Here’s what buyers and sellers need to know about our housing market.
What’s happening in our housing market? To give you a better understanding of where our market is heading, I’m breaking down the latest housing numbers and explaining what they mean for our area. The beginning of the year has seen a flood of buyers coming back to our market, but is this just a flash in the pan? Let’s take a look at the latest numbers and find out.
First, let me explain how we know more buyers are entering our market. In December 2022, only about 280 properties went under contract each week. Things didn’t change much from there until the week of January 20, 2023, when there were 480 properties under contract. Just two weeks later 670 properties were under contract, which is a 26.46% increase from January. Volume has similarly increased by 21.9% in just one month.
This is fantastic news for our market, but why are buyers choosing to come back? Some of it can be chalked up to seasonality; many people wait until the holidays are over to resume their home-buying plans. However, the main reason why the spring market has come early is interest rates. Rates recently dropped back down to the high-5% range, which is the lowest they’ve been in what seems like a while.
“Sales will likely continue to increase as we head further into the spring market. ”
All the relevant real estate numbers are pointing toward this trend. Last month, when rates were still high, sales were down 34.7% year over year. However, if you go back to March, the drop is even more dramatic since that’s when the spring market was at its peak. While I’m not sure if we’ll reach the heights of 2022’s market again this year, I am confident that sales will continue to increase as we head further into the spring market.
Meanwhile, the median price for January 2023 was up 4.6% year over year, but it’s lower than it was in December 2022. The good news is that this shouldn’t worry you; price is a lagging indicator. In other words, it just tells us what we already knew. Meanwhile, pending sales are a predictive indicator and give us a much better idea of where our market is going.
Supply is up 140% from this time last year, but this number is a little deceiving since we still have very low inventory. Myrtle Beach only has 2.4 months of inventory as of this blog post, which still means sellers are in the driver’s seat. In fact, our low supply is the main reason prices have been relatively insulated from the recent interest rate spike. If you’re worried about a crash, just remember that we’ve had a shortage of housing supply for years now. As long as that’s the case, a crash won’t come.
Finally, year-over-year condo sales were down 47.3% last month. In March 2022, we had 804 condos close, while we only had 302 last month. However, the median price is still up 17.9% from this time last year, so condo owners shouldn’t panic. As long as supply remains low, prices will stay high.
What does this mean for you? Sellers are in the driver’s seat. Buyers are jumping back into the market, and sellers have a fantastic opportunity to get incredible deals as long as they work with the right team. If you only take one thing away from this market update, it should be this: Start planning now. The spring market has come early, and if you wait too long to make a move, you’ll have tons of competition.
If you would like to make a moving plan or have any questions, please call or email me and my team. We would love to hear from you!
