In case you were not able to make it to the beach on the holidays, we wanted to share with you a feature story on Myrtle Beach from the December issue of USAirways Magazine. This was the second time that Myrtle Beach has been selected in the past five years. Lots of exciting things coming in the New Year. It is a great time to be in Myrtle Beach and look forward to seeing you in 2010!
US Airways Magazine Features Myrtle Beach In the beginning, there was the beach. Not just a juncture of ocean and sand, but more than 60 miles of wide, pristine shoreline bordered with sand dunes and sea oats. Add the balmy rays of a Carolina sun, seagulls and egrets leisurely dining in tide pools, and palmetto trees swaying in the gentle sea breeze, and you’ve got the Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, area circa 1940. While much has changed since then, the natural beauty of the beach has not, and it remains the star attraction. However, the scope and depth of leisure activities have transformed the area known as the Grand Strand from a seasonal beach town to a world-class vacation destination. From golf and amusements to live entertainment and holiday celebrations, the Myrtle Beach area continues to add new dimensions to its spirit of fun. It has truly become America’s family beach.
(See Full Article) Source: US Airways Magazine
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Myrtle Beach Area Real Estate Revives
November real estate sales shot up more than 60 percent from last year and marked a three-month trend of increased sales in the Grand Strand market.
In November, single-family home sales were up 65 percent, and condominium sales were up 69 percent, when compared with the same month last year, according to statistics compiled Thursday from the Multiple Listing Service.
"We've got a trend here," said Tom Maeser, a real estate analyst for the Coastal Carolinas Association of Realtors. "It's very encouraging ... certainly a definite improvement. Last year was just such a terrible year, it's good to see some rebound."
The real estate market has seen some positive growth in sales in part of the market since June, but until November sales, increases hadn't been consistent for three consecutive months in more than two years.
"We've been looking for some uptick for a long time, and we've seen it in the last few months," said Rod Smith of Coldwell Banker Chicora. Business has slowly and steadily been picking up since June, he said. There are a number offactors driving up sales, Smith said, including pent-up demand, the first-time home buyer tax credit and increasing consumer confidence.
The first-time home buyer tax credit, which was originally set to expire at the end of November, was extended through April 30 and expanded to add a $6,500 credit for most people who buy a new primary residence. People who have owned a home for at least five consecutive years in the past eight years are eligible for the $6,500 credit, and people who have not owned a home in the past three years are considered first-time buyers.
As first-time home buyers started buying, other people who had been waiting to purchase a home decided to buy as well, he said.
Smith said that the looming expiration date of the tax credit likely did push some buyers who wanted to take advantage of the benefit.
Some critics say that the tax credit is propping up the weak housing market, but Smith disagrees. He said it merely encourages people who may have wanted to buy but were reticent.
"I really do believe we're at the bottom now, and we're stomping along in the mud," Smith said. "I don't think you're out of the bottom until values start increasing, and I think the values are going to remain constant for a while."
The median home price dropped 12 percent to $170,000, and the median condo price dropped 19 percent to $121,450 in November, when compared with the same month last year.
Maeser said a several-months trend of price increases would signal that the market is coming out of the strong buyer's market the downturn has created.
"The prices are just so good, and because we're such a heavy investor market, we're getting people to commit their cash to buying houses ... and that's what's driving the market," he said.
Radha Herring, of the Watermark Real Estate Group, said that she is mainly selling condos priced at less than $150,000 to cash buyers.
"We've continued to see the investors come into Myrtle Beach looking for these kinds of opportunities," she said.
With prices so low, investors who had been sitting on the sidelines are taking advantage of the good values, Herring said, adding that she thought business would be slow in November and December but has been surprised to find that it isn't. She is also seeing properties sell faster than they have in at least a year, with desirable properties moving quickly. Herring is telling buyers that there will still be the opportunity to buy in 2010 but that the deals and features they are looking for may start to dwindle. "There will still be tons of inventory into 2010, just maybe not at the price you want," she said.
Inventories are starting to draw down from last year, and as properties sell, the market will eventually see home values rise, said Penny Boling of Century 21 Boling and Associates.
Foreclosures and short sales - a sale when a seller negotiates with the lender to sell a house for less than what is owed on the mortgage - continue to drive prices down, and until most of those properties have been sold, prices will not start to gain value. Foreclosures and short sales made up about 25 percent of total sales last month on the Grand Strand.
"We are cleaning up the market that needs to be cleaned up," Boling said.
Sales at her business have been good, and she is seeing increased consumer confidence, with buyers making decisions more quickly. "People have got cash, they want to put it in something, so they put it in real estate," she said. Boling said she thinks sales increases will continue through December and into next year. "I'll be happy to say goodbye to 2009," she said, "and look for a continuation of an increasing in sales and getting our market where we'll see appreciation again."
