Market Update Hilton Head Island

[Ron Williams]

September 2021

Nationwide, existing home sales were down slightly in August, falling 2% after two consecutive months of increases, according to the National Association of REALTORS®. The decline in existing home sales coincides with rising sales prices, which have continued to soar into fall, with the median sales price of existing homes up 14.9% compared to last year. Declining affordability has had a significant impact on homebuyers, many of whom have been priced out of the market and are choosing to wait for sales prices to ease before resuming their home search.

New Listings were down 12.6 percent to 597. Pending Sales decreased 27.0 percent to 562. Inventory shrank 48.7 percent to 714 units.

Prices moved higher as Median Sales Price was up 1.3 percent to $394,000. Days on Market decreased 40.8 percent to 90 days. Months Supply of Inventory was down 56.0 percent to 1.1 months, indicating that demand increased relative to supply.

There are signs the market may be shifting, however. New listings have continued to hit the market, bucking seasonality trends commonly seen in the fall, a time when listing and sales activity typically slows as children return to school. As inventory increases, competition for homes may soften, and could even bring a moderation in sales prices, which, after 114 months of year-over-year gains, would be music to the ears of homebuyers throughout the country.