For August 2026, Hilton Head Area REALTORS® reported that Bluffton's median sales price fell 9.9% from a year earlier, to $531,225. Beaufort-Jasper County REALTORS® reported on the same month with data current as of the same day, September 10, 2026. In its numbers the 29909 median rose 37.7%, to $599,000, and the 29910 median slipped 2.3%, to $466,500.
Neither report is wrong. Bluffton is covered by two REALTOR® associations whose members work in two different MLS systems, and each association publishes its own monthly report built from its own pool of sales. A buyer comparing Bluffton with Okatie or Hilton Head is often looking at whichever report a search result surfaced first. Once you know how the two reports differ, price matters less as a signal than the one thing both of them show.
Two Reports, One Town, One Month
Hilton Head Area REALTORS® groups zip codes 29910 and 29909 into a single Bluffton report. Beaufort-Jasper County REALTORS® draws on the Lowcountry Regional MLS and reports each zip code separately. Here's how August 2026 looks in each:
| August 2026 | HHAR Bluffton, 29910 + 29909 | BJCR 29910 | BJCR 29909 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Closed sales | 208, up 3.0% | 40, flat | 32, up 3.2% |
| Median sales price | $531,225, down 9.9% | $466,500, down 2.3% | $599,000, up 37.7% |
| Year-to-date median | $540,000, up 0.2% | $477,000, up 2.2% | $529,450, up 2.8% |
| Days on market | 130, up 1.6% | 115, up 12.2% | 125, up 4.2% |
| Homes for sale | 695, down 17.4% | 117, down 20.4% | 152, down 18.3% |
The HHAR report counted 208 Bluffton closings in August 2026, and the two BJCR zip reports together counted 72. The listing pools differ in size, and the reports don't say how much the two systems overlap. One month's median from a pool of 32 sales can move sharply when a few higher-priced homes happen to close in the same weeks. The HHAR report itself warns that its percent changes can "look extreme due to small sample size."
The Price Story Depends on Which Homes Closed
The year-to-date row settles the price question. Through August 2026, HHAR's Bluffton median was $540,000, up 0.2% from the same period in 2025. BJCR's year-to-date medians were up 2.2% in 29910 and 2.8% in 29909. Across eight months and both systems, Bluffton prices have been close to flat. The monthly swings mostly reflect which homes happened to close in a given month.
HHAR's regional numbers show the same effect at a larger scale. In August 2026, its median sales price across the reporting region fell 5.4%, to $539,000, while the average sales price rose 16.2%, to $844,239. When the median and the average move 20 points apart in the same month, the higher-priced sales are pulling differently from the middle of the market. For a buyer in the upper price ranges that so many Bluffton communities serve, the median is a weak guide to what a comparable home will cost.
Sellers have kept roughly the same share of their asking price. HHAR's Bluffton figure for August 2026 was 97.3% of list price, unchanged from August 2025. If buyers had gained real price leverage, that percentage would usually be falling. It has held steady in HHAR's data and moved within a point or two in BJCR's.
The 70 Percent That Isn't
The number most likely to alarm a seller is the HHAR Bluffton year-to-date days on market, which reached 136 through August 2026, against 80 a year earlier. That works out to a 70% increase. August alone tells a different story. HHAR Bluffton homes averaged 130 days in August 2026, up from 128 in August 2025.
The Bluffton report doesn't publish a month-by-month series, but its numbers follow the same pattern as HHAR's regional figures, where year-to-date days on market went from 80 to 132 through August 2026. The regional series has a step change, which shows up in the month-by-month table of its August 2026 Monthly Indicators:
- From January through June 2025, regional days on market ran roughly 62 to 77 days a month.
- The figure rose to 97 in July 2025 and 123 in August 2025.
- From September 2025 through August 2026, it stayed between 124 and 147 every month.
A 2026 year-to-date average made up entirely of post-step months, set against a 2025 average made mostly of pre-step months, will always show a large jump. August 2026 is the first month where both years sit above the step. In that comparison, regional days on market rose 8.9%, from 123 to 134.