Contact ADVA SALDINGER at 626-0317.
In November, single-family home sales were up 65 percent, and condominium sales were up 69 percent, when compared with the same month last year, according to statistics compiled Thursday from the Multiple Listing Service.
"We've got a trend here," said Tom Maeser, a real estate analyst for the Coastal Carolinas Association of Realtors. "It's very encouraging ... certainly a definite improvement. Last year was just such a terrible year, it's good to see some rebound."
The real estate market has seen some positive growth in sales in part of the market since June, but until November sales, increases hadn't been consistent for three consecutive months in more than two years.
"We've been looking for some uptick for a long time, and we've seen it in the last few months," said Rod Smith of Coldwell Banker Chicora. Business has slowly and steadily been picking up since June, he said. There are a number offactors driving up sales, Smith said, including pent-up demand, the first-time home buyer tax credit and increasing consumer confidence.
The first-time home buyer tax credit, which was originally set to expire at the end of November, was extended through April 30 and expanded to add a $6,500 credit for most people who buy a new primary residence. People who have owned a home for at least five consecutive years in the past eight years are eligible for the $6,500 credit, and people who have not owned a home in the past three years are considered first-time buyers.
As first-time home buyers started buying, other people who had been waiting to purchase a home decided to buy as well, he said.
Smith said that the looming expiration date of the tax credit likely did push some buyers who wanted to take advantage of the benefit.
Some critics say that the tax credit is propping up the weak housing market, but Smith disagrees. He said it merely encourages people who may have wanted to buy but were reticent.
"I really do believe we're at the bottom now, and we're stomping along in the mud," Smith said. "I don't think you're out of the bottom until values start increasing, and I think the values are going to remain constant for a while."
The median home price dropped 12 percent to $170,000, and the median condo price dropped 19 percent to $121,450 in November, when compared with the same month last year.
Maeser said a several-months trend of price increases would signal that the market is coming out of the strong buyer's market the downturn has created.
"The prices are just so good, and because we're such a heavy investor market, we're getting people to commit their cash to buying houses ... and that's what's driving the market," he said.
Radha Herring, of the Watermark Real Estate Group, said that she is mainly selling condos priced at less than $150,000 to cash buyers.
"We've continued to see the investors come into Myrtle Beach looking for these kinds of opportunities," she said.
With prices so low, investors who had been sitting on the sidelines are taking advantage of the good values, Herring said, adding that she thought business would be slow in November and December but has been surprised to find that it isn't. She is also seeing properties sell faster than they have in at least a year, with desirable properties moving quickly. Herring is telling buyers that there will still be the opportunity to buy in 2010 but that the deals and features they are looking for may start to dwindle. "There will still be tons of inventory into 2010, just maybe not at the price you want," she said.
Inventories are starting to draw down from last year, and as properties sell, the market will eventually see home values rise, said Penny Boling of Century 21 Boling and Associates.
Foreclosures and short sales - a sale when a seller negotiates with the lender to sell a house for less than what is owed on the mortgage - continue to drive prices down, and until most of those properties have been sold, prices will not start to gain value. Foreclosures and short sales made up about 25 percent of total sales last month on the Grand Strand.
"We are cleaning up the market that needs to be cleaned up," Boling said.
Sales at her business have been good, and she is seeing increased consumer confidence, with buyers making decisions more quickly. "People have got cash, they want to put it in something, so they put it in real estate," she said. Boling said she thinks sales increases will continue through December and into next year. "I'll be happy to say goodbye to 2009," she said, "and look for a continuation of an increasing in sales and getting our market where we'll see appreciation again."
Contact ADVA SALDINGER at 626-0317.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Home Buyer Tax Credit; Extension into 2010
Several of our buyers have asked about the rumors of extending the tax credit into 2010 and also allowing "Repeat Home Buyers" access to the tax credit. The below article was in todays USA Today.
