The launch of Myrtle Beach Direct Air and an earlier-than-usual spring return by Delta boosted passenger traffic in March at Myrtle Beach International Airport.

• About 68,446 people flew out of Myrtle Beach last month, a 23 percent increase over the same month a year ago, according to airport statistics.

• March was the seventh consecutive month of passenger increases over the previous year, a trend airport officials predict will continue as airlines add more flights and capacity.

• So far this calendar year, 148,001 travelers have flown out of Myrtle Beach.

Since last April, Myrtle Beach has added two additional destinations, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Spirit and Niagara Falls, N.Y., on Myrtle Beach Direct Air.

• Direct Air, during its first month in March, carried 4,052 passengers into and out of Myrtle Beach. The charter carrier flies to Newark, N.J.; Pittsburgh and Niagara Falls.

• Delta’s earlier-than-usual spring return also helped. The airline added another route to Atlanta to fill the void left by AirTran. About 3,293 people traveling in and out of Myrtle Beach flew on Delta in March.

• Spirit, which recently added a flight to Boston, carried the most outbound passengers, 26,858. US Airways was second, with 19,667 outbound passengers.

Airport officials point to passenger growth as a reason for building a new 14-gate terminal, a $226 million project that has limped along under stiff criticism for the past few years.

The Myrtle Beach Community Appearance Board, which must OK the project, will decide April 26 whether it can be built.

Source: Dawn Bryant, The Sun News, Myrtle Beach

Three Intracoastal Waterway lots in Carolina Forest will go on the auction block on Thursday - a form of marketing that real estate agents say is becoming more popular for residential properties in a slow market.

• Auctioning is becoming more popular for residential properties, analysts say, because of high inventories and a buyer’s market.

• The benefits of auctions are better marketing, a date of sale and perhaps a better price - owners can put minimums on their property so it won’t be sold for less than they want.

• If it doesn’t sell, the company then has a list of all the potential people who were interested in buying and the owner has an idea what that group of buyers thought the property was worth on that given day.

Three owners will find out what price their lots are worth Thursday.

• The auction for lots 31, 32 and 50 in Carolina Waterway Plantation will start at 6 p.m. at the Comfort Suites at the intersection of U.S. 501 and U.S. 17 Bypass.

• Bidders should arrive early to register.

Tom Maeser, president of the Fortune Academy of Real Estate, said auctioning residential properties is certainly becoming more popular, but it’s important the consumer gets a reputable auctioneer.

• “I see more and more of it. It used to mean distressed sales, but it doesn’t mean that now. People are more receptive to it. When people get frustrated with the existing scenario, an auction becomes another method,” he said.

The owners of the three lots in Carolina Waterway Plantation could be frustrated because there are a good number of lots already on the market in that development - 66 lots out of 364.

• And only two lots have sold since the first of the year, according to the Multiple Listing Service.

• Similar waterway lots are on the market for $421,900 at lot 49 and $427,435 at lot 39. And the waterway lot that sold most recently went for $355,000, down from an asking price of $380,000.

Source: Jenny Burns, The Sun News, Myrtle Beach

Grand Strand condominium sales dropped 41 percent in the first quarter, falling to a sales level that’s lower than in the same quarter in the past three years - and the largest quarterly drop in sales in the past year.

• The drop didn’t surprise real estate analysts, considering the market’s investor exodus and skyrocketing insurance costs.

• But they were surprised that condo sales didn’t at least grow above 2004 levels, when 1,040 condos sold on the Grand Strand.

• This year in the first quarter 901 sold on the Strand, according to the Multiple Listing Service for Horry and Georgetown counties.

The question is: when does the condo market stop dropping and start going up?

• “We have about 9,000 condos [on the market] and sales about 10 percent of that. That’s a pretty large imbalance,” said research economist Don Schunk at Coastal Carolina University.

• Schunk says condos will take much longer than single family homes to get back into balance.

• The investors that bought when prices were high don’t have much wiggle room to drop prices, said Tom Maeser, market analyst and president of the Fortune Academy of Real Estate.

• “They’re not wanting to take a loss, so they’re holding on. It’s kind of a standoff right now,” he said. “Everybody I know is starting to feel that buyers are starting to make more decisions realizing that [reducing prices are] not going to last too much longer.”

Single family homes

First-quarter sales for single-family homes also dropped - 17 percent, to 1,090 from 1,311 - also the largest quarterly drop in the past year.

• In the fourth quarter, single-family-home sales fell 4 percent.

• But it’s the second-best year since records have been kept for home sales, down from 2006 but up from 2005 when 932 homes were sold.

• While the single-family market looks like it’s experienced a sharp drop, Schunk said it’s just getting back in line with sales for a normal market after a market peak in the first quarter of 2006.

• “The drop in single-family sales is not that big of a concern. The overall trend is still going up,” he said. “But with the condo market, it’s a different story.”

• Maeser and Schunk expect a pickup in single-family sales from first quarter to second quarter, but not enough to beat 2006 sales levels.

Source: Jenny Burns, The Sun News, Myrtle Beach

One insurer has announced plans to come back into coastal South Carolina and write condominium and commercial property insurance, and the state’s insurance director says he thinks more will follow.

