Sun News (Myrtle Beach, SC) -- The Grand Strand’s real estate year has started just the way you’d
want in a healthy market, with a modest rebound in numbers of sales – up
2.6 percent in January over December for single-family homes – and a
median price up 8.2 percent to more than $196,000, according to a
monthly report from SiteTech Systems, which tracks the local real estate
market. Condo sales were down 3.9 percent during the month after a
year of modest growth, the report said, but the median price rose 18.6
percent to $116,500 in January. While homes priced between
$121,000 and $500,000 all hit historic peaks for numbers of sales in
2015, at least some of the area’s real estate watchers are watching as
well the strength of sales for homes priced at more than $500,000. The
numbers of upper-end homes sold are modest compared with lower-priced
homes, but the annual percentage increase for sales of homes at $500,000
and above harkens back to the Wild West days of the last decade.
SiteTech figured that the $1 million-plus market grew by 105 percent
in 2015 over what it had been in 2014. The increase in numbers of homes
was just 20 sales, but the percent jump eclipses the previous high mark
set during the boom days of 2005. “I was a little bit surprised to
see it up that much,” said Todd Woodard, SiteTech president. “It’s been
gaining strength, obviously, but that’s a little bit more than I would
expect.” The trend continued in January, at least for homes
selling from $500,000 to $1 million, which were up 23 percent from
January 2015. Homes priced at more than $1 million declined from six
sales a year ago to four sales in January 2016, a minor blip that
represented a 33 percent drop in monthly sales for the price range from
January 2015. A local broker for Berkshire Hathaway
Homes Services, said he began to notice increased activity at the high
end during 2015, a trend that he said picked up speed last month. “In December,” he said, “the whole spigot got turned on.” He attributed at least some of the upper-end growth to banks easing
off on the interest rate for what’s known as jumbo loans, homes priced
at $417,450 and up. While conventional home loans now see interest
rates of about 3.38 percent, broker said, the jumbo loan rate has dropped
below 4 percent. “Anytime you come down, that’s quite a saving
(for buyers of high-priced homes),” he said. “Anything below 4 percent
will stimulate sales.” Broker said the people who can afford the
upper end had been buying $300,000 to $400,000 homes until recently,
opting for square feet over high-end finishes. Now they’re back to
wanting stone countertops, custom cabinets and better windows in their
new homes.
Woodard said the increase sales at the upper end likely reflect increased confidence and a stabilized stock market.He
isn’t sure how many of the high-priced buyers are locals and how many
are out-of-towners, but his guess is that most are coming from outside
the area. He talked recently with a local builder who told him that 80 percent of the company’s buyers are coming from outside the market. While
the high-end market is surging, sales of homes priced at $120,000 and
less are sinking. Such home sales sustained Grand Strand Realtors during
the Great Recession, but in 2015 it was the only price segment that
declined in number of sales. The segment reached a historic high
with more than 900 sales as recently as 2012, but last year the number
dropped to 673, a 15.2 percent drop from 2014. “For such a long time, everybody was pushing $150,000 (homes),” the local broker said.
Now, the real activity is for homes $300,000 and above. The local broker said his company’s sales this month are better than last and he sees good days for the area’s real estate during 2016. Woodard is expecting modest growth in both price and numbers, just what you’d expect from a healthy, mature real estate market.
*Sales of homes between $500,000 and $1 million up 23 percent in January compared to January 2015
*Sales of homes priced at $120,000 and less are sinking
*Overall market off to solid start in 2016
http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/news/business/real-estate-news/article61176647.html
