st simons island

2011 Market Stats so far…

by Midi on September 28, 2011

Spoke at the Kiwanis Club of Brunswick’s luncheon yesterday on behalf of the Golden Isles Association of REALTORS® and of course, the topic was real estate and what’s going on. Thought I’d share the numbers here.

Essentially, I was looking more at activity versus prices – which I’ll get to later. Here is a ten year activity trend and you can see for the Mainland where activity peaked and where we stand now. It’s a bit tight but the main green line below tells the tale…

As you can see, activity peaked in 2006 then dropped drastically in 2008 / 2009 with the market’s near total collapse at the end of 2008 – can anyone say TARP? Then, you can see the ups and downs more normal for real estate though I bet you those ups and downs can be correlated with major economic news at the time.

Taking a look at St. Simons Island -

The constant ups and downs are common on the Island where sales trends follow a seasonal path. 1st and 4th Quarter then to be quiet while the heavier tourist months tend to show picked up activity. This is common of the second home/resort market. But notice when the low hit… the low REALLY hit.

But if this tells you anything – it’s that both paint a clear picture that the bottom was hit at the end of 2008 and beginning of 2009 and things, despite the ups and downs, are going back up.

So far in 2011:

Single Family Sales in Mainland Glynn is up 23.2% with the average sale price down 16.8% to last year.
Single Family Sales on St. Simons Island is up 14.2% with the average sale price down 3.1% to last year.
Condo sales on St. Simons Island is down 2.0% with the avergae sale price down 18.5% to last year.

Condos tend the be the heart of the resort/second home market and that is the area hardest hit by this economic downturn. With uncertainty comes fear and with fear comes a natural reticence to splurge on ‘luxury’ things like… a second home.

Also – a good chunk of what’s selling right now – almost 70% of sales – is bank-owned – which means it has been foreclosed upon. Much of those foreclosed properties have been sloughed off to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from the originating banks – just take a look at our property records and you can see where banks, both local and national, have transferred deeds of ownership NOT to individual buyers but to Fannie and Freddie! Well, Fannie and Freddie offer different incentives to buyers who would use the home as a primary residence versus a buyer who would use it as a second home or investment.

Of course, that’s all in an effort to ensure that the available properties go to support basic housing… but in a market like ours that is mixed and reliant on second home sales… well, it’s not always the best deal.

Tagged as: Brunswick, Fannie Mae, Foreclosures, Freddie Mac, Glynn, Market statistics, Second Homes, st simons island

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Cannons Point on St Simons Island SAVED!

by Midi on January 8, 2011

Thanks Hank Paulson, Jr. St Simons Island is lucky to have friends with deep pockets…

In the disintegration of the Sea Island empire… one of the victims was an untouched, beautiful 600 acre tract of land called Cannon’s Point on the north end of St. Simons Island. Property owners across Jones Creek from Cannon’s Point had always rested easy knowing that if and when Sea Island Co. developed Cannon’s Point, they would, in all likelihood, develop something tasteful and non-offensive. When Wells Fargo became the owners… that likelihood was no longer guaranteed. Things could have gone very differently.

Well, according to Bloomberg.com:

The San-Francisco-based bank and the Bobolink Foundation, whose trustees include former Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. and his wife Wendy, said on Monday that the land, known as Cannon’s Point peninsula, will be set aside as a public preserve. A deal for conserving the undeveloped property was reached with the foundation, A.D. (Pete) Correll, the former CEO of Georgia Pacific, and the Saint Simons Land Trust, The Nature Conservancy, other community members and agencies.

Click here for the entire article…

As a little background – this isn’t Mr. Paulson’ first foray into St. Simons Island preservation. According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Paulson and his wife owns three fourths of Little St. Simons Island – a small private island east of Cannon’s point and north of Sea Island once owned by the founder of the Eagle Pencil Co. and his descendants and home of the Lodge at Little St Simons – through a holding company, Whimbrel LLC. While different owners might have viewed the small island known as one of the best birding spots on the East Coast with an eye for further development, it has been said that the current owners want to keep the quiet, low-keyed, natural feel of the island as it is.

My in-laws have a view of Cannon’s Point from across the marsh and Jones Creek. I’m sure they’re relieved to know that view will be protected for the foreseeable future. I know I’m glad that I’ll be able to enjoy their view as well!

Tagged as: cannons point, henry paulson, st simons island

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Where There’s Smoke, There’s Fire… but not in good way… Southern Soul burns on St Simons Island

by Midi on March 30, 2010

This past weekend while in Atlanta, my husband called me and asked, “Guess what’s burning as we speak?” How does one answer a question like this? Of course, I asked, “What’s burning?” It turns out Southern Soul, a barbecue joint on the Island that resides in the old GISCO seafood building at the very visible spot by the traffic circle at Demere and Frederica, was on fire. Then my husband asked, “Do you think there are good eats in the smoldering embers?” I’ve driven past it a few times and you really can’t tell it burned from the front… I was told it is an empty shell in the rear, but the facade is still there and they’ve covered the openings with tarp so you can’t see inside. If I hadn’t been told it caught fire, I might have supposed they were renovating. I always said that the place needed a good hosing down…

Here’s a video that gives you an up close and personal view of the fire and it’s end result… check it out!

Tagged as: southern soul barbecue fire, st simons island

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St Simons Island Sales Trend

5 October 2009

Looking at some stats since we’re now officially into 4th Quarter of 2009. Here’s a quick glance at the list price/actual sold trend for St Simons Island going back to the beginning of 2008.

Obviously, home prices are dropping but they seem to have leveled off to a certain extent, the largest drop being experienced between [...]

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Nothing Says Welcome Like a Gas Station…

28 September 2009

Just found out that the construction going on the wedge of land between Demere and Hamilton right near the on-going construction of the new ‘traffic circle’ at the entrance to the Island is going to be a gas station.
First of all, I put ‘traffic circle’ in quotes because it is using the term loosely to [...]

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The Big TurnOff Event

26 September 2009

Sounds odd, right? The Big TurnOff Event… Well, the St. Simons Island Lighthouse is going to be turned-off (hence the name) on Sunday, Sept. 27th and apparently, it’s going to get a big send-off!
Why? Because our 150 year old lighthouse is undergoing renovations and this will be the first time since World War II that [...]

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