Farmers' Markets in the Grand Strand

Think the produce at your local supermarket looks a little tired?  Try some of these farmers'  markets:

Surfside Beach -- Tuesdays -- 10AM to 3PM at the corner of Surfside Drive and Poplar Street

Deville Street -- Saturdays -- 10AM to 2PM  at the Market Common

Conway -- Saturday -- 8AM to 1PM  at 217 Laurel Street

Pawley's Island -- Wednesdays -- 9AM to 1PM at Parkersville Park

North Myrtle Beach -- Wednesday, Friday and Saturday 9AM to 6PM at corner of Oak and Joe White

Surfside Beach Real Estate Update - March 2013

For the Surfside Beach Real Estate Update for March 2013:

http://ccarimages.fnistools.com/Uploads/RECos/1207/ContentFiles/surfsidebeachmar.pdf

Could Rising Demand in 2013 Boost Prices?

It looks like home prices finally hit bottom in 2012, so now what? Buyers increasingly expect home prices to continue to rise in 2013 and many are showing a sense of urgency. If 2013 is the first year since 2006 that prices ended up, we might see the beginning of equilibrium in the housing market.

In most of the nation, every single indicator is giving a thumbs up signal: inventory is falling, affordability is near a record high and household formation is up. Rents are rising in many markets, encouraging renters to buy and in some cases they can buy for a lower monthly outlay than renting. Investor demand for housing is up as they seek better returns for their money.

Rising prices could eventually encourage more sellers to put their homes on the market, fueling demand even further.  Why? Sellers have to live somewhere, often they are up sizing, down sizing or moving for retirement, all of which they put off waiting for higher prices. So many if not most sellers are buyers as well.

What's the catch?  Well, the folks in Washington aren't helping matters. Buyers and sellers want economic stability when they go to the market; "Fiscal Cliffs" with the uncertainty about what Congress might do, if indeed they do anything at all, doesn't help the economy or the housing market.

The Shadow Market in 2013

The real estate market across the county came alive in late 2012 with home sales and housing starts up strongly.  Prices are doing better, too.  But skeptics still point to sizable overhang of properties headed to foreclosure--the so called "shadow" inventory--that they say will erode the market's recent gains.  Maybe.  

While the shadow inventory remains high, it may not choke off the strength we're seeing.  There are several reasons, first the number of homes in foreclosure is shrinking, down from a peak of 4.7 million nationally in 2009 to 3.4 million at  the end of 2012. The discount at which foreclosures sell has narrowed significantly, from around 24% in 2009 to 7% now. Inventories of new homes for sale are tight and the number of listings of previously owned homes is at an eleven year low. 

On the demand side, sales of new homes are up strongly and sales of previously owned homes are likely to follow. Investor buying has slowed in most areas as well. Mortgage rates remain at historic lows for those who can qualify and are likely to stay low for the next several years. Banks have become more adept at handling foreclosures and realize it's not in their interest to dump large numbers of houses on the market.  They do more short sales now, where they allow the home owner to sell for less than the mortgage owned--faster and less costly for the bank.  

It's going to take years for housing is back to normal, but as long the recovery continues, however slowly, the shadow market should have little effect.

National Flood Insurance Re-Authorized

The Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012 was passed late last week as part of a transportation funding bill and signed into law by the president on July 6, 2012. The legislation extends National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) authority through September 30, 2017.


This 5 year re-authorization of the National Flood Insurance Program ensures access to affordable flood insurance for millions of home and business owners across the country. The 5-year re-authorization will end the uncertainty of NFIP stopgap extensions and shutdowns.


This legislation is especially important to Grand Strand property owners as flood insurance is required for mortgages. Without NFIP flood insurance rates would sky rocket, pricing many out of the market and further depressing coastal South Carolina prices.

Harvard: Home Sales Finally Poised to Improve

Harvard: Home Sales Finally Poised to Improve


Click the link above to read the article...

February 2012--Sales Up, Prices Down

Real Estate sales along The Grand Strand rose 10.2 percent in February, to 541, compared to last year, significantly out pacing state wide sales which increased 4.8 percent.  But prices continued to fall,  2.2 percent but compared to a state with increase of  2.6 percent.  However, if you look at other areas in the state, we're doing better--Aiken dropped 18.1 percent, Greenwood dropped 17.3 percent, the Piedmont region fell 15 percent and north Augusta fell 13.3 percent.  The median price of a house or a condo along the Strand fell to $135,000.

What are we likely to see going forward? --more of the same as the area works through a back log of foreclosures and a short sales.  Then there is the shadow inventory--houses not on the market, but whose owners want to sell.  Some are owned by banks and will hit the market as the foreclosure process is completed while others are owned by individuals waiting for the market to improve.

When can we see prices firming? Probably not until 2014.  When can we expect to see prices increasing? Even further out and then nothing like the boom years 2000-2006.  When prices start to increase again, they're likely to pace the rate of inflation, 2-3 percent a year.

Bottom line: A buyer's market for the next few years.

Technology Notes

Have trouble keeping up with the modern world? Does your "smart" phone have a mind of it's own? Have trouble figuring out how to get your CD collection into your walkman, er, ipod?

Check into OLLI, that is Osher Life Long Learning Institute at Coastal Carolina University which provides scores of short courses for adults during the day and evening at three locations along the Grand Strand.  I heard about a class for android tablet users, signed up and spent three delightful afternoons at CCU's 79th Street campus with instructor Kathleen Libby, a seasoned instructor and self admitted "geek."  The classes cost a few bucks, but I learned numerous tricks about my android tablet AND almost all of them were directly applicable to my android phone. I've now figured out what a widget is, how to "sync" my portable devices with my desk top and how to print from the "cloud."

Kathleen's tip on wire management for all those wires under your desk was alone worth the price of the course--visit the drug store for some of those clips that ladies use to hold their pony tails in place; that's right, they come in all sizes and snap open and closed.  You can go from an unsightly mess of cables to a neat solution in a skinny minute.

More information on OLLI at www.coastal.edu/olli or call 843-349-2767.  

Popsitive Trends in 2011 & 2012

Clearly 2011 was a challenging year, but there is a lot to be positive about looking ahead to the rest of 2012.  Housing statistics are starting to look good and the length of the housing down turn itself points to turning the corner, maybe this summer.  Washington's fiscal policy remains indecisive, but most major economic indicators are