For the first time in years, builders along the Grand Strand say that business is picking up, and while they’re still building a fraction of the homes they were at the peak of the housing boom, it seems the worst is in the past.

5924 Old King Road, $140,000

Months after they agreed to split up, Jaimie and Michael Bolnick continued to live together as they tried to sell their house in Oakland, N.J.

Property sales were up along the Grand Strand in 2011, but prices continued to fall, in part because of the continuing foreclosure problem, according to area Realtors.

The MJW Apartments, an 11-unit complex being built on Mr. Joe White Avenue in Myrtle Beach, will address a need the city has long had -- affordable housing for homeless women.

Renters and Realtors beware: a new scam is in town.

556 Wicklow Square, $60,000

•  Berkley White of Classic Homes has been inducted as president of the Horry Georgetown Home Builders Association for a second term.

Dorine D’Agostino was laid off, got behind on mortgage payments and had started to feel like a loser when she found hope and help through the South Carolina Homeownership and Employment Lending Program, or SC HELP, last year.

Home sales in South Carolina started off rocky in the first half of 2011 but gave way to a decidedly more settled second half, according to figures released last week by the S.C. Realtors trade group.

Construction started this week on a new student housing community, giving students at Coastal Carolina University and Horry Georgetown Technical College another housing option for the next school year.

It wasn’t a big drop, but there were fewer foreclosure filings in Horry County in 2011 than the previous year, a positive sign as the Grand Strand real estate market tries to find a path to stability.

5013 Bowline Court, $135,000

Surfside Beach Town Council members will have a signed contract for the town pier restaurant space to consider when they meet in a special session Monday morning, town administrator Jim Duckett said Friday afternoon.

Despite the big drop in real estate prices, more than one out of 10 homes for sale in the Charleston area today has a price tag of $1 million or more.