2019 Year End 2019 HHAAOR Year End Report | Page 2

Annual Report on the Hilton Head Housing Market
A FREE RESEARCH TOOL FROM THE HILTON HEAD AREA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®
The 2019 housing market was fueled by the overall
strength of the economy across most of the country. The
stock markets reached new highs throughout the year,
improving the asset bases of millions of Americans.
Unemployment rates fell to 50-year lows, while wages
increased, creating new home buyers. Mortgage rates also
declined significantly from 2018, helping to offset affordability
stresses caused by continued price appreciation nationally.
With a strong economy and low mortgage rates, buyer
activity has been strong. However, most markets are being
constrained by inventory levels that are still below historical
norms. With supply and demand continuing to favor sellers,
prices continue to rise.
With 10 years having now passed since the Great Recession,
the U.S. has been on the longest period of continued
economic expansion on record. The housing market has
been along for much of the ride and continues to benefit
greatly from the overall health of the economy. However, hot
economies eventually cool and with that, hot housing
markets move more towards balance.
Sales: Pending sales increased 8.7 percent, finishing 2019
at 5,641. Closed sales were up 5.6 percent to end the year at
5,463.
Listings: Comparing 2019 to the prior year, the number of
homes available for sale was lower by 12.1 percent. There
were 2,040 active listings at the end of 2019. New listings
increased by 0.6 percent to finish the year at 7,114.
Distressed Properties: The foreclosure market continues
to remain a small player in the overall market and is likely to
remain that way in 2020. In 2019, the percentage of closed
sales that were either foreclosure or short sale decreased by
23.9 percent to end the year at 1.6 percent of the market.
Prices: Home prices were up compared to last year. The overall
median sales price increased 3.4 percent to $325,000 for the
year. Detached home prices were up 2.5 percent compared to
last year, and attached home prices were up 4.2 percent.
List Price Received: Sellers received, on average, 96.8
percent of their list price at sale, a year-over-year
improvement of 0.2 percent.
While the Federal Reserve moved to temper the hot economy
with four interest rate hikes in 2018, in 2019 they turned the heat
back up, and reduced rates a total of three times during the year.
The Fed’s rate decreases were due in part to GDP growth in
2019 that came in notably lower than 2018, showing the Fed’s
alternating efforts to keep our economy at a steady simmer and
not a full boil.
The housing market continues to remain healthy nationwide with
price gains and limited inventory being the most common
threads across markets. Tight inventory continues to constrain
buyer activity in part of the country, while some areas are seeing
increased seller inventory starting to improve buyers’ choices.
New construction activity continues to improve, but is still below
levels required to fully supply the market’s needs.
As we look at 2020, we see continued low mortgage rates and a
healthy economy giving a great start to housing in the new year.
But in election years, we sometimes see a softening of activity
that may temper the market in the second half of the year.
Table of Contents
3 Quick Facts
5 Price Range Review
6 Property Type Review
7 Distressed Homes Review
8 Area Overviews
9 Area Historical Prices
Current as of January 10, 2020. Data © 2020 MLS of Hilton Head Island. All Rights Reserved. Provided by the Hilton Head Area Association of REALTORS®. Report © 2020 ShowingTime. | 2