Myrtle Beach area home sales pick up in March

Real estate sales activity is picking up along the Grand Strand at the start of the busy spring season, according to Grand Strand Realtors, who said that March marked a turnaround from the rough couple of months that started the year.

About 200 more properties were sold in March than in February, according to the Multiple Listing Service, but sales didn't change much from March last year.

Single-family homes sales increased 4 percent last month, when compared to March 2010, according to the MLS. Condo sales dropped 1 percent in March, when compared to the same month last year. Sales for the first quarter, the first three months of the year, followed the same pattern, with a 4 percent increase in single-family home sales and a 1 percent decrease in condo sales.

"I think it's playing out pretty much how everybody thought it would play out, which is a slow, sloppy but stead climb out of the hole. Part of that is taking a few steps up the slippery hill and sliding down a step," said Rod Smith, the director of general brokers for Coldwell Banker Chicora Real Estate. "You're gradually making you're way up the hill but it is painfully slow."

Smith said he expected more sales to start the year, but some purchases got delayed so March naturally had to be better, he said. Completed sales at Coldwell Banker Chicora were about on par with last year in March but the number of contracts signed increased slightly, he said.

"The residential seems to have flattened out. The condo market continues to get beat up," Smith said.

The lack of financing for oceanfront condos and a large number of foreclosures continue to plague the condo market, said Tom Maeser, a real estate analyst with the Coastal Carolinas Association of Realtors.

"You have to separate single-family and condo because I think we are seeing some good indications that the single-family may be stabilizing - sales are increasing and prices are stabilizing," he said.

The median price - the price at which half sold for more and half sold for less- of single-family homes in March was $171,250, virtually unchanged from the same month last year, according to the MLS. The median single-family home price was up a slight 1 percent in the first quarter, when compared to the same time period in 2010.

The median condo price was $115,000 in March, a 4 percent drop from the same month last year. In the first quarter the median condo price dropped 8 percent, when compared to the same time period the year before.

Distressed properties, which are often low-priced, are selling faster than more expensive properties, which is driving down the median price, Maeser said.

Foreclosures, especially in desirable neighborhoods, are being bought very quickly, often within two weeks, said Penny Boling, the broker-in-charge of Century 21 Boling & Associates.

Boling said the recent economic indicators and positive reports from rental companies buoys her confidence. Potential buyers that are coming in to the company say they want to buy now and take ownership of the property before the peak tourism season.

While prices have generally continued to decline for the market as a whole, there are some neighborhoods - such as Barefoot Resort - that have basically stabilized, Boling said.

The declining prices have created opportunities for buyers, especially those with cash, to find good deals.

"People out there are recognizing the value and they are pulling the funds from other places to buy real estate," Smith said.

In March, about 55 percent of properties were paid for in cash, with 37 percent paid for with conventional financing and the remaining 8 percent financed through programs through agencies like the Federal Housing Administration or Veterans Affairs, according to the MLS.

The lack of financing is keeping some buyers out of the market though, and, Smith said, if the financing was available, especially on condos, there would be more buyers.

Cash buyers are helping to clear the inventory in the market, and the number of properties for sale has dropped, Maeser said. That's not entirely due to sales though, the drop-off is also a result of potential sellers taking their properties off the market or choosing not to sell from the start, he said.

"As long as the supply is held down it just makes me more confident that if we can clean out these foreclosures and we can have a recovery," he said.

Marvin Heyd, owner of Prudential Myrtle Beach Real Estate said the number of phone calls and property showings of late, is an indication that the summer sales season will be good.

This year's trend isn't unusual because the local real estate market is normally somewhat sluggish in January and February and starts to pick up in March, he said.

"If you watch April and May I think you'll see some good signs," Heyd said. "We are slowly but surely moving forward."