While February sales are down from 2006, prices are still up from last year.

• “It’s a phenomenon,” said Tom Maeser, market analyst and president of the Fortune Academy of Real Estate. “I thought for sure by now we’d see a price decrease.”

• In February, 326 homes and 247 condos sold on the Grand Strand, down from February 2006 when 455 homes sold and 420 condos, according to the Multiple Listing Service for Horry and Georgetown counties.

Both average and median price, however, increased for homes and condos year-over-year. Median price means half the homes sold for more and half for less.

• The median price of a home on the Strand increased to $210,000 from $191,000 and the median price of a condo jumped to $182,500 from $165,900.

The increases mean consumers are willing to pay today’s prices, which seem to have stabilized, Maeser said.

• “Prices did go up fairly fast in 2005 and 2006 because we were so far below market. They’ve leveled off, and we’re not seeing tremendous increases. But we’re seeing a more normal market. Consumers must still feel that where prices are at is OK. They’re willing to pay that,” Maeser said.

February sales are also down slightly compared to January. But there are signs of improvement in the number of days condos are listed on the market.

• It took condos 335 days on average to sell in January, but 238 days in February.

• The number of days single family homes stayed on the market remained the same for January and February at 160 days.

And while inventory - the number of homes on the market - dropped in the fall, it seems to be rising again.

• There are 5,400 single family homes on the market, compared with 4,848 at the end of the fourth quarter. Condo inventory climbed to 9,366 from 8,654 at the end of the fourth quarter.

• This time of year inventory generally increases, said Don Schunk, research economist at Coastal Carolina University.

• “It’s a tough time of the year to read too much into that inventory number. This is the time of year when people put homes on the market. People are now just starting to look in earnest,” he said.

Source: Jenny Burns, The Sun News, Myrtle Beach, SC

The Grand Strand had the largest drop in home sales of any area in South Carolina in February - but it continues to show price jumps while other beach areas show price declines.

• Sales fell 26 percent on the Strand for homes and condos combined, according to the S.C. Association of Realtors.

• Median prices increased 10% year-over-year, while the Hilton Head area dropped 22%, Beaufort dropped 8% and Charleston increased by 0.5%.

• The condo market is seeing most of the double-digit sales drops, while the single-family market has seen only small decreases.

“Both the Myrtle Beach area and Charleston continue to see sluggish sales but prices that are at least holding their own or climbing,” said Don Schunk, research economist at Coastal Carolina University.

The trend of falling sales and increasing year-over-year prices has continued for several months on the Strand.

• Real estate experts say it’s hard to glean an exact picture of what’s to come from the first two months of the year, but they say it continues to be a good sign that prices show year-over-year increases.

• Insurance costs have played havoc on the market, and experts aren’t sure how a clamp-down in the subprime mortgage industry will affect first-time buyers in South Carolina.

• “It’s hard to predict a trend off of your two slowest months of the year,” said Nick Kremydas, chief executive officer of the S.C. Association of Realtors. “Deeper into the spring we’ll be able to look at April and May and predict the rest of the year. But the mood is optimistic.”

Schunk agreed it’s hard to say what’s to come. “It will be interesting to see what happens in the next few months, March through June. I’m not sure what’s going to happen with those numbers,” he said.

• Schunk said the fundamentals for the Strand to have a pickup in sales are in place - rapid population growth and a strong economy with employment growth.

• For sellers who might be concerned about getting a home sold, Schunk says be patient.

• “The numbers suggest that if you’re patient enough, eventually there is going to be a buyer for that house and eventually they’ll be willing to pay a price that sounds pretty reasonable to you,” he said.

While traffic at real estate offices has been up, not too many buyers are making offers, said Tom Maeser, market analyst at the Fortune Academy of Real Estate.

• Some buyers are waiting to see if prices will drop more, while others are starting to think they might have bottomed out, he said.

Source: Jenny Burns, The Sun News, Myrtle beach, SC

Vanna White is going to take a turn promoting S.C. tourism, touting her home state to what boosters hope is a newly attentive audience.

The “Wheel of Fortune” letter-turning star and North Myrtle Beach native has agreed to do a promotion, though what form that will take is still under discussion. Her participation would be free, though it’s unclear what the production costs might be.

“It would be a real impact” if White were to suggest to folks nationwide that they visit her home state, said Sen. Dick Elliott, D-North Myrtle Beach. “She more than any one else exemplifies our slogan of ‘Smiling Faces, Beautiful Places.’”

This would not be White’s first assistance to her home state with a promotion. The state Department of Health and Environmental Control’s recycling division has a public service announcement featuring White turning letters and urging people to recycle.

“We’ve gotten more response from this than any other public service announcement we’ve done,” said Richard Chesley, manager of the DHEC recycling division. “It’s really helped, and we’re really grateful.”

Source: Zane Wilson, The Sun News

Commissioners select $2 billion interstate plan as most important to state

A new interstate that would provide faster, more direct access to Myrtle Beach was named the S.C. Transportation Department’s top priority Thursday.

The decision came hours after a group of Grand Strand-area business and political leaders requested the symbolic approval and a new commissioner was appointed to represent that region.

The resolution, signed by five of the agency’s seven commissioners, is in favor of I-73, which would run from Michigan to the coast and is expected to cost $2 billion in South Carolina alone. Grand Strand officials requested a show of support for I-73 as Congress chooses which highways to fund.

Agency staff said this was the first time the proposed interstate had been designated as the top project.

Source: John O’Connor at thestate.com

Several of the rides and attractions from the Myrtle Beach Pavilion amusement park will have a new inland home.

• Burroughs & Chapin said it is moving the historic carousel and German organ, nine rides like the Caterpillar and Pirate Ship and some of the old park’s midway games from their old oceanfront location to Broadway at the Beach, a shopping and entertainment area a couple of miles from the beach.

