This is your Myrtle beach real estate forecast for the first half of 2022, where we talk about what’s gonna happen with both price and demand in the Myrtle beach real estate market for the next six months.
Thanks for stopping in my name is Lance MacMillan with Mango Homes powered by Keller Williams, Myrtle beach. And today we’re gonna be doing a deep dive into the Myrtle beach real estate market. We’re gonna be looking at five major factors that are currently affecting the market. Look at how those are trending. And then we’re going to use that information to predict what’s gonna happen in the next six months. First, let’s talk about the Myrtle beach area itself and what makes it such an attractive place to own a home.
The weather in Myrtle beach is what you get if you take Florida’s weather and you dialed it back by one notch, it’s nowhere near as oppressive and hot in the summertime as it is in coastal Florida, you can kind of almost see four seasons in there if you squint really hard and look at it. There are 25% fewer hurricanes that hit Myrtle beach than hit Florida. The congestion isn’t anywhere near as bad as it is in a lot of the country. There’s a really easy going vibe here. And the whole people are nice in the south thing? It lives every day here in Myrtle beach. You know, it’s not a bad place when your state flag looks like a Jimmy buffet song
On the finance side of things. Myrtle beach has the 18th lowest sales tax in the country. We have the sixth best property taxes that you can find in the country. We have low gasoline prices and our cost living is 19% below the national average. When you add all of that up and you contrast it with what’s been happening in other cities and states in the country, what you see in Myrtle beach is higher demand and more development in the real estate market. As far as the next six months, I don’t see this changing any really. So this is gonna continue to drive development further here at Myrtle beach. Next, let’s talk about the inventory of homes for sale here at Myrtle beach. When a real estate agent is talking about inventory, they are literally referring to the supply of real estate that is for sale.
And if price is driven by supply and demand, you could see how that would be an important thing. Inventory literally is the supply side of that equation. Right now, our inventory is very low. Our supply of homes to sell is very low. Normally you have about six months worth of homes to sell before this shelf is empty and there’s nothing left to sell. Right now, we’re sitting at a little less than two months worth of homes. So that goes to tell you what’s happening with demand in the area. The average home price here in Myrtle beach because of the inventory situation has risen $50,000 in the past year. Now that may sound like a lot, but you gotta understand in a lot of places in the country, a hundred thousand dollars, $200,000 for a given house would still be an amazing deal considering where some people are coming from.
So what’s gonna happen with inventory in the next six months? I predict that it will get slightly better. There will be slightly more homes for sale. The home builders are starting to catch up a little bit. The supply chain issues across the country that are impeding them from literally getting doors and windows and building materials to actually do what they need to do. They are slowly starting to recede. So inventory should get a little better in the next six months.
Next I want to talk about migration. There is a great migration that’s been happening in this country over the past couple years. It’s no secret with COVID crime, higher taxes, a higher cost of living and worse living conditions. In a lot of the more industrialized and established parts of this country, people are flocking to the Southern states to find a new life and Myrtle beach is no stranger to this.
Myrtle beach has seen the biggest influx of people that it has ever in its existence. Mainly with retirees coming from the Mid-Atlantic and the Northeast states. This migration has driven higher demand for real estate in the Myrtle beach area and has driven prices higher. So what’s gonna happen with this migration in the next six months. I don’t see it changing at all. None of the factors that are are driving it are going to change it at least in the short term. So it’s gonna continue to drive demand in the area.
Next up on the list of factors affecting the Myrtle beach real estate market, the economy. So how is the economy? So how is the economy?
(A few moments later )
Things are not hot with the economy. There’s a possible recession coming. Inflation is through the roof, and this is driving interest rates higher. Now, if you’re buying a home and you’re borrowing from a bank to do it clearly, this means that you’re gonna pay more for the same home that you were gonna buy anyway, but let’s add some perspective to this. Recently rates were as low as the high 2% range, and that’s pretty darn low. Really. If your interest rate is anywhere below 6%, that’s still a really good rate to buy a home. And again, to add some perspective to that interest rates, haven’t hit 7% since March, 2002, and rates were double digits from November, 1978 to November, 1990, peaking above 18% in October, 1981. And no one, no one is predicting that that’s gonna happen this time around. So what’s gonna happen with interest rates and the economy over the next six months?
Now nobody knows for sure, but the fed has said that they will raise interest rates. They already have taken action to do that. Rates have jumped up some, and they have indicated that they are going to raise rates further. Now, will it get past six or 7% that threshold where it starts to impede home ownership? Will it hit 18% like it did in October, 1981? I seriously doubt that that’s going to happen. So in short, rising interest rates will depress the real estate market in Myrtle beach over the next six months.
And the last factor that we’re gonna talk about a different migration: people working from home. So because of COVID companies and workers have discovered that in a lot of cases, working from home is not only far more efficient, but more cost effective than having to make the drive to the office. Thanks to modern technology being where it is.
This has enabled legions of workers to work from that spare bedroom in their house. When they have been in the office downtown this in conjunction with the living conditions in some cities and states in this country has driven high skilled workers with the ability to work from anywhere that they choose to move from said states to places like Myrtle beach, South Carolina. (We’re looking at you California!). The point is if you can work from anywhere in your bedroom, it really doesn’t matter where it is. Thanks to the wonders of the internet. Make that bedroom be in a really nice place. This has affected Myrtle beach specifically because while normally we would see a huge influx of retirees. We’re seeing that same influx of retirees and a smaller percentage of younger people that are moving to the beach and taking advantage of everything that there is here to take advantage of to an extent.
This has increased demand for homes in the area, and it has affected the price of Myrtle beach real estate. So what’s gonna change with this in the next six months. I don’t see anything changing with this in the next six months, the factors that are driving it are still gonna be there. There are still going to be mobile young professionals that can work from home and who do want to take advantage of living in a very low priced coastal town on the east coast as compared to where they’re coming from. So that’s gonna continue. So finally, in summary, what’s gonna happen with the Myrtle beach real estate market over the next six months. As far as the Myrtle beach area, it is a great place to live. It’s a great place to retire to. It’s a great place to work. That’s not gonna change over the next six months, as far as our inventory of homes to sell our actual supply of homes to sell that should get a little better over the next six months, as far as the great migration to the south, that should hold steady over the next six months.
The reasons that it is happening, those aren’t changing in the short run, as far as the economy. And as far as interest rates, higher interest rates will suppress a certain percentage of home ownership over the next six months. I don’t predict that it’s going to be huge though. As far teleworkers moving to Myrtle beach and enjoying the area, the things that are driving, that those aren’t changing. So those teleworkers, they’re still moving here considering that of the five things that we talked about driving the Myrtle beach real estate market, there’s really only one that’s changing and that’s the economy. It’s the interest rates that are going to depress the market here in Myrtle beach a little bit. I predict that demand is going to be high for real estate over the next six months, I predict that the prices are going to continue to rise, but I predict that they’re going to rise at a slower rate, mainly because of the interest rates depressing demand. If you’re looking at buying real estate here in Myrtle beach, I hope that this has helped inform you. This video is the first in a series. We’re gonna be redoing this every six months. So you’ve got fresh information to go off of. I hope you have an awesome day and remember whether you are buying or selling, go mango to learn more about Myrtle beach and the Myrtle beach real estate market. Check this out.