the home could be purchased.

Understanding your hyper-local market, even within your city and being able to convey how that translates into accurate expectations for a client has never been more important than it is today.

Being an expert in your market is paramount to building trust and in turn clients and it’s your responsibility to understand and be able to convey the difference to help educate them.

Knowing what is happening on a hyper-local level, will help you be the local expert, build their confidence in you and help you close sales. read more

Posted by Ryan Ward on Jun 26, 2008 under Market Trends

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