There Are Thirteen New Townhomes on St. Simons Island

I pulled the MLS this morning to answer a question a client asked me last week: what new construction townhomes are for sale on St. Simons Island?

The honest answer is a short list. There are 333 active residential listings on the island right now. Thirty-one of them are townhomes. Thirteen of those thirty-one are new construction — and all thirteen were built by Maritime Builders and are listed by Maritime Realty Group.

That is the whole market. Two communities, one builder, thirteen doors.

The count, as of September 4, 2026:

• 333 active residential listings on St. Simons Island
• 31 of them are townhomes
• 13 of those are new construction
• 0 new construction condominiums

Why the number is so small

St. Simons is a barrier island. That is not a marketing line — it is the entire explanation. There is a fixed amount of ground here, most of it was spoken for decades ago, and the parcels that remain are small, scattered, and often constrained by marsh, tree canopy, or drainage.

Attached housing makes that harder, not easier. A townhome community needs an assembled parcel in an area zoned to allow density, and it needs enough of it to justify the infrastructure. Those parcels come available roughly never. Glynn County also finished a multi-year rewrite of its zoning and subdivision ordinances this year — the commissioners approved it in April and it took effect July 1 — which tightened how accessory dwelling units and tree canopy are handled on the islands. It did not ban anything. But it is a fair signal of the direction: the county is being more deliberate about density here, not less.

The clearest evidence is what happened to the last new townhome community. Fifty Oaks, off Frederica, sold thirteen units in the last twelve months at a median of $712,000. Today it has zero listings. It is finished. And when I look at the MLS for what replaces it, there is no attached new-construction pipeline behind Moss Pointe and Mariwood. Nothing filed, nothing coming to market that I can find.

Thirteen units is not a shortage that creates urgency. It is a market that produces almost nothing new, and has for years.

What is actually available

Same builder, same island, and almost nothing else in common. Maritime Builders put up both, but one sits in the Demere corridor and the other sits at the entrance to the King and Prince — practically oceanfront. That is the whole reason for the price gap between them, and it is why a buyer looking hard at one is usually not looking at the other.

Moss Pointe — Moss Pointe Lane, off Demere Road

• 10 of 11 available
• $699,000 to $749,000
• 1,630 to 2,350 sq ft, 2 to 3 bedrooms
• Dues $200 a month
• Fee simple — you own the land under your unit
• No rental restrictions

Three floorplans, three stories, most with a private elevator. One unit has closed, at full asking price. The 2,350-square-foot plans at $734,000 are the best value in the community by a wide margin — 23% more space than the 1,910 plan for $15,000 more money.

Mariwood — Arnold Road, at the entrance to the King and Prince

• 3 available
• $1,449,990 to $1,499,990
• 2,325 to 2,374 sq ft, 2 bedrooms
• Garage, elevator, storage

Practically oceanfront. At roughly $629 a square foot it runs about double Moss Pointe's per-foot price, and on this island that is what standing at the beach costs.

The part most articles leave out

Low inventory is a real condition. It is not, by itself, a reason to buy something.

Moss Pointe listed all eleven units in March and has recorded one closing since. Ten are still available. That is not a stampede, and anyone telling you these will be gone by Christmas is guessing. Some of the wait is just the construction calendar — they came out pre-construction and only started delivering in August — but the honest read is that there is time to think, and there is probably room to negotiate on the units that have sat longest.

What scarcity does tell you is something different and more useful: if this style of home is what you want on this island, your options are not going to improve by waiting. Fifty Oaks is gone. Nothing is behind these thirteen. When a buyer asks me whether to wait for more inventory, this is one of the few segments where I say plainly that more inventory is not coming.

A note on the numbers. I would rather show you a soft number than a confident wrong one. Only 9 of the 35 townhome sales on the island in the last twelve months reported a square footage in the MLS, so any per-square-foot market average you see quoted for St. Simons townhomes — including mine — is built on a handful of sales. Treat it as a direction, not a verdict. The number I actually trust here is the one closed sale inside Moss Pointe itself.

If you are buying a new build here

This is the part I care most about, because new construction is where buyers get the least protection and ask the fewest questions. Four things I tell everyone:

Get your own inspection anyway. A county certificate of occupancy means the house met code. It does not mean an independent set of eyes looked at the flashing, the HVAC install, or the crawlspace. Hire your own inspector on a brand-new home. I have never regretted it on a client's behalf and I have several times been very glad.

Know what fee simple means for you. Moss Pointe is fee simple — you own the land under your unit, not a share of a condominium regime. That changes your financing options, your insurance, and how the association can assess you. It is a genuine difference and worth asking about anywhere you shop.

Price the dues, not just the house. Moss Pointe's dues are $200 a month. Two other island townhome communities run $437 and $490. Over ten years that gap is more than $34,000 — real money that never shows up in a listing price comparison.

Ask about incentives before you ask about price. Builders on standing inventory often move on closing costs or a rate buydown before they move on the sticker, because a price cut resets the comps for every unit behind it. That is usually the better ask for you anyway. Bring someone who represents you, not the builder, to have that conversation.

Where I land on it

If you want a low-maintenance, lock-and-leave home on St. Simons Island and you want it to be new, you have thirteen choices and one builder. That is worth knowing before you spend six months waiting for something better to list.

I have pulled the full comparative market analysis on Moss Pointe — every unit, every closed townhome comp on the island for the last twelve months, and what I think the pricing actually supports. If you want a copy, or you want to walk through one of them, call me.

Dewey "D.J." Snipes, Real Estate Advisor Engel & Völkers Golden Isles — New Construction & Coastal Home Specialist 100 Redfern Village, Suite 7, St. Simons Island (912) 223-1301

Figures from the Golden Isles MLS, pulled September 4, 2026. Active counts are St. Simons Island residential listings; closed sales cover September 1, 2025 through September 4, 2026, townhouse property sub-type. Zoning detail from Glynn County's announcement of its final subdivision regulations and zoning ordinance rewrites, approved April 16, 2026, effective July 1, 2026. Listings courtesy of Maritime Realty Group. Market conditions change; this is information, not advice on a specific purchase.