How can a condo market change completely in a year while its median price stays exactly the same?
In August 2025, the median townhouse or condo in Chatham County sold for $281,750. In August 2026, the median was $281,750 again, according to the Georgia REALTORS Local Market Update for Chatham County, compiled September 16, 2026. A buyer who stops at that line would assume nothing moved. The rest of the same report shows sellers giving up ground on almost every measure that decides how a contract gets written.
That report also includes a disclaimer most people skip. Its median and list-price figures do not account for seller concessions or down payment assistance. If a seller holds the price and pays closing costs instead, the sale lands on the same median. A flat median in a softening market is what you would expect to see if sellers are giving ground off the price sheet.
The Rows Under the Median
Here is the townhouse and condo segment next to single-family homes, both for Chatham County, August 2025 against August 2026.
| Chatham County, August | Condo/Townhouse 2025 | Condo/Townhouse 2026 | Single-Family 2025 | Single-Family 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Median sales price | $281,750 | $281,750 | $355,000 | $350,000 |
| Homes for sale | 404 | 551 | 1,695 | 1,914 |
| Months of supply | 5.8 | 9.3 | 4.5 | 5.4 |
| Days on market until sale | 66 | 92 | 59 | 80 |
| Percent of list price received | 98.2% | 96.8% | 97.8% | 97.6% |
Single-family homes softened too, with 80 days on market and a median down 1.4%. Still, the condo column is where the bigger shift happened. Condo inventory rose 36.4% in a year, and supply reached 9.3 months, almost twice the 5.4 months for single-family homes. The share of list price sellers received fell 1.4 points for condos, against 0.2 points for houses.
The year-to-date figures show the cause. Through August 2026, condo sellers put 1,005 new listings on the market, up 5.6% from the same stretch of 2025. Pending sales fell 24.6% over the same period, from 601 to 453. Supply grew a little while demand fell by about a quarter, and nearly all of the change came from the buying side.
Where the Buyers Went
The likely answer is a few miles away in any direction, and it is advertising free rent.
HUD's analysis of the Savannah housing market, published September 3, 2026, found that apartment completions in the metro have averaged 2,475 units a year since 2022, while absorption averaged 1,100 units a year. By the fourth quarter of 2025, apartment vacancy had reached 17.0%, up from 11.7% a year earlier. HUD described the overall rental market as "very soft." The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported in August that more than 7,000 rental units had entered the Savannah market over the prior three years, with banners on apartment blocks offering "one month's free rent."
The newer numbers show the price effect. A Q2 2026 multifamily snapshot of Savannah from MMG Real Estate Advisors put average effective rent at $1,583, down 5.8% from a year earlier, with stabilized occupancy of 89.5%. These figures come from a different source than HUD's and cover a different set of properties, so they are separate snapshots rather than one trend line. Both point the same way.
Here are the offers posted on three local apartment communities' websites when they were checked for this post. The pages don't say when the promotions began or when they end:
- Olmsted Savannah, within walking distance of River Street, the Historic District and Plant Riverside, advertises up to 10 weeks of free rent.
- The Liliana in Pooler advertises three months free on three-bedroom homes and two and a half months free on one- and two-bedroom homes, with 12- to 18-month lease terms.
- MAA Benton, on Benton Boulevard in Pooler, advertises up to one month free.
Restrictions apply to these offers, and they can change at any time. They are also only examples, not a count of how common concessions are across the metro. Still, they show what a condo seller is competing with. Some buyers looking at a one- or two-bedroom condo could just as easily rent an apartment, and some of those apartments are advertising several free weeks to whoever signs. More lease-ups are still filling in Savannah itself, including Starland Village, The Exchange at Berwick, Silas Park and Pointe Grand Abercorn, according to an August 2026 pipeline snapshot.
None of the sources states this link outright. It is a reading of two data sets side by side. Still, the timing lines up. Condo pending sales fell about a quarter in 2026 just as the metro's rental market reached its softest point in years.
The Buyer Who Planned to Rent It Out
The glut squeezes condo demand a second way. Some condo buyers are not choosing between owning and renting. They are buying a unit to lease out, and their numbers just got harder.
If a pro forma assumes rents near last year's level, the market is already moving against it. Effective rents fell 5.8% year over year as of Q2 2026, and a long-term tenant now has free-rent offers to weigh against yours. When investors bid more cautiously, a condo seller loses part of their buyer pool, and the months-of-supply figure climbs.
Turning to short-term rentals is not a simple fallback downtown. Savannah's zoning code limits short-term vacation rentals on non-owner-occupied residential parcels to no more than 20% of the residential and conservation parcels in each ward of the Historic and Victorian districts. It also caps occupancy at four adults for units with two bedrooms or fewer. Before you base an offer on short-term income, find out whether the ward has room under the cap and whether the specific unit qualifies. Confirm that with the city before the due diligence period ends.
How Long the Leverage Lasts
This is where a calendar matters more than a price chart. The same Q2 2026 snapshot that showed rents falling also showed the rental surplus shrinking fast. Over the trailing four quarters, 2,248 units were absorbed against 2,844 completed. That cut the gap between supply and demand from about 1,875 units a year earlier to roughly 600. Rent changes from the prior quarter had slowed to 0.0%. The under-construction pipeline of 3,053 units was 20% smaller than a year before. The report's own reading is that the market is nearing a pricing trough, with supply pressure continuing but gradually easing.
HUD's forecast points the same direction over a longer period. It expects demand for 4,275 rental units in the Savannah area over the next three years, which it says the current excess vacancy and the 2,550 units under construction should meet. Once lease-ups fill, free-rent banners usually come down, and a condo buyer's strongest outside option fades with them.
So the extra room a condo buyer has in Chatham County this fall comes from a specific cause that may not last. It depends on how many new apartments are still competing for the same people, and by the latest counts that number is shrinking.
Before You Write the Offer
The data points to some concrete steps for a buyer looking at Savannah condos and townhomes this fall:
- Ask how long the unit has been listed and what has changed in that time. At 92 days until sale as a county figure for August 2026, a listing past that mark may have a seller who is ready to talk.
- Ask for closing-cost help or repairs as well as a price reduction. The county median does not capture concessions, so the price on comparable sales may not show what those sellers actually netted.
- Price a nearby new lease-up before you decide. If you are weighing whether to buy now or rent first, an actual quote with concessions gives you a firm number to compare against.
- Write the rental pro forma using today's rents. Base it on 2026 effective rents and check the short-term rental rules for the ward before counting on that income.
- Compare against single-family homes. At 5.4 months of supply and 97.6% of list price received in August 2026, houses gave buyers less room than condos did.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are these figures specific to downtown Savannah? No. The condo and townhouse figures cover all of Chatham County. The sources reviewed did not include 2026 statistics for the Historic District or downtown on their own, so a building-by-building comparison is the best way to check a particular address.
Does a 9.3-month supply mean condo prices will fall? Not necessarily. The median held steady through August 2026 even as supply grew. So far, the softness has shown up in time on market, percent of list price received and fewer pending sales. The median price has not moved.
Why did the median stay flat if demand dropped? A median reflects the homes that actually sold, and it does not include concessions. Fewer sales at similar list prices, with some help on closing costs, can leave the median where it was even while the market loosens.
If you are weighing a Savannah condo or townhome against a new lease-up this fall, Kim McElman can help you compare the actual numbers, from a listing's history to the rental rules for its ward, so your offer reflects the market as it stands right now. Let's Connect.
