We currently have 7,740 condos available for sale in the Myrtle Beach area. During the month of May, 
2008, the number of condos sold in the Myrtle Beach area was only 261 units. That is a mere 3.37% of the inventory sold. At that rate, it will take us almost 2.5 years to sell out of the current inventory. That 3.37% figure is still encouraging because previous figures for many months stood at two points below that.
When I pulled the number of units that have contracts in place and are waiting to close, I was encouraged to see much higher numbers: 672 Pending financing, 34 Contingency Contracts and 106 Pending Cash Terms, for a total of 812 units waiting to close. That is 10.49%, a significantly higher number than the number of units sold.
Normally that would mean that the market is obviously moving up. The only problem is: last month, the numbers were very similar: there were three times as many pending sales as the number of units sold, a very similar scenario to the current figures (for May). What is happening here? Are we putting deals together, but not closing them because of financing? Are the deals taking longer to close? I know that several of the deals I've had, have taken longer than anticipated to close (10 days in underwriting???) when financing was involved (I've had a lot of cash buyers lately). A few of them I've had to move to two and three different lenders in order to close them.
What is happening here? I've only had these figures for April and May (prior to that the market was in the toilet). I am looking forward to pulling June's figures!
If anyone would like to impart a vignette of your market or shed some light on what is happening here, I would love to read it! Please do share!
Myrtle Beach Real Estate by Mirela Monte Join The Optimist Group!
Real Estate Brokerage - Sales & Rentals - for the entire coastal region between Charleston, SC and Wilmington, NC. With membership on the Myrtle Beach MLS, Brunswick, Wilmington & Charleston MLS.
Cool Tech Site... Check It Out!
Another Sold North Myrtle Beach Real Estate Town Home by Mirela Monte
Myrtle Beach Waterway Home: Pre Foreclosure... Save a cool $ 1MIL
Affordable Aerial Photography: Wow, this little gizmo is Impressive!
No Soup For You! ...Unless You Vote for Your Favorite Sitcom!
God Bless America! An Immigrant's Declaration of Love...
Realtor in Desperate Need of R&R: Please Help me get to ALASKA!!!
Palmetto Harbor in North Myrtle Beach, SC
ActiveRain Corp. is not responsible for the accuracy of the site's content (which is written by members of the ActiveRain Real Estate Network) and does not endorse the views of the real estate agents, mortgage brokers, and others listed here.
Powered by the ActiveRain Real Estate Network
© 2008 ActiveRain Corp. All Rights Reserved
Mirela, you have some significantly high condo inventory based on sales for your area. I think the delays are due to tighter credit requirements and just the overall squeeze the tough economy is putting on everyone with their incomes. This doesn't even take into account buyers that are just plain skittish. I have seen very conservative loan appraisals which can also throw a monkey wrench into the deal.
Mirela: It seems that since the mortgage industry hit hard times that is is more challenging to get deals to the closing table.
Gary: Right you are! "Very conservative" appraisals... I've been helping my agents deal with them for the past few weeks.
Even on the units I know we are getting great deals - the lowest priced ones sold in the project for the past several years - and the appraisals come in at the transaction price, just to stay safe... Much to my delight, a couple of weeks ago I've had one that appraised at $ 169,000 and I got it for my client for $ 130,000.
Roland: Yes, I've been reading all sorts of horror stories about it right here on AR!
CREDIT is tight, but with that said, I see improvements in some areas of the Nashville area. In my very own neighborhood, I've noticed a few properties selling for more than they were in the past 8-10 months...and DOM is improving.
OMG - February sales were dismal - I could have sold more homes in Chenobyl.
It's important to note that typical buyers in my neighborhood are downsizing (retirees), so that tells me that inventory in a few other neighborhoods close by are starting to 'move' as well.
Like you, Mirela, I can't wait to see the June #s (and May which should be out any day). I think NAR was right when they predicted a 3Qtr. rebound.
Chris: That's hilarious: "I could have sold more homes in Chenobyl".
You have such a great sense of humor; I just love hearing from you! You always brighten up my day!
Thank you!
I've lost a half dozen deals to financing in the past eight months. The guidelines are changing so often that it's difficult to know what the rules will be at close of escrow. However, this is not unexpected. For some, it would have been good to not attain financing if it meant being trapped in a bad loan. For the financially burdened I like them to improve their credit before we go any further. Fortunately I have a good lender who walks them through the process. Then they'll be more fit to pay and will end up with a payment that doesn't use up every last penny of their income.