Myrtle Beach Lures Second Home Buyers

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