Glimmers of hope in housing market

Posted in Myrtle Beach Real Estate

The prices of condominiums sold on the Grand Strand continued falling in July as did the amount of condo inventory, but single-family house prices were at their highest levels this year, according to the monthly Coastal Carolinas Association of Realtors report released Monday. The median condo price – where half sell for more and half sell for less – fell to $149,000 in July. That’s 16 percent less than its peak this year at $177,500 in March and down 20 percent from July 2007. What’s promising for condo sellers is that the number of condos on the market also dropped in July. Inventory continued its downward slide to 7,691 units, 19 fewer than in June and 280 fewer than at the beginning of the year.

That means less competition for condo sellers and could indicate the market is inching closer to achieving a balance between supply and demand. But just because inventory is going down doesn’t mean the property is selling, said real estate broker Eddie Marshall with Century21 Boling and Associates. Some of his clients, unwilling to budge on their prices, have thrown in the towel for the time being, he said. “Some obviously sell, and then others, when they’ve been on the market for a while, the sellers just decide to take them off the market,” Marshall said. “When the prices go down, some of the sellers just will not accept that. They won’t accept the reality that they’re going to sell for less.” Sales remained sluggish in July at 263 condos sales and 267 single-family house sales, down 22 percent and 35 percent from July 2007, respectively. “It’s discouraging on the sales numbers, that they’re not rebounding,” said Tom Maeser, market analyst for the Coastal Carolinas Association of Realtors. “It’s down a little more than last year was down, and last year was a slow market.”

Maeser said the single-family house market is showing more stability than the condo market. The median price of single-family houses sold was unchanged from June prices at $209,900, the highest median price the market has seen this year. “People are a little more optimistic in the single-family side versus the condo side in this marketplace right now,” Maeser said. Marshall thinks that’s partially because single-family homes are seen as more of a necessity, as opposed to oceanfront condos that people often buy as second homes or investment properties.

Those are the first types of real estate people try to unload in today’s economy, when budgets are tight, he said. “People don’t live in them. They’re just for vacation,” Marshall said. “When you’re talking about those, you’re talking about discretionary spending. You don’t have to have one, whereas a home, everyone has to have a place to live.” Single-family house prices have fluctuated this year, but have remained between 1 percent and 12 percent lower than last year’s levels. It’s unclear whether the relatively high median selling price over the past few months is the start of an upward trend. “Everybody’s looking for the bottom,” Marshall said, “and we don’t know where the bottom is until we get to the other side and look back.”

By the numbers

Here’s a look at July home sales and prices on the Grand Strand compared with July 2007.

Single-family houses

Sales | 267, down 35 percent from July 2007
Active listings | 6,669
Days on the market | 159
Median selling price | $209,900, down 4 percent

Condos

Sales | 263, down 22 percent
Active listings | 7,691
Days on the market | 207
Median selling price | $149,000, down 20 percent

Source: Coastal Carolinas Association of Realtors

Home prices hit high for year, and condo inventory drops
By Jessica Foster
jfoster@thesunnews.com