Why Hilton Head’s real estate market was a ‘frenzy’ in 2020 during the COVID pandemic
In 2020, homebuyers across the country realized that Hilton Head Island would be a better place to work from home.
Whether they came from Atlanta, Charlotte or Washington, D.C., their relocations fueled a booming real estate market on the island during the coronavirus pandemic last year that resulted in 24% more closed sales than the year before.
A full look at last year’s market is available via the Hilton Head Area Association of Realtors’ end of year report, which was published Jan. 10.
“With mortgage interest rates setting record lows ... and a strong drive by many buyers to secure a better housing situation ... many segments of the market experienced a multiple-offer frenzy not seen in the last 15 years or more,” the report says.
On the flip side of the hundreds of people moving to the Hilton Head area, listings fell 53% last year compared to 2019, as those who were already here chose to stay put, according to Hilton Head Area Association of Realtors president Jean Beck.
The combination of low inventory and a high number of people looking to buy meant homes flew off the market.
Beck said the market was competitive in 2020, even as the steps to buying a home, like touring it in person, were made more difficult by the coronavirus pandemic and travel restrictions.
“People are buying (homes) sight unseen,” she said. “We had someone who bought a property and they’d never even been to Hilton Head.”
The year was marked by some famous listings, too.
In April, a Georgia couple won the 2020 HGTV Dream Home, which was built in Windmill Harbour. They put the three-bedroom home up on the market in the summer and it sold within three weeks for $1.5 million.
And in fall, the island’s largest house was put on the market for a whopping $12.5 million. The home, located in Wexford, sits on Broad Creek and is 18,000 square feet. As of Jan. 14, the home is still on the market and has cut its price to $9.9 million.
But the report shows that the hottest segment of the market wasn’t just the multimillion-dollar homes accessible only
to the fabulously wealthy.
Homes priced between $100,000 and $225,000 had the shortest average time on the market: 107 days.
Meanwhile, the most popular price range in the Hilton Head area was $225,001 to $375,000, with 2,397 closed sales, the report says.
Beck said that reflects second-home purchases as well as more affordable single-family homes.
“It’s the idea that they can work from anywhere,” she said. “They have made the decision to change their lifestyle and come down for a different quality of life from what they are accustomed to in cities or suburbs of cities.”
Charles Sampson, a Realtor with Charter One who has lived on the island for 48 years, sold the most houses of his career in 2020. He said he worked with buyers who were completely changing their retirement plans due to the pandemic.
He worked with a family from Naperville, Illinois, who bought a home in Port Royal Plantation three years ago with the intent to rent it out until they retired.
Last year changed their plans.
The family bought a house in Wexford this year and, Sampson said, are paying one third of the property taxes they were paying in Illinois.
“Their son is going to school a few days a week, and we did a contract for his parents on a villa who are leaving Illinois and coming here,” he said. “COVID has told us we need to do it now, why not start enjoying what we want now? Why wait?”
This story was originally published January 15, 2021 at 4:45 AM.