• They will be placed at the Pavilion Nostalgia Park, a year-round attraction scheduled to open this summer, the company said.

Moving the rides and other attraction to Broadway at the Beach allows families to continue the tradition of visiting the Pavilion in an area that is easy to get to, Burroughs & Chapin President and CEO Doug Wendel said.

• “If popular demand during the last year when we were announcing the closure and we went into the farewell season is any indication it’ll be phenomenally received,” Wendel said.

• The Pavilion Nostalgia Park also will include a building to commemorate the Pavilion’s place in Myrtle Beach history.

Source: The Associated Press

Myrtle Beach, a city of just under 27,000 on South Carolina’s coast, is a tourism hot spot. It attracts 14 million visitors annually, helping make South Carolina second only to Florida as a vacation destination. Flanked by a 60-mile-long beach strip, called the Grand Strand, its 23 square miles are dotted with posh resorts, golf courses and upscale-suburban neighborhoods.

Second Home Buyers

Its reasonably affordable real estate, moderate climate and beautiful beaches draw throngs of transplants from the Northeast. Second-home buyers and retirees have arrived in such numbers that EscapeHomes.com named Myrtle Beach the most desirable second-home market in the United States. And Myrtle Beach consistently earns nods from national magazines as one of the nation’s best retirement towns, with some of the country’s best beaches to boot.

Although many retirees settle in the area, Myrtle Beach is not considered a retirement community. The median age is 37. Most of the new residents are either younger families buying vacation homes or older people buying retirement homes. Many younger part-timers are expected to become full-timers as they age.

Myrtle Beach Market

The local property market, particularly condominium sales, cooled a bit over the course of 2006. Though prices are still considerably less than the Florida coast and even many other parts of South Carolina, like Hilton Head, the area is shifting to a market of vacation and retirement homes, and the prices are expected to start rising to reflect the change, according to area real estate agents.

Myrtle Beach Prices

There is always a demand for beachfront luxury homes in higher price ranges (from several hundred thousand up into the multimillions), but you don’t have to spend a fortune to find a nice home in Myrtle Beach. Condos start in the $120,000 range. Single-family residences in the more desirable parts of town start at $175,000, while those by beach start at about $225,000 (there are houses listed as low as $100,000 farther inland).

Myrtle Beach Perks

Southern hospitality - outdoor pleasures include beachcombing, swimming, boating and fishing, and golfing. There are more than 1,700 restaurants in the area and Coastal Grand Mall is South Carolina’s largest shopping center.

Contact Barbara Chartier (843-902-0204) for more information on Myrtle Beach Second Home / Vacation property.

Source: Shannon Roxborough, NorthJersey.com

Barefoot Resort & Golf in North Myrtle Beach, S.C., has added a golf school and a yacht club with a marina and dockside restaurant to its array of amenities. Centex Homes Myrtle Beach Division is the primary developer of the 2,300-acre resort and residential community.

Barefoot Resort property owners can purchase memberships in the new Barefoot Resort Yacht Club, which opened earlier this year.

• The facility, located on the eastern side of Barefoot Resort along the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, has 142 slips as well as 1,000 feet of transient dockage.

• The club features concrete floating docks, Ship’s Store, private showers, laundry facilities, DockSider’s Grille, gas and diesel fuel service, two pump-out locations, a swimming pool with spa, and short- and long-term slip leasing to the general public.

The Nick Bradley Golf School, which also opened this year, is located near the marina.

• Bradley, a former member of the European PGA Tour, offers individualized instruction.

• The $1.2 million complex includes a wood-fired pizza sports bar and grill, and a 30-acre practice facility.

• The school offers a Nike Pro Shop and a Henry Griffitts custom club-fitting center.

Other facilities for residents include an eight-acre residents’ club with a swimming pool, fitness center, and tennis facilities. Centex Homes also offers its property owners exclusive use of a beach cabana overlooking the Atlantic oceanfront.

Barefoot Resort features four golf courses designed by Greg Norman, Pete Dye, Davis Love III and Tom Fazio. Golf Digest’s list of “America’s Greatest Public Courses” ranks the Love Course at No. 38 and the Fazio Course at No. 81.

The Barefoot Resort & Golf is accessible via a swing bridge that leads residents and guests across the Intracoastal Waterway.

• The resort is located near shopping, dining, and entertainment venues just across the bridge at Barefoot Landing.

• There, the House of Blues and Alabama Theatre host some of the biggest names in music. Greg Norman’s Australian Grille is one of the restaurants, and boutique shops and factory outlets line Barefoot Landing’s lakes and the Intracoastal Waterway.

Contact Barbara Chartier (843-902-0204) to register with Centex Homes at Barefoot Resort to receive new pricing and “Best Buy” information.

Centex Homes Myrtle Beach Division was recently spotlighted in the December 2006 issue of US Airways Magazine. Centex Homes was one of just two homebuilders in the segment, “Home is Where The Beach Is.”

Centex Homes is the largest home builder along the Grand Strand and is the primary developer of Barefoot Resort and Golf. Barefoot Resort, a 2,300-acre master planned community located in the heart of North Myrtle Beach, has been named one of “America’s 100 Best Master-Planned Communities” by Where To Retire magazine.

Barefoot Resort’s Davis Love III golf course is one of 20 new courses added to GOLF Magazine’s 2006-2007 list of the “Top 100 You Can Play” which is published in the September issue of the publication.

Centex Homes is the largest and most respected home builder along the Grand Strand, with 32 neighborhoods from Brunswick County, N.C., to Georgetown County, S.C.

For information on current “Best Buys” at Centex Myrtle Beach, contact Barbara Chartier at 843-902-0204