Lady's Island & Burton Tops in 2010 Beaufort SC Real Estate Market

Beaufort, SC, and the surrounding area has a varied, bustling, and exciting real estate market, from the oceanfront mansions of Harbor Island and Fripp Island, to 200-plus year old homes in downtown Beaufort's "Old Point" neighborhood.

But, for many Beaufort Realtors and real estate observers, the backbone of Beaufort's real estate market are the five "main areas," which are comprised of Beaufort, Mossy Oaks, Port Royal, Burton, and Lady's Island.

These five areas create the geographic heart of Beaufort's real estate market, which sits between the farther flung real estate areas of Fripp Island and Harbor Island to the east, Northern Beaufort County to the west, and South of the Broad River to the south.

Beaufort's five main areas represented about half of all real estate sales conducted via the Beaufort Multiple Listing Service in 2010, when 471 homes sold in the five main areas, with a median sales price of $190,000. This is slightly higher than the $174,000 median sales price use to calculate using all 971 homes sold via the entire Beaufort MLS in 2010.

Of the five main areas, the two clear "growth" areas are Burton and Lady's Island, where 153 and 170 homes, respectively, were sold in 2010. Burton and Lady's Island are the areas where you will find the most newer developments, like Habersham, Live Oaks and Battery Point in Burton, and Coosaw Point, Somerset Point, and Celedon.

The median sales price for Burton was $193,000, while Lady's Island had a median sales price of $221,000 in 2010, according to the Beaufort MLS.

In the Beaufort area, which is comprised of the downtown Beaufort area, 56 homes were sold in 2010, with a median sales price of $136,950.

Port Royal is Beaufort's sister city, and saw 57 homes sold in 2010, at a median sales price of $165,900.

Mossy Oaks is situated between Port Royal and Beaufort, and saw 35 home sales in 2010, at a median sales price of $135,000. Although home to (relatively) newer neighborhoods like Cottage Farm, the heart of Mossy Oaks is the circa 1960s and 70s homes which dominate the real estate landscape here.

As was the case with Beaufort's entire MLS, the five main areas saw an increase in the number of transactions in 2010, coupled with a continued retreat in values. In 2010, there were 471 home sales recorded via the Beaufort MLS, up from the 459 home sales recorded in 2009.

The median sales price in Beaufort's five main areas dipped to $190,000 in 2010, down from $195,000 in 2009.