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With home prices on the upswing and days on the market decreasing, one of Savannah’s most exclusive zip codes is seeing its poshest real estate start to move again.
“I’ve got 10 houses under contract and sales totaling close to $10 million this year,” said Mary Ann Gojman, a realtor with Berkshire Hathaway Home Services Southeast Coastal Properties.
Gojman specializes in selling houses in the 31411 zip, particularly in the gated golf community The Landings.
View a slideshow of homes for sale in the 31411 zip code.
She and her colleagues estimate about 50 homes are under contract or are active contingent on Skidaway Island, many of those within The Landings’ various neighborhoods.
According to Marianne Schutz, another realtor who sells properties for Berkshire Hathaway, the price range that is moving most is $500,000 and above.
“It’s just amazing because for the longest time that $500,000-$700,000 price range wasn’t moving at all,” she said.
More significantly, Schutz said, two of these homes are in the $1.9 million-$2.5 million range.
According to data from Savannah’s Multi-List Corp., about 22 homes sold in 2013 for $1 million or more in Chatham County, an increase of six units from the previous year. Of those luxury houses, six were located on Skidaway Island while eight were in the Historic District.
These figures are nowhere near their peak of 79 in 2008, before the housing bubble burst, but this price range is performing better in the first three months of 2014 than it has over the same period for the last five years.
Gojman said these $1 million-plus houses were badly impacted by the recession and many have been languishing on the market for years.
“Several of the houses have been on the market for four years, some for one or two,” said Gojman. “Perhaps there’s more confidence. Both of my larger listings are cash sales — that’s big — when people are buying in cash vs. borrowing, that shows confidence.”
Schutz said one couple from Chicago wanted to be at The Landings because the husband was an avid golfer, but unable to find what they wanted, they looked at property on Green Island Road a little further down on Skidaway and settled on a home for $2.2 million.
Schutz and Gojman both say far from being a sedate retirement community, The Landings demographics are skewing toward younger families.
“We have more kids out here and young families and singles, and I think it’s just a really neat community,” said Schutz.
Schutz said one of her clients, a single mom, decided to uproot from Ardsley Park to The Landings for the safety and school district.
Gojman said many of these families are snagging good deals in the lower price ranges of $300,000 and are able to secure mortgages now that their borrowing ability has improved.
“There’s a little bit of a burst going here,” said Gojman. “I’m not sure how sustained it will be — hopefully it will be — but at the moment of course I’m pleased.”
MILLION-DOLLAR HOME SALES DATA
How many million-dollar homes have sold in Chatham County over the last seven years? Local data shows the luxury real estate market took a big hit in 2009 as the housing crisis took effect. Listings include homes sold for $1 million and up within the Historic District, Islands, Skidaway and Southside.
2007: 64
2008: 79
2009: 18
2010: 18
2011: 21
2012: 16
2013: 22
Jan-March 2014: 9
Source: Savannah Multi-list Corp.