Your February Real Estate Market Update

With interest rates expected to rise, now’s a great time for both buyers and sellers in our market. I’ll go over your full market update today.

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Today I have another market update for you—complete with the latest numbers in home sales, condo sales, and interest rates, as well as a breakdown of what they mean for you. Let’s start with single-family homes. Last month, the number of single-family home sales rose 3.5% compared to January 2017. The 12-month rolling average rose 12.1%. The median sales price of single-family homes rose 0.3% last month to $190,500, which is pretty flat but also normal because of the effect of pending sales in December and late November. For the 12-month rolling average, the median sales price rose 6.5% to $207,500. The number of pending sales of single-family homes rose 25.2% last month, which was a huge jump. This means everyone that came to town to make an offer on something will be closing within the next 30 to 45 days, so you should expect a large sales bump this month. This will also dictate what happens with home values moving forward. This jump in pending sales made inventory drop. Officially, the level of inventory dropped 20.6% in January 2018 to five months. That’s something I haven’t seen with resale homes since the real estate boom of 2005 and 2006. With that in mind, we should see fewer homes coming on the market. As we know, when inventory levels are less than six months, it’s a seller’s market. This is why, if you’re a seller, now is a great time to take advantage of our market. At five months, inventory is low but still healthy. Once inventory gets too low, however, buyer fatigue tends to set in.

If you’re a seller, now is a great opportunity to take advantage of our spring market.

Moving on to condos, the number of sales rose 7.2% last month compared to January 2017, and the 12-month rolling average rose 15.9%. The median sales price rose 8.2% compared to January 2017, and the 12-month rolling average rose 6.1%. The number of pending sales of condos rose 7.4% last month, while inventory dropped 28.6% to five months. We saw in the last few weeks and months that inventory levels for condos were lower than homes, but now, as you can see, they’re even. Here’s the wild care, though—interest rates are at 4.49% for a 30-year fixed rate, which is the highest it’s been in years. As rates continue to climb, we’ll see fewer buyers come on the market, which could hurt the demand for homes because it limits people’s buying power and their ability to upsize into higher price points. That’s why, as I said, you need to take advantage of our spring market now if you’re a home seller. Rates are expected to rise all the way up to 4.9% by the end of the fourth quarter of this year. Similarly, if you’re a homebuyer, you want to take advantage of the market now because of this expected rise. The No. 1 mismanaged variable in the home buying process is interest rates. Oftentimes, people don’t take them into account and it costs them thousands of dollars on the back end. If you have any questions about our market, you want a free home valuation, or you’re thinking of buying or selling a home soon, don’t hesitate to give me a call or send me an email. I’d be happy to help you.

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.

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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.

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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.