Second homes: Old-world charm, new-world bargains in Bluffton, S.C.

— -- Bluffton, S.C., is one of the oldest second-home destinations in the country. It still has all the charms that have attracted buyers by the thousands, but there is also something new here: bargains.

Long before Hilton Head Island became one of the first planned resort communities in the USA, the tiny village of Bluffton sat opposite it on the mainland and was a popular 19th-century summer escape for wealthy Savannah merchants. As Hilton Head exploded into an enclave of golf courses, hotels and gated communities, Bluffton remained a quaint 1-square-mile town full of art galleries and historic buildings. But in 1999, developers realized that the golf and water sports of Hilton Head, with its fine three-season weather, could be realized in Bluffton, too, even closer to Savannah and its airport.

"We realized that we could either be swallowed up or take the lead," says real estate agent Lisa Sulka of Carson Realty, who also is Bluffton's mayor. So Bluffton annexed land in surrounding unincorporated Beaufort County. Now, 10 years later, "the town is now almost 54 square miles" and the population has grown from 400 to about 15,000.

Today's Bluffton is a corridor of planned communities and villages along Route 278, stretching from the riverfront of the Old Town in the east to its largest community, Palmetto Bluff, 8 miles west. According to Sulka, the most expensive is huge Palmetto Bluff, followed by Berkeley Hall, Belfair, Colleton River and Chechessee Creek, while options such as Hampton Hall are more affordable.

Prices in most have declined substantially, Sulka says. "A lot of people bought lots speculatively to flip. Right now there are bargains everywhere." Lots in Belfair and Berkeley Hall can be had for $100,000. Even in the most expensive communities, where home prices were starting at more than $900,000, you can now buy for about $600,000, she says.

A look at three Bluffton neighborhoods

• Old Town: The original square mile on the river is Bluffton's most "cosmopolitan" neighborhood. "Some love the charm and head right there," Sulka says. "Stores and galleries are in houses all throughout." Anything on the river is expensive, from $500,000 for half an acre. Off the river, she says, starter homes begin at $200,000 to $300,000.