Companion Property & Casualty Group, a subsidiary of BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina, says more capacity in the reinsurance market and S.C. Director of Insurance Scott Richardson’s request for help spurred them to move back in.

• Companion will start writing new policies April 16 for full coverage, including wind coverage, for individual condominium unit owners.

• Currently, the company has $600 million in coastal windstorm coverage in South Carolina for condo owners. It plans to grow that line as much as 25 percent in the next 12 months.

• Companion is writing insurance only for individual condo owners.

Local independent insurance agents say Companion’s return to the market is great news for consumers, but they say there still is a need for more insurance coverage for large condo buildings.

Source: Jenny Burns, The Sun News, Myrtle Beach

Would you choose Myrtle Beach over Sydney, Australia? Miami? Honolulu?

Yahoo! users did. In the list of the “World’s Best Beaches,” the Grand Strand took the top spot, outranking destinations that dwarf Myrtle Beach in visitor numbers, reputation and general name recognition.

Yahoo! users voted online. More than 680 people have posted reviews of Myrtle Beach, some adding photos of themselves in the surf.

The popular site should help get more positive attention for the Grand Strand at a perfect time as travelers plan their summer vacations, said Brad Dean, president of the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce.

“Any ranking by a reputable source is flattering, but given the level of exposure this grants us - to millions of Yahoo! users - plus the prominence given to this list in the Yahoo! Travel section, we’re thrilled,” he said.

Yahoo!’s top 10 beaches:

1. Myrtle Beach

2. Miami, Fla.

3. Cancun, Mexico

4. Kaanapali, Hawaii

5. Honolulu, Hawaii

6. San Diego, Calif.

7. Boracay Island, Philippines

8. Key West, Fla.

9. Sydney, Australia

10. Santa Barbara, Calif.

Source: Dawn Bryant, The Sun News, Myrtle Beach, SC

The Grand Strand’s continuing expansion challenges planners, marketers. The area’s population grew 21 percent between 2000 and 2006.

• From 2005 to 2006, the Myrtle Beach area was the fourth-fastest-growing area in the nation, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau released today.

• The Metropolitan Statistical Area identified as Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach ranked 17th in the nation between 2000 and 2006, according to Census Bureau data.

The boom isn’t going to stop anytime soon, thanks to the region’s geography, weather, quality of life and seemingly endless supply of retiring baby boomers, experts said.

• The growth can mostly be attributed to the rapid influx of retirees, said Bob Becker, director of the Strom Thurmond Institute at Clemson University. Their movement has created more jobs in the service sector, bringing even more people to the area that weren’t already here.

• “It’s an attractive area, and the growth will continue,” he said. “The numbers are going to increase as we see the baby boomers retire.”

And many of them aren’t looking to retire in Florida, making the Carolinas one of the prime coastal destinations on the East Coast, he said. Since much of the land along Georgia’s coast is wetland that cannot be developed, and much of North Carolina’s coastline is protected by barrier islands, South Carolina is the next most logical option.

• “Hurricanes have gotten people thinking about a lot of issues in Florida. So, we are seeing a lot of redirection to the Carolinas,” Becker said.

• The market’s diversity is what makes the Myrtle Beach area such an attractive spot in the state, said Gary Loftus, director of the Coastal Federal Center for Economic & Community Development.

• Many retirees are looking to move to Horry County rather than Florida or the Gulf Coast because of hurricanes that have damaged those areas in recent years, said Janet Carter, county planning director.

• The shopping, beach, golfing and availability of jobs also make the Myrtle Beach area attractive to young families.

The Horry County school district expects a need for between nine and 19 new schools in the next decade to accommodate between 11,000 and 20,000 new students, according to district projections.

Locals have learned to adjust in their growing community. They enjoy the benefits the growth brings - new stores and attractions - while dealing with the drawbacks, such as busier roads and longer lines at restaurants.

Source: Dawn Bryant, Jessica Foster and Josh Hoke, The Sun News, Myrtle beach, SC

A ruling by a bankruptcy court judge has stopped a developer from turning at least part of a North Myrtle Beach golf course into condominiums.

Eastport Golf Club homeowners have been fighting the redevelopment for close to two years. Their lawyer said the ruling sets a precedent along the Grand Strand and should be a lesson to homeowners to check covenants and restrictions when faced with possible redevelopment.

“It’s an important decision as far as I’m concerned. The only other community that attempted to stop (redevelopment of a golf course) is Deertrack. All other golf courses have just closed in our area,” attorney Patrick O’Dea said.

Judge John E. Waites said residential redevelopment is not allowed by the homeowners’ deed restrictions, which say the property is for “golf course use only.”

The golf course is owned by Eastport Golf Club, Inc., which is owned by Charlotte, N.C., businessman Mel Graham. He is disappointed with the ruling.

Now that he can’t redevelop, Graham said he will attempt to sell the course. “Unfortunately, we do not know of any potential buyers at this time,” he said.

An oversupply of golf courses has contributed to the closing of 16 other Strand courses for planned redevelopment since January 2005. Three courses at Bay Tree Plantation have closed within a few miles of Eastport, and at least two others intend to close nearby.

Source: Associated Press, The Sun News, Myrtle Beach, SC