Spring Is Here, and Our Market Is Still on Fire

Spring has brought a golden opportunity for sellers in our market.

The latest statistics from our Myrtle Beach real estate market are unbelievable. We’ve seen massive increases in sales and sale prices, and inventory has seen a huge drop. Here’s how the February 2021 numbers stack up to February 2020.

Single-family home sales rose 22% from 411 to 466 sales. The median sale price for single-family homes rose 22.4% to $364,370. Most shockingly, inventory dropped 68.2% to 1.4 months. What this means is that there are 68.2% fewer homes available than there were last year, and with demand going through the roof, we’re seeing a lot of pressure on home prices.

Buyers are getting into bidding wars and we’re seeing a massive influx of cash from up north (New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, etc.). Homeowners up there are selling their homes for $600,000, $700,000, or even $800,000 and buying homes down here in the $360,000 to $370,000 range. This is huge news for home sellers because they want to take advantage of this trend. 

Another key number to remember is buyer traffic. Last month, showings across the MLS were up 78.8%. This means we’ll continue to see increases in sales and sale prices moving forward. Interest rates, however, have jumped the past few weeks, which may pump the brakes a bit. The average for a 30-year fixed term is 3.45%; just a few weeks ago, the average was 2.76%. 

Also, Fannie Mae decreased how many second homes and investment properties they want in their portfolio, which will hurt the second home market. They want to limit their portfolio to 7%—it’s usually about 14%. They’ve added fees to these types of mortgages, so we may see fewer of these types of purchases. That said, we’re still seeing a big influx of relocations from up north, which is great news for home sellers. We’re not sure how long this will last, but it’s great news nonetheless. 

"We’ve seen massive increases in sales and
sale prices, and inventory has seen a huge drop."

In the condo market, sales rose 22.5% from 435 to 533 sales. The median sale price jumped 13.2% to $179,105. As with single-family homes, inventory for condos dropped drastically by 46.9% to 2.6 months. We’re seeing an inventory crisis across the country right now, but it’s especially prevalent in our area because of all the relocation we’re seeing from northern buyers. They want to be in less densely populated areas and want more freedom. My team and I have dealt with a ton of these buyers who want to buy here ASAP. 

If you’re looking to sell, it matters a great deal which agent you use. We’re seeing many agents leave a lot of money on the table (in some cases, $20,000 or $30,000) for their clients because they’re not handling the current market correctly. The reality is that most agents in our market don’t deal with a lot of buyers. The average agent only sells about four homes a year. That’s not a whole lot of money for marketing. From a marketing standpoint, the Sloan Realty Group outspends the average agent by a ratio of 100/1, and we work with buyers across the globe. As of the recording of this video, there are 60,522 active buyers in our market from all over the country, so you owe it to yourself not to leave money on the table when selling. 

One of our recent seller clients chose to move back to upstate New York to be closer to his family, and when he reached out to us about working with our team, he got a big surprise. We showed him how we could sell his home for $20,000 more than what online estimates showed. Within one day of putting his home on the market, we had it under contract with multiple offers. 

This is something we’re seeing all across the board, so to reiterate: If you or anyone you know is thinking about selling, now’s the perfect time to act. Don’t wait too long, because some industry experts warn of a potential market shift happening in the third or fourth quarter of this year. With interest rates rising, take advantage of the market while numbers are up and we’re still in early spring. 

As always, if you have questions about our Myrtle Beach market or are ready to start your home-selling journey, don't hesitate to reach out to me. Don’t just trust the online data. You need experts like the people on our team because we can put a lot more money in your pocket at the end of the day. I look forward to hearing from you.

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!