The Wall Street Journal and Moody’s Analytics forecast 6.4% growth in sales in the St. Simons Island/Brunswick, Georgia market

In a May 5, 2012 article in the Wall Street Journal entitled “Vacation Homes Beckon,” author Joe Light outlines factors affecting vacation home sales. With vacation home markets showing signs of recovery, buyers who have considered purchasing a vacation home feel a new sense of urgency to act while prices are low and inventory is declining.

Buyers who plan a vacation home purchase as a long-term investment are taking advantage of low interest rates, even though prices may not have bottomed, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The article names nine markets that are “primed for a breakout” based on five-year price forecasts from Moody’s Analytics. Those markets include vacation home hot spots such as Napa, California, Santa Barbara, California, Cape Cod, Massachusetts and St. Simons Island, Georgia where the projected growth is among the highest at 6.4% per year.

Hodnett Cooper Real Estate, Inc. on St. Simons Island confirms the momentum in the market dynamics. “People who have long considered purchasing a vacation home on the Island are beginning to act,” said Mary Bryan Fields, Managing Broker, “they have been sitting on the sidelines, are closer to retirement, and plan to act before they are priced out of the market.”

Winnie Skarpalezos, who represents a beachfront home with a list price of $2.1 million on St. Simons Island says she has seen an increase in interest in the house. “We hear the same factors mentioned in the Wall Street Journal article—potential buyers want to take advantage of low prices and low mortgage rates. Plus, this particular house is in a vacation rental program with $125,000 in rental income on the books for 2012. This is an additional offset that buyers can consider in resort destinations like ours.”

St. Simons Island beachfront home listed at $2.1 million

As Mary Bryan Fields concludes, people who lamented not buying in the late 1990s—before prices skyrocketed—are now able to get a “do-over” in real estate. “Now is their chance to buy at 1999 prices in a very desirable Island location.”

Hodnett Cooper Real Estate, Inc. currently employs more than 40 real estate professionals and services 400+ exclusive listing contracts in Coastal Georgia. Additionally, Hodnett Cooper Vacation Rentals, Inc. manages more than 400 vacation rental residences on St. Simons Island, Georgia. For more information, please visit Hodnett Cooper Real Estate, Inc. online or call toll free at 888-638-4750.