Senators agree to extend home-buyer tax credit
By Stephen Ohlemacher, Associated Press WriterWASHINGTON — Senators agreed Wednesday to extend a popular tax credit for first-time home buyers and to offer a reduced credit to some repeat buyers.The tax credit provides up to $8,000 to first-time home buyers but is set to expire at the end of November. The Commerce Department said Wednesday that new home sales fell 3.6% in September, and some industry representatives blamed uncertainty about the tax credit.Senators agreed to extend the existing tax credit for first-time home buyers while offering a reduced credit of up to $6,500 to repeat buyers who have owned their current homes for at least five years, said Regan Lachapelle, a spokeswoman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.The tax credits would be available to home buyers who sign sales agreements by the end of April. They would have until the end of June to close on their new homes, according to a summary of the legislation being circulated among lawmakers.Senators were still negotiating the expansion of a separate tax credit that lets money-losing businesses get refunds for taxes paid in previous years, providing them with an immediate source of cash.Senators in both political parties were hoping to add both tax provisions to a bill that would give people running out of unemployment insurance benefits up to 20 more weeks of federal aid. The Senate could vote on the overall bill as early as Thursday, but lawmakers were still haggling over several unrelated amendments Wednesday evening.Popular bills like the one to extend unemployment benefits often attract amendments that would have a difficult time passing on their own.Republicans were demanding that they be given a chance to offer amendments to restrict federal aid to the beleaguered community activist group ACORN and on requiring that people receiving unemployment insurance be processed through E-Verify, an Internet-based system that employers use to check on the immigration status of new hires.Majority Democrats have refused to add the amendments.If the Senate passes the bill, it would go to the House, which passed a similar bill extending unemployment benefits last month. House leaders have also said they support extending the tax credit for home buyers.Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., has been negotiating for several weeks with Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., to craft an extended tax credit for homebuyers that would pass the Senate.Lawmakers didn't release a cost estimate for extending the tax credit, though similar proposals were projected to cost about $10 billion.Industry representatives said uncertainty about the tax credit is hurting new home sales. September's decline was the first since March.It takes 45 days to 60 days to close on a house, making it unlikely a sale made today would be consummated by the end of November, said Lucien Salvant, spokesman for the National Association of Realtors."Buyers right now have an incentive to hold off, not knowing whether the credit will be extended," Salvant said.About 1.4 million first-time homebuyers have qualified for the credit through August. The National Association of Realtors estimates that 350,000 of them would not have purchased their homes without the credit.The tax credit for money-losing businesses is a favorite among Republican lawmakers. Businesses could get tax refunds by using losses from 2008 and 2009 to offset taxable profits made in the previous five years. Under current law, they can only offset profits from the previous two years.The provision would help a variety of industries, including retailers, manufacturers and home builders, though it's expensive."It's clearly a way to put cash in the hands of some major economic players," said Clint Stretch, a tax policy expert at Deloitte Tax.A similar proposal that was ultimately dropped from the economic stimulus package enacted in February would have cost nearly $20 billion over 10 years. Lawmakers are working to reduce the price tag.Because people are so strapped for cash, this is a good way to get refunds when businesses need them for operating expenses, said Rachelle Bernstein, vice president and tax counsel for the National Retail Federation.
Senators agree to extend home-buyer tax credit
By Stephen Ohlemacher, Associated Press WriterWASHINGTON — Senators agreed Wednesday to extend a popular tax credit for first-time home buyers and to offer a reduced credit to some repeat buyers.The tax credit provides up to $8,000 to first-time home buyers but is set to expire at the end of November. The Commerce Department said Wednesday that new home sales fell 3.6% in September, and some industry representatives blamed uncertainty about the tax credit.Senators agreed to extend the existing tax credit for first-time home buyers while offering a reduced credit of up to $6,500 to repeat buyers who have owned their current homes for at least five years, said Regan Lachapelle, a spokeswoman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.The tax credits would be available to home buyers who sign sales agreements by the end of April. They would have until the end of June to close on their new homes, according to a summary of the legislation being circulated among lawmakers.Senators were still negotiating the expansion of a separate tax credit that lets money-losing businesses get refunds for taxes paid in previous years, providing them with an immediate source of cash.Senators in both political parties were hoping to add both tax provisions to a bill that would give people running out of unemployment insurance benefits up to 20 more weeks of federal aid. The Senate could vote on the overall bill as early as Thursday, but lawmakers were still haggling over several unrelated amendments Wednesday evening.Popular bills like the one to extend unemployment benefits often attract amendments that would have a difficult time passing on their own.Republicans were demanding that they be given a chance to offer amendments to restrict federal aid to the beleaguered community activist group ACORN and on requiring that people receiving unemployment insurance be processed through E-Verify, an Internet-based system that employers use to check on the immigration status of new hires.Majority Democrats have refused to add the amendments.If the Senate passes the bill, it would go to the House, which passed a similar bill extending unemployment benefits last month. House leaders have also said they support extending the tax credit for home buyers.Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., has been negotiating for several weeks with Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., to craft an extended tax credit for homebuyers that would pass the Senate.Lawmakers didn't release a cost estimate for extending the tax credit, though similar proposals were projected to cost about $10 billion.Industry representatives said uncertainty about the tax credit is hurting new home sales. September's decline was the first since March.It takes 45 days to 60 days to close on a house, making it unlikely a sale made today would be consummated by the end of November, said Lucien Salvant, spokesman for the National Association of Realtors."Buyers right now have an incentive to hold off, not knowing whether the credit will be extended," Salvant said.About 1.4 million first-time homebuyers have qualified for the credit through August. The National Association of Realtors estimates that 350,000 of them would not have purchased their homes without the credit.The tax credit for money-losing businesses is a favorite among Republican lawmakers. Businesses could get tax refunds by using losses from 2008 and 2009 to offset taxable profits made in the previous five years. Under current law, they can only offset profits from the previous two years.The provision would help a variety of industries, including retailers, manufacturers and home builders, though it's expensive."It's clearly a way to put cash in the hands of some major economic players," said Clint Stretch, a tax policy expert at Deloitte Tax.A similar proposal that was ultimately dropped from the economic stimulus package enacted in February would have cost nearly $20 billion over 10 years. Lawmakers are working to reduce the price tag.Because people are so strapped for cash, this is a good way to get refunds when businesses need them for operating expenses, said Rachelle Bernstein, vice president and tax counsel for the National Retail Federation.
