Last week I had the opportunity to attend the Star Power Conference in Denver, CO. This is a conference that 500 of the top real estate agents in the country go to.

I felt like I was drinking water out of a fire hydrant! It was a great opportunity to talk with top agents across the country and learn what they are doing to keep up with the changing times.

Several of the agents were from areas where the real estate market is much worse than Hilton Head. Mainly Phoenix, AZ, Compton, CA and Las Vegas, NV.

I was surprised to hear that the prices in Las Vegas have dropped on average 64% in the last two years. I was also surprised when I found out that in Las Vegas, 79% of the properties that have sold in the last 6 months have been bank foreclosure properties. In other words, it is difficult for a regular guy to sell a property in that market.

I think the same is true for Compton, CA. In fact, one agent said that his town is the “poster boy” for foreclosures. In Phoenix, approximately 50% of the sales are bank foreclosures.

I was also interested to learn that in these towns, banks seemed to be taking the theory of reducing the price every 21 days to get the property to sell. One agent actually had a property to sell in Las Vegas where they had 55 offers on one property. The bank had been so aggressive in pricing the property. Obviously, these are declining markets. In Las Vegas, the property values are dropping 4% a month. Obviously, this is driven by the foreclosures.

I also learned that we are expecting a new wave of foreclosures in September because of the moratorium that the Obama administration has put on foreclosures. They think that this will have a further detrimental effect on the values in their area. The realtors in these 3 cities are trying to get their sellers to sell today if they are expecting to sell in the short run.

I am committed to learning as much as I can about the future of the real estate market. It is important that all of us realize that we are in a changing market. We have to learn from other agents to get an idea of what they are doing to help their clients.

If you have any questions concerning real estate on Hilton Head Island or in Bluffton, please give me a call at 1-800-831-0359. I will do all I can to help you reach your real estate goals.