Will Tropical Storm Erin impact development and real estate in Myrtle Beach?
Tropical Storm Erin is moving across the Atlantic Ocean and is forecast to potentially become a hurricane by the weekend.
“It’s forecasted to reach hurricane strength by Wednesday afternoon and major hurricane strength by Saturday afternoon,” National Weather Service meteorologist Rachel Zouzias previously told The Sun News.
According to real estate organizations, this forecast could mean a few different things for the for the market.
“We always kind of joke about late August and September, that, you know, you’re gonna have two weeks of lost time there,” Trey Lucy, co-owner of South Carolina-based commercial real estate firm Belk Lucy, said over the phone on Wednesday.
Lucy said that if the National Hurricane Center starts tracking a storm, construction crews will start to bolt everything down and move what they can inside ahead of the storm.
“I mean, with the hurricanes, you can kind of see them coming, and you have time to prepare,” he said. “And so you’re not as caught off guard as you are with other natural disasters.”
Property statistics for Myrtle Beach show that in July the average price change was down by almost one percent since June. That same data also indicates that within Myrtle Beach, there are 871 new homes on the market with an average price of $556,307 and an average time online of 112 days.
“Weather events can have a temporary impact in communities as residents look for a place to stay during rebuilding,” Jessica Lautz, deputy chief economist and vice president of Research at the National Association of Realtors, wrote in a statement to The Sun News. “However, weather events typically lead a rebound in rebuilding that reduces the long-term impact on the local housing market.”
A report from U.S. News and World Report states that some real estate transactions include an “Act of God” clause, allowing for a buyer to delay or terminate their contract if a natural disaster, like a hurricane, causes damage prior to the official closing.
