Buyers have real estate choices in Hilton Head. What’s going on with the market?
Homes in greater Hilton Head are sitting on the market for twice as long as they were last year, signaling challenges for sellers as prices on the island also declined.
In October, homes stayed on the market for an average of 125 days, a 105% increase over October 2024, according to data from Hilton Head Area Realtors.
The median sales price for a home on Hilton Head was $518,995 in October, down from $560,000 the same month last year. Inventory was up by 15.3%, for a total of 2,012 homes.
The market appeared a bit more consistent in Beaufort and Jasper counties compared to last year. Homes in the two-county area sat on the market for 120 days, up slightly from 118 last year, according to Beaufort-Jasper County Realtors data. The median sales price dipped slightly from $422,500 in October 2024 to $419,000 a year later.
Inventory bumped from 860 homes last October to 1,228 two months ago.
How the real estate market has changed
Mark Davis-Cote, president of Beaufort-Jasper County Realtors and managing broker at the HomesFinder Realty Group in Beaufort and Okatie, said the market has changed since the COVID pandemic, when there wasn’t enough inventory to keep up with buyer demand.
The common assumption, Davis-Cote said, is that if a property is on the market for a long time, the price must have gone down. But that’s not necessarily true, he said.
“What I’ve been telling my agents all year long is ‘days on market is driving this market more than price a lot of the time,’” Davis-Cote said. “If a listing is out there for 120 days, that’s when you’re really starting to see offers all of a sudden. That’s when the marketing seems to be reaching the buyers.”
When buyers have more choices, it becomes difficult for a person selling their home to get attention, Davis-Cote said. Developers building new homes are offering incentives, like rate buy-downs and closing cost incentives, to entice potential buyers.
Gated community fee increases
Gated communities generally set their fees for new residents and non-resident members at the beginning of each calendar year. Davis-Cote said he’s seen emails from communities across the two-county region informing residents of fee increases in 2026.
“(That) indicates those communities believe there’s enough demand for the public to stomach that,” he said.
This story was originally published December 11, 2025 at 2:40 PM.