A Fantastic Start for Our Market in 2021

Here are the latest numbers from our fast-moving real estate market.

I have a brand-new market update for you with last month’s numbers, and they’re absolutely insane. The market is pure chaos as more and more buyers come to town from all over the country. They’re making offers sight unseen, buying virtually, and we have a new record low for inventory.

The number of homes for sale in January was up 14.6% from 411 to 471, which is great news. Prices are also up 19% to $275,000 for single-family resale homes on the Grand Strand. The average sale price is up 13.6% to $347,243. These are all awesome numbers.

The biggest news of all is that inventory is down a whopping 65% from where it was last year. Right now, we have just 1.5 months of available inventory. A healthy market has about six months. Once inventory gets below one month, it could create a stalemate, especially as we see more buyers come into our market from other states.

The biggest influx of buyers to our market has come from North Carolina, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut. They’re escaping metropolitan areas and working remotely; this has become one of the hottest markets in the country.

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The market is pure chaos as more and more buyers come to town from all over the country.

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In terms of buyer traffic, we were up 80% from November to December and 39.2% in January. The amount of showings per listing in the entire Grand Strand is seeing a bit of a pullback as interest rates shot up slightly to an average of 2.87%. As rates go up, we may see things slow down a little.

Condo sales are up 22.4% from last year as they experience an inventory constraint as well. With such a low inventory of homes, buyers are having to look more toward condos both inland and on the ocean. We had 488 condo sales last month versus 366 in January 2020. The average sale price was up 19.5% to $200,594, and the median price is up 13.9% to $159,500. Condo supply is down 40.8% to 2.9 months.

Here’s the bottom line: There are thousands fewer homes on the market now than there were last year. On top of that, there is a huge influx of buyers coming from Northeast cities which is driving prices up. We’re waiting to see what will happen in the next few months, but the usual spring market is now happening this winter due to a multitude of factors.

If you want to take advantage of current conditions as a home seller or buyer, don’t hesitate to reach out via phone or email. We’d be happy to answer any questions you have, and I look forward to hearing from you soon.

What’s Set Our Market on Fire?

Our Myrtle Beach market remains red-hot as we begin 2021.

As we begin 2021, it’s time to look back at the December numbers from our Myrtle Beach real estate market. It was an amazing month and an amazing year overall considering everything that happened. So many buyers have been moving here from out of state that it’s set our market on fire and caused an inventory crisis (more on that below).

Let’s first look at the year-over-year stats for resale single-family homes. Sales rose 24.9% from 506 to 632, the median price rose 15.6% to $270,000, and the average sale price rose 23.6% to $341,509. This means a lot of extra equity in homeowners' pockets. If you have a home, it’s probably worth more than you think it is—even more than what the online home valuations say. Annually, sales rose 12.2% to 6,707, and the average price rose 14.9% to $324,129.

As I said, we’re in a full-blown inventory crisis. Nationally, inventory is as low as it’s ever been, and we’re even lower than the national average. Our supply of resale homes is right at two months, which is a 53.5% year-over-year decrease. As you can expect, this has put massive pressure on prices. What’s been driving this trend? Buyer traffic. Last month, the average number of showings per listing was up 83.9%. 

Moving onto the condo market, sales rose 38.9% from 440 to 619, the median price rose 15% to $156,000, and the average sale price rose 11.3% to $189,345. Annually, condo sales rose 5.6% and the average price rose 9.2% to $178,131. During the last few months of the year, sales really took off due to inventory for single-family homes being so low. A lot of buyers opted to move into condos because there were more of them and they were more affordable. As you can imagine, buyer traffic for these properties rose 44% in December. Annual inventory, meanwhile, decreased by 28.9% to 3.3 months.

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Nationally, inventory is as low as it’s ever been, and we’re even lower than the national average.

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By far the scariest of these numbers is the 53.5% decrease in single-family home inventory. Since the 1st of the year, inventory has risen slightly, but it’s still well below the six-month mark needed for a balanced market.  

With inventory so low and interest rates creeping up a bit, we’re approaching an important juncture in our market, and now is the perfect time to sell. Due to the pandemic and other factors, many people are moving to the Myrtle Beach area seeing greater affordability and more freedom. On top of that, a lot of buyers who’ve been waiting for the holidays to be over to list will be entering the market. The point is, strike while the iron is hot.

If you’d like to take advantage of our Myrtle Beach market right now, would like an instant home valuation, or have any questions at all, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. Talk to you soon!

Our November 2020 Market Stats

These are the latest stats from our November Myrtle Beach market.

Today I have a brand-new real estate market update for you with last month’s numbers, and they’re wild! The market is still super hot. 

We’re seeing massive gains in single-family resales, and a colossal number of people are coming in from out of town and out of state. Last month, single-family resales increased by 22.2%; we went from 477 sales in November 2019 to 578 this November. The median sales price has risen by 20.6% since last month and currently sits at $275,000. The average sale price grew even more—up 26% at $345,933.

Inventory is driving prices up, and it’s at crisis-level. Inventory (the number of homes for sale) has declined by 53.2% to 2.2 months; the graph at 1:00 in the video above looks like it’s gone off a cliff. The last time inventory was this low was in early 2006, but many more homes have been built since then.

Another shocking stat is the number of showings per listing last month; we use that number to forecast sales for the upcoming month. Showings per listing last month increased by 61.5%, which means there are 61% more buyers in the market looking for houses than in November of last year. We foresee a very hot market in December and hopefully into January. We’re seeing the perfect storm right now: All-time low interest rates and more lockdowns up north are driving more people to our marketplace because it’s very affordable.

Condo sales are also smoking hot—they rose 25.3%. There were 411 last year versus 515 this year. The median price grew 10.7% to $155,000. The average price is up 13.7% at $192,364. Showings per listing for condos also grew 25%. 

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Despite the pandemic, there are extremely safe ways to sell these days.

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The same inventory crisis is happening with condos; inventory has declined by 28% to 3.5 months. Inventory has decreased so much, and prices have risen so dramatically that many buyers are driven out of the market; they either can’t afford it or can’t find what they want, so they’re buying condos instead.

Despite the pandemic, there are extremely safe ways to sell these days. With the ongoing health crisis, we’ve been investing heavily in technology with virtual reality tours, virtual video walk-throughs, we have an in-house photographer and videographer, and more. We’re extremely proud of what we’ve done to combat health risks, and we’ve been leading the charge in the Myrtle Beach marketplace. 

My coach just sent me a message that says she’s very impressed with our virtual home tours, and with our top-notch marketing, our sellers won’t have to wait long. She’s right; we’re seeing properties sell within minutes and hours. If you’re a seller, take advantage of this time. This is an unparalleled situation for the holiday season.

Just today we had a great success story with our clients and Matt and Amy; they had a high-end home, and we got them $20,000 more than they thought they could get, and it sold within a few days of being on the market at full price. Your sale could be our next success story.

If you’ve been considering selling or your house was on the market before and didn’t sell, call or email us today. You can also get an easy online evaluation on our website. Also, let us know if you need any help or have questions in the future. We would love to assist you.