Bluffton, SC — In what is considered “a very hopeful sign that the real estate market is starting to turn around,” Hampton Lake president Gerrit Albert reported 14 sales transactions during April at the 900-acre, lakefront community.

“It was the strongest real estate sales month we have seen since last summer,” said Albert, noting that sales included several homesites as well as brand new lakefront homes and villas.

“It all began when we started receiving a large number of inquiries about our new ‘Imagination Collection’, the first in the new LifeSmart™ series of homes,” said Albert. “We introduced the homes in early April, and as soon as we did, visits to the community accelerated, especially on weekends. The homes are priced from $315,000 and an ideal example of meeting market demand by appealing to today’s buyer who is looking for a simpler, cost-efficient lifestyle. The really good part was that April’s visitors were interested in looking at all that our community offers, including homesites and villas.”

Albert explains that the LifeSmart™ Homes represent a breakthrough in new homes available in the local housing market. “This is the first time this style of single family home has been offered around here in a highly-amenitized lifestyle community like ours,” he said.

“Over the past several years single family homes in gated communities in the Bluffton area were typically priced in the $500,000 to $1.2 million range,” said Albert. “Today’s buyer, however, is very sensitive to the changing economy. Buyers are still looking for superior quality homes, but now they want a lower price tag and homes that will be less costly to operate and maintain.”

Built by David Weekly Homes, the Imagination Collection focuses on open floor plans that make better use of space while saving on square footage and building materials. “The net result,” said Albert “is a lowering of monthly living costs, including energy consumption, maintenance costs and property taxes. Each floor plan creatively combines the use of outdoor living space with open-space interior architecture.”

Named “2008 Best Community in America” and “2007 Best Community Facility in America”, by the National Association of Home Builders and Professional Builder Magazine, Hampton Lake is looking for sales to continue growing. Gerrit noted, “We have the right kind of highly-amenitized lifestyle community people are looking for and the right style of energy-efficient homes people want to buy.”

For more information on Hampton Lake or any of its real estate options, visit www.HamptonLake.com or call 843-836-7400.