The reports don't explain the step. Our research found no announcement from HHAR or the MLS of a change in how days on market is calculated, so the cause is still an open question. The Beaufort-Jasper series shows no comparable break. Lowcountry Regional MLS days on market ran between 115 and 143 a month from August 2025 through July 2026. Its year-to-date figure for 2024 was 102 days. Measured like for like, Bluffton listings take about as long to sell as they did a year ago, and both systems now put that at roughly four months.
The Island Packet reported the same split in December 2025. HHAR's October 2025 days on market was 125, up 105% year over year, while Beaufort-Jasper sat at 120 days against 118 a year earlier. In that article, then-BJCR president Mark Davis-Cote said, "days on market is driving this market more than price a lot of the time." He described offers often arriving once a listing had been on the market for about 120 days. He also told the paper that builders were offering rate buydowns and closing-cost incentives to compete for buyers.
The Signal Both Systems Agree On
Inventory is the one figure where the two reports move together. In August 2026, HHAR counted 695 Bluffton homes for sale, down 17.4%. BJCR counted 117 in 29910, down 20.4%, and 152 in 29909, down 18.3%. These are different listing pools in different systems, and both show roughly a fifth fewer homes on the market than a year ago.
Fewer sellers are listing, and more buyers are closing. HHAR Bluffton new listings fell 7.7% through August 2026, while year-to-date closed sales rose 7.1%, to 1,621. Across HHAR's whole region, pending sales in August 2026 were up 13.8% and months of supply fell to 4.4 from 4.9. When inventory shrinks while closings rise, the market is tightening. Prices usually take the longest to show it.
Davis-Cote's comments to the Island Packet carried a second sign of demand. Gated communities typically set fees for new residents at the start of each year, and he said he had seen notices of 2026 increases across the two-county region. Anyone weighing a gated address against in-town Bluffton can find more on that choice in our comparison of Bluffton gated communities and in-town living.
A Merger Vote That Leaves the MLSs Alone
The two associations are uniting. BJCR President Shae Chambers Helms wrote to members that both boards had approved a membership vote, held electronically from September 21 to 22, 2026. The Beaufort-Jasper County REALTORS® homepage now shares "official results of our vote to merge with HHAR" under a "Vote YES" graphic and refers to the combined group as Southern Lowcountry REALTORS. We could not confirm HHAR's own result, the formal effective date, or a transition timeline from published sources.
The merger changes less for buyers and sellers than the headline suggests. The HHAR unification FAQ is direct on this point:
"This is one of the most important points for members to understand: this is not a merger of the MLS."
The same FAQ says Lowcountry Regional MLS will continue as a wholly owned subsidiary of the unified association with its own governance, and members will keep their choice of MLS. It also says HHAR's Residential Purchase and Sale Agreement and Residential Lot Agreement will be kept. BJCR's FAQ describes REsides as a privately owned MLS that isn't affiliated with a REALTOR® association, and says unification doesn't change MLS membership or participation requirements. So Bluffton will keep its two MLS systems and its two forms of purchase agreement, and unless the reporting arrangements change, it will likely keep its two monthly reports as well.
Questions We Hear About Bluffton's Numbers
Which report is the "real" Bluffton market? Both are accurate for the sales they include. HHAR's report covers a larger pool and combines 29910 and 29909. BJCR's reports each zip code separately from the Lowcountry Regional MLS. A pricing conversation is more solid when it uses the specific comparable sales behind either report.
When will September 2026 numbers be available? When we checked on October 11, 2026, HHAR's September 2026 market reports page returned "Page not found." The August reports cited throughout this post were current as of September 10, 2026.
Do the two MLS systems share listings? The sources we reviewed don't say whether REsides and Lowcountry Regional MLS exchange listing data, so it's unclear how many Bluffton sales appear in both reports.
If you'd like to go through the specific sales behind either report for a home you're considering or one you plan to list, Carolyn Kraus can take you through the comparables in both systems on our Bluffton page or through a home valuation. Let's Connect.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
