Looking for a Myrtle Beach home? Click here for a Full Home search
Selling Your Myrtle Beach home? Get a free Home Price Evaluation
I’ve got a brand-new market update for you today. The numbers are in from last month. Although the numbers are kind of all over the place, there is good news for home sellers overall.
Last month, sales for single-family resale homes went up 14.2% compared to the same time last year. That is a huge increase, which is great news. Overall, we are seeing more and more people coming to town and buying properties.
The one interesting thing about that is that single-family home prices dropped 4.8% last month compared to the same time last year to $200,000. We’ve seen that number bounce up and down a little bit. It really depends on your area. Inventory has been so short that we are seeing people move inland or close to the beach. You always want to dig into the micro numbers for your specific neighborhood. Overall, the long-term trend for home prices is in the double digits, which is great.
Supply is a challenge for resale homes. Inventory is down 17.2%, leaving us with 5.3 months of inventory. That is up slightly from last month. As I’ve mentioned before, more and more people will put their homes on the market in the spring and summer. Although that means a little more competition, now is still a great time to sell your home because we are still below the six-month threshold in the entire marketplace. We are 0.1% up above the lowest inventory we have seen. Demand is up 14% and inventory is down 17.2%, which will put upward pressure on prices.
If you are thinking of selling your home, you should definitely reach out to us. We can do an instant, free valuation of your property to see what it’s worth in today’s market.
The major challenge for our market is a massive decrease in inventory.
New construction sales are up 9.5% year over year, which is awesome. They’ve been down a little bit because of struggles with low inventory. Now, they are finally catching up. Sales prices are up 7.4% to $237,437, which is awesome news. Supply is down 1.8% and we are right at 5.4 months, so that is a super healthy market for single-family homes both in resale and new construction.
The one alarming number here is that prices dropped a little bit for resale properties, but that is a short-term bump. We have seen that number go up and down a lot, and they should go back up as inventory drops and demand increases.
Condo sales are up 16.2% compared to the same month last year, and prices are up 4% to $117,000. Supply is down 28.2%, and there are only 5.1 months of inventory available.
The major challenge in our market is this massive decrease in inventory. We’re seeing double-digit decreases across the board. If you are just thinking of selling your home, we need your property. You can at least get an instant home valuation to see what your home is worth in today’s market; it may be worth more than you think.
Another important thing to keep in mind is that interest rates have gone up. Rates are expected to increase even more over the course of 2018. We are seeing some of the highest numbers we’ve seen in a long time. It’s been almost four years of low interest rates. As a buyer, you’ll want to take advantage of those low interest rates in the spring or summer market, before those rates get up to 5%.
Higher interest rates will hinder some buyers down the road. As a result, buyers are jumping off the fence and into the market now. As a seller, you’ll want to enter the market sooner rather than later, as interest rate increases will limit your pool of buyers. Every 1% increase in interest rates has a downward effect on a buyer’s purchasing power.
If you have any other questions about our current market or would like more information about your specific neighborhood, just give me a call or send me an email.
