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The two local markets were among only three in the state where more homes sold in July than during the same month a year ago, according to the latest figures from the S.C. Realtors association. The other was the southern Midlands area.
Several local agents said the Lowcountry hasn't suffered as much as some places from the winding down of a federal tax credit for first-time homebuyers.
The credit had been set to end in June for those who already had homes under contract. It has been extended through September but with little effect on many markets, as the latest state unemployment rate remains above 10 percent.
The credit hasn't been used as much here, where many people buy second homes, as it has in "Hometown, USA," said Charter I Realty & Marketing's Charles Sampson, president of the Hilton Head Area Association of Realtors.
Each month of this year, home sales on Hilton Head and in Beaufort have increased compared to the same month in 2009.
Realtors said buyers who had long poked around the area are deciding to take advantage of low prices and record-low interest rates on mortgages.
"The baby boomers and the people who've been looking here for years are seeing the value," said Melanie Sevin, a Realtor at Dunes Marketing Group on Hilton Head.
For example, she recently sold a home to a longtime visitor who wanted to retire near the beach in Palmetto Dunes. He doesn't plan to move for another year or two but bought, anyway. He intends to rent the home until he is ready, she said.
Much of the same is happening in the Beaufort area, where people who waited out the recession are starting to buy, said Island Realty's Todd McDaniel, president of the Beaufort County Association of Realtors. The median price in the Beaufort area dropped about 4 percent this month from July 2009, to $185,000.
"They've had their heart set on retiring to coastal property or second homes somewhere," he said. "People see this is the bottom."
Sevin and colleague Bill Baldwin, Dunes director of sales and marketing, both said local inventories have leveled off, with homes beginning to sell at about the same rate as they're coming on the market. If that trend holds, prices that slid as inventories climbed during the downturn could begin to rise.
The median price on Hilton Head rose about 7 percent this month from July 2009 to $274,000, the market's first increase since January, according to the state association.
"Overall, I would say, 'Yes, we have hit the bottom,' " Baldwin said.
Kristy Eppley Rupon of The (Columbia) State contributed to this report.
HOME SALES
(July 2009, July 2010, percent change)
Hilton Head Island area (188, 225, 19.68%)
Beaufort area (65, 88, 35.38%)
South Carolina (4,208, 3,532, -16.06%)
