Sales Tumble in Grand Strand, South Carolina Housing Market

Skyrocketing insurance premiums and steadily inventory have sent home sales tumbling on the Grand Strand.

Single-family home sales dropped 20 percent in October, compared to the 538 sold a year ago, according to the Multiple Listing Service for Horry and Georgetown counties.

Also, condominium sales dropped 34 percent to 423 from 640 last October.

“In my opinion, that’s going to be a continuing trend,” said Greg Harrelson of Century 21 The Harrelson Group.

The market is seeing a sharp increase in supply and a moderate decline in demand for home loans, he said. The result should be a decrease in prices in order to get properties moving … but this hasn’t been the case.

Prices are still showing year-over-year increases - with the average home price increasing 5 percent to $272,701 from $258,567 and the average condo price up 5 percent to $243,851 from $231,646.

However, most real estate agents say prices are being cut in certain segments of the home and condo market, as motivated sellers are offering big incentives in order to lure in buyers.

The market has completely “done a 180-degree turn from a year ago,” so large sales drops aren’t surprising, said Dale Johnson, owner of Palmetto Real Estate Partners, formerly Dale Johnson & Associates.

“Last year, there was still a tremendous amount of investor interest in the Myrtle Beach area [in October]. But this year, the investor has totally left the market,” Johnson said.

In Georgetown County, inventory has not been as high as the overall Grand Strand and sales declines have been smaller, said Royce King, president of The Litchfield Company Real Estate, LLC.

Harrelson said agents need to be prudent about what price they’re listing homes and condos a; if they want to attract middle-income home mortgage loan applicants, that is.

Many sellers are just listing property at a high price to see if it will sell, he said.

“I tell my agents, ‘Let’s not take overpriced listings. It hurts the real estate agent, the real estate company, and it hurts the consumer. It oversaturates the market. If we took those [units] off, supply would go down,” he said.