Foreclosure filings in Horry County dropped in July compared to the same month last year, even though they rose statewide, according to statistics released Thursday.
There were 339 foreclosure-related filings in Horry County in July, down 17.52 percent from the same month last year, according to a report released Thursday by RealtyTrac, a company that tracks foreclosures nationally. Most of those filings, 205, were lis pendens, the documents lenders file to start the foreclosure process.
About one in every 549 properties in Horry County has a foreclosure filing, the ninth-highest rate of foreclosures in the state, according to RealtyTrac. Statewide, about one in 536 properties have foreclosure filings, the ninth-highest rate of any state in the country, according to RealtyTrac.
Tom Maeser, a real estate analyst with the Coastal Carolinas Association of Realtors, said it is encouraging any time there’s a drop in the foreclosure rate.
“None of us know how many foreclosures the banks are holding on to. It’s hard to predict,” Maeser said. “[The high foreclosure rate] has to end at some time. Hopefully this is a start.”
Statewide, there were 3,991 properties with a foreclosure filing in July, up 33.84 percent from the same month last year, according to RealtyTrac.
Myrtle Beach featured in magazine
Myrtle Beach has been selected as a top retirement destination by Where to Retire, a Houston-based magazine geared toward helping people with retirement relocation decisions.
Where to Retire editor Mary Lu Abbott said Myrtle Beach possesses qualities important to today’s retirees. The city will be featured in the magazine’s September/October issue with 14 other “low-cost towns”: Biloxi, Miss.; Fairhope, Alab.; Palm Coast, Fla.; Savannah, Ga.; Chattanooga, Tenn.; Greenville, N.C.; Hot Springs, Ark.; Paducah, Ky.; Roanoke, Va.; Boise, Id.; Colorado Springs, Colo.; Green Valley, Ariz.; St. George, UT; and Spokane, Wash.
“With below-average living costs, affordable homes and low taxes, these 15 towns let your retirement dollars go further,” Abbott said in a news release. Each year, 700,000 Americans relocate to new towns to retire, according to the magazine.
Maeser said various articles have mentioned Myrtle Beach as a place to retire for years, so it’s “encouraging even through these times that the area still maintains that positive image.
“The more retirees we get here as permanent resident the more stable our market will be,” Maeser said. “It would create equality between permanent residents and investors and that’s healthy.”
Contact JANELLE FROST at 443-2404.
