What’s Truly Happening in Our Market?

Myrtle Beach Real Estate Podcast with Blake Sloan

Here’s what you need to know about the state of our housing market. Big-time changes are happening in our market. If you’re using yesterday’s logic to make decisions today, you could leave a lot of money on the table. In this blog post, I’ll cover everything you need to know about Myrtle Beach’s housing market. Things are slowing down, but can you still secure a great deal? I’ll answer that question and more in your latest market update. Home sales have been declining in our area since March when we had 702. In July, we had 504. I believe this trend is caused by rising interest rates, which started right around March. Despite fewer home sales, prices remain high. The average price for a single-family home is up 13.4% from this time last year at $452,711. Prices peaked this year at $486,984 in March before falling until June. However, prices were up slightly again in July. It seems like the initial shock from higher interest rates is over. The main reason our prices probably remain high is that inventory levels remain extremely low. “It’s still a great time to buy or sell a home, but you need a fantastic agent.” That being said, supply is still up significantly. There are 42.9% more homes on the market now than there were a year ago. We currently have around two months of inventory; last year, we had 0.9. The good news is that a seller’s market is anything below six months of supply, so prices won’t drop dramatically. Instead, they will likely soften. Fortunately, our area is pretty well-insulated from national trends. Myrtle Beach is one of the fastest growing cities in the country, so prices will be protected here. On top of that, I don’t expect the national market to crash. There’s been a massive shortage of homes all across the country since the last crash in 2008. Plus, millennial buyers are heading to the market in droves. If you’re looking to stay in your home for a long time, it’s a fantastic time to purchase a home. The bottom line is that this is a great time to buy or sell a home, but you need a fantastic agent. When the market was hot, your aunt could have sold your house and gotten a decent price. Now, you need a bona fide team of experts if you want the most money possible. Recently, we’ve had sellers coming from other places freaking out that their homes won’t sell. A discount agent or team might have worked a few months ago, but they won’t work now. My team spends tens of thousands of dollars on marketing to get your home in front of as many buyers as possible. Frankly, I enjoy this new market since it gives talented teams such as mine the chance to prove ourselves. The condo side of things looks similar to the single-family side. Sales are down, and inventory is up 72.7% from this time last year. Condos in our area tend to be vacation homes, so this makes sense. Second homes are usually the first things to go when times get tough. Just like with single-family homes, prices are still up 27.6% year over year despite our slowing market. Prices peaked around May at $276,805 before dropping down to our current $258,706. What does this all mean for you? In my opinion, sellers should move fast. Prices remain high, but we don’t know how long they will last. Meanwhile, buyers have more options as inventory increases. There are currently 835 properties for sale in Myrtle Beach, but 12 weeks ago, there were only 382. If you enter the market now, you’ll have less competition for great properties. Meanwhile, rates are lower than they have been recently; some of my clients have received rates in the high 4% range. If you are looking to make a move or have questions about this topic, please call or email my team. We’d love to speak with you.