Your January Real Estate Market Update

It’s time for your January real estate market update. Today, I’ll examine how the Myrtle Beach market did in 2017 and what’s happening now.

Looking for a Myrtle Beach home? Click here for a Full Home search

Selling Your Myrtle Beach home? Get a free Home Price Evaluation

The final numbers are in from the 2017 Myrtle Beach market, and there is some great news overall. First, let’s look at single-family homes, which make up a bulk of the market. Home sales are up 12.8%, which is great news. In December, home sales were up 2.5% from the same month last year. Inventory is down, but the great news is that prices are up. The median sale price increased 6.2% over the last 12 months to $207,000. In December 2017, the median sales price is up 9.2% over the last month alone at $213,950. That’s because inventory was down 14.3% over the last 12 months, and inventory dropped 14.5% in December alone. Right now, we have 5.3 months of inventory in the entire MLS. Anything below six months of inventory is considered a seller’s market, and this is the lowest I’ve seen it since we started tracking inventory. Since inventory is so low, there is a huge opportunity for sellers out there. You can put your home on the market, get multiple offers, and have buyers bid up the property value. Some neighborhoods only have one home on the market, if any. Now is a good time to get a home valuation to see what your property is worth and see what’s going on in your specific neighborhood. We all know that the market is driven by supply and demand, so even though inventory is down, sales are up. Now, what’s happening in new construction? New home sales are up 7.4% over the last 12 months, although there was a 0.8% drop in December sales. The median sales price increased by 2.9% over the last 12 months to $237,762. However, last month there was a 2.2% decrease in the median sales price, dropping to $240,130.

Condo inventory is at the lowest level I've ever seen.

More people are moving inland, so it really does depend on the neighborhood. A lot of neighborhoods have seen price increases, though. Finally, let’s check in on the condo market. The condo market is smoking hot right now. It’s finally caught up to the single-family home market. Condo sales increased by 16% over the last 12 months. In December, sales went up 8.8% from the previous month. Condo prices are up 7% over the last 12 months to $123,000, and last month alone, prices increased by 10.4% to $130,000. That said, condo inventory is at the absolute lowest level that I’ve ever seen. Inventory dropped 27.7% over the last 12 months. Last month alone, condo inventory dropped 31%. Right now, there are 4.9 months of inventory on the market. Again, that is the lowest I’ve ever seen. I do think that inventory will continue to go down. Other areas of the country only have two months of inventory, which means there can be buyer fatigue. Buyers get frustrated because they can’t find the homes they want, and many buyers end up not making a purchase. Since inventory is so low, now is a great time to take advantage of the market before spring hits. When the spring market arrives, you will have more competition on your street. You should also know that interest rates recently jumped to a nine-month high, so more buyers are going to enter the first quarter than the second quarter. They want to take advantage of the interest rates before they go up again, so don’t wait until summer or spring to sell your home. Take advantage of the market now. If you have any other questions or would like more information, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Your December Real Estate Market Update

There are a lot of interesting numbers coming in from the December market. Here’s a breakdown of what’s going on.

Looking for a Myrtle Beach home? Click here for a Full Home search

Selling Your Myrtle Beach home? Get a free Home Price Evaluation

There are some interesting numbers to be found all over the board in terms of the market. Last month, with regards to single-family home, sales are up 11.4% from the same month last year, which is awesome news. There are some interesting numbers coming in with respect to pricing: prices are down 4.9% to $204,000 for resale homes last month. This is the first time we’ve seen that as a decline for resales in a very long time. A lot of times you’ll see that change from different areas and pockets. Year to date, rolling average prices for resale homes are up 5.7% to $205,000, which shows a great recovery. The one big drop we’ve seen was with inventory—inventory is down 18.2% right now with 5.4 months' worth of resale homes in the marketplace. This is the biggest drop that we’ve seen happen in the market lately. Remember, when you have more than six months of inventory, it’s a buyer’s market, and anything below six months becomes a seller’s market. That said, right now, if you’re a home seller, you want to take advantage of that. Before, inventory has been six or so months, and we’ve seen a lot of houses not sell in certain areas. If you wait until spring, there will be a huge influx of properties that you’ll have to compete with. Selling now will ensure that your home is one of the few on demand in the market. New home sales are down 2.3% overall, which is interesting when you compare it to the same month last year. Prices on new homes went down 2.5% overall last month, landing at $220,587. The great news here is that the year-to-date price of new construction homes went up 3.1% to $287,315.

The one big drop we’ve seen was with inventory, which is down 18.2% right now with 5.4 months' worth of resale homes in the marketplace.

Inventory for new homes is pretty much the same as it was in December of 2016, around 5.4 months, which is identical to the resale inventory. In 2016, the inventory for new construction was significantly less, which drove those prices up. There is big news on the condo market. Last month, we had a more than 20% increase in condo sales compared to the same month last year. Prices are following that same trend with a 4.2% increase for resale condos to $125,000. The same thing that you’re seeing in homes with regards to inventory is also happening in condos—there’s a 32.4% decrease in condo inventory, leaving it at about five months, which is the lowest I’ve seen it since we began tracking it. We’ve been selling a lot of those lately, to the point where we’ve actually added two more people to our team on the buyer’s side to help combat the influx of people looking to buy. For a future topic that’s relevant to the market, I’ll be discussing how the new tax reform bill will affect the real estate world. Reports have suggested that home values will be affected all across the country, and could drop the values in our area specifically by about $14,000. If you have any questions about the market, tax reform, or other real estate topics, please feel free to give me a call or send an email.

Your November Real Estate Market Update

Sales are up and inventory is down across the board in our Myrtle Beach market. Whether you’re a buyer or a seller, the time to act is now.

Looking for a Myrtle Beach home? Click here for a Full Home search

Selling Your Myrtle Beach home? Get a free Home Price Evaluation

We saw some very good year-over-year numbers from our Myrtle Beach market this past October compared to September’s disappointing numbers, and we’re finishing the year very strong in the resale market. Last month, resale home sales were up 18.1%. The median sales price for resale homes also rose 15.2% to $218,950. The most insightful numbers we saw concerning resale homes, though, belonged to the inventory category. Resale inventory is down 17.6% to just 5.6 months, which is one of the lowest levels I’ve ever seen. New construction sales dropped 10%, and the median sales price for them also dropped 3%. New construction inventory decreased 8.8% to 5.2 months, which explains the drop in sales. Condo sales rose 15.5%, and their median sales price rose 7.5% to $126,747. Like resale homes and new construction, inventory for condos dropped 30% to 5.3 months.

If you’re thinking about selling your home, what are you waiting for?

The biggest factor affecting these latest numbers is inventory, especially with resale homes. We’ve had a lot of buyers buy listings that were very difficult to sell because there’s not as much inventory as there previously was. Everybody’s asking what they should do now that we’re into fall and approaching the winter market, and the answer lies in supply and demand. Demand is way up and supply is down. If you’re a buyer, you want to take advantage of this situation before inventory gets any lower and competition increases after the new year. Rates are also still hovering below the 4% mark, which is great. If you’re a seller, you also want to act now before the market reaches a state of buyer fatigue. If you have any more questions about our Myrtle Beach market or you’re thinking of buying or selling a home soon, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I’d love to help you.