New houses in Myrtle Beach outpace larger U.S. cities, a sign of rapid growth, report says
Myrtle Beach is growing.
It’s evident in the new developments and jumping home prices. Locals have known it for years.
Now, a new report concluded the area has one of the nation’s highest percentages of new houses, a testament to the development that poses questions and problems in the area. In Myrtle Beach, 42% of homes have been built in the years since 2000, more than double the national average of around 20%, according to a report by Inspection Report Network (IRN).
More than 130,000 homes have been built since 2000, the report found. Less than 1% of the homes in the area were built before 1940, far below the national average of 12.3%, according to IRN.
The Myrtle Beach area, which includes Conway and North Myrtle Beach for the purposes of the report, landed second in the nation among midsize metros for its number of new homes, representing the continuing growth over the last two decades. This puts the area on par with other metros that are developing quickly, like Austin, Texas, and Provo, Utah, according to Mike LaFirenza with IRN.
With newer homes being more common in Myrtle Beach, that raises the question of cost. If all else is equal, newer homes tend to cost more than older homes, LaFirenza said, but the main motivation for price is the relationship between supply and demand.
“On the supply side, building new homes increases available inventory, which then puts downward pressure on home prices,” LaFirenza said in an email to The Sun News. “On the demand side, when a location is growing quickly (like Myrtle Beach), supply often can’t keep up.”
Myrtle Beach home prices have increased throughout the pandemic as remote workers are drawn to a beach setting and supply chain issues cause an increase in prices.
