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 last month’s 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 pumped the brakes in terms of 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 to market with. 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 anyway you can. 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.
