Report names this Lowcountry area as the top emerging luxury home market in the U.S.
The Wall Street Journal and Realtor.com named the Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Beaufort area the top emerging luxury real estate market in the country, according to Mansion Global, shooting up from 12th place the previous quarter.
Dow Jones & Co. owns both Mansion Global and the WSJ, which released the winter segment of its quarterly report last week.
The area ranked No. 34 out of 300 overall in the “The WSJ/Realtor.com Emerging Housing Markets Index Winter 2023,” but its luxury market — defined as the most expensive 10% of homes — ranked No. 1 out of 60.
According to the article, the index ranks the most active luxury housing markets by using the following indicators, with added context for the Beaufort County area by The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette:
▪ Growth in housing supply and demand
According to the 2022 market report, pending sales and closed sales in the area both were down from 2021. The number of homes for sale, or inventory, was up by 88.6%.
There were 7,347 closed sales in 2021, versus 5,747 in 2022, according to the report.
The Hilton Head area had 7,473 pending sales in 2021, versus 5,673 pending sales in 2022, according to the report.
▪ Median listing prices
Median home prices in the 10 most-expensive communities’ home prices increased 66.4% since 2018, according to previous reporting in The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette.
Compared to the area’s $485,000 median home price, eleven Beaufort County communities have median home prices over $1 million, with two over $2 million.
▪ A cost of living measure
Beaufort County’s cost-of-living index score is 108, according to a 2021 report by the county’s Human Services Department. This means that it is more-expensive to live in Beaufort County than the national (100) or South Carolina (88) averages.
▪ Small businesses
Beaufort County doesn’t have a certification program for small and minority businesses; however, there is a Small and Minority Buisness Program.
▪ Local property taxes
Beaufort County primary residence property taxes are 4% and secondary residence property taxes are 6%, according to the county website.
▪ Amenities
“I think the sporting life amenities are a big differentiation for us,” said Bryan Byrne, who’s 25-year-career in Beaufort County has focused on high-end real estate sales.
Bryne is the broker-in-charge for Palmetto Bluff Real Estate Company. Palmetto Bluff is a private luxury gated community in Bluffton.
Unique to some of the other locations on the list, communities in Beaufort County, like Palmetto Bluff, are often built around private golf courses or have shooting, fishing, boating, horse back riding or racquetball clubs available.
Publicly, there also are 14 parks in Beaufort County, some of which feature hiking, tennis and other activities, according to the county website. And there are beaches and the coast.
▪ Unemployment
In December 2021, Beaufort County’s unemployment rate was 2.8%, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
▪ Wages
In 2021, Beaufort County’s median household income was $74,199, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
▪ The share of foreign-born residents — who contribute to the economic vitality and diversity of the area.
7.3% of Beaufort County residents are foreign born, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
One additional Lowcountry locale made the WSJ’s top 10 emerging luxury market list at No. 8: Charleston. For all emerging markets, not just luxury, the city ranked No. 88.
“There is a mystique to the Lowcountry,” Byrne said. “There’s a sense of history that you get when you live in that area.”
He said what differentiates this area from Charleston, even though they’re both in the Lowcountry, is that its an upcoming area while Charleston is more established.
“There’s enough new people where it’s an easy place to move [to] and a lot of my customers verbalized it is easy to meet people,” he said. “I think when you’re in an area where it is still emerging it’s an easy place to move to because everyone’s in the same boat.”
This story was originally published February 6, 2023 at 4:44 PM.