Friday, May 8, 2009
Open House and Mother's Day Art Show- Briarcliffe Acres
Watermark Real Estate Group and The Global Awareness Project (GAP) have partnered to present a Real Estate Open House and Art Show in prestigious Briarcliffe Acres. This event will be held at 167 Palmetto Lane on Thursday, May 7, 2009 from 5:00pm-8:00pm for members of the media and invited guests. The public is invited to participate in a general open house on Sunday, May 10, 2009 from 3:00pm to 5:00pm. Local artists will be presenting their work while participants preview this historic home for sale. This private home, just 1 block to the beach, was one of the first four to be built in Briarcliff Acres. It boasts a backyard of ocean swash and wildlife habitat certified by the National Wildlife Federation.
http://www.watermarkagents.com/listings/909114
This event will also serve as a fundraiser for Global Awareness Project (GAP) through the silent auction of pieces by the late, local artist and real estate developer, John Schwartz. These “concrete flowers” were created by Schwartz in the 1940’s out of remaining materials, during the construction of one of Myrtle Beach’s original landmarks, Lakeside Motel. The Global Awareness Project (GAP) was founded in 2007 by co-founders Carl Kerridge and Jessica Durivage who recognized that one of the greatest unmet needs of non-profit organizations is the ability to build community awareness of their missions, activities and accomplishments. GAP’s vision is to assist with the marketing and promotion of other non-profit organizations through multimedia art, photojournalism and documentary work. They accomplish this through creative projects such as organizing art shows which bring all walks of the community together to honor local culture.
For more information, please visit http://www.theglobalawarenessproject.org/.
Directions to the house:
From Hwy 17 BusinessTurn into Briarcliffe Acres via Middle Gate Rd (North Entry). Follow Middle Gate towards the beach. When the road splits, bear right onto Beach Drive. Go through 1 stop sign and Turn left onto Palmetto Lane.
http://www.watermarkagents.com/listings/909114
This event will also serve as a fundraiser for Global Awareness Project (GAP) through the silent auction of pieces by the late, local artist and real estate developer, John Schwartz. These “concrete flowers” were created by Schwartz in the 1940’s out of remaining materials, during the construction of one of Myrtle Beach’s original landmarks, Lakeside Motel. The Global Awareness Project (GAP) was founded in 2007 by co-founders Carl Kerridge and Jessica Durivage who recognized that one of the greatest unmet needs of non-profit organizations is the ability to build community awareness of their missions, activities and accomplishments. GAP’s vision is to assist with the marketing and promotion of other non-profit organizations through multimedia art, photojournalism and documentary work. They accomplish this through creative projects such as organizing art shows which bring all walks of the community together to honor local culture.
For more information, please visit http://www.theglobalawarenessproject.org/.
Directions to the house:
From Hwy 17 BusinessTurn into Briarcliffe Acres via Middle Gate Rd (North Entry). Follow Middle Gate towards the beach. When the road splits, bear right onto Beach Drive. Go through 1 stop sign and Turn left onto Palmetto Lane.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
SC's STATE SHELL: The Lettered Olive
I was walking down the beach a few weeks ago and noticed this beautiful shell everywhere, thanks to the beach renourishment that's currently happening along the Grand Strand. It's wonderful to see that something that protects our beaches and property values can also blanket the beach with this beautiful free souvenir.According to the SC.gov website, the Lettered Olive is also known as Oliva Sayana. It was designated the official shell of the State by Act No. 360, 1984. Dr. Edmund Ravenel of Charleston, South Carolina, an early pioneer in concholgy, found and named the Lettered Olive shell which is quite prolific along the South Carolina Coast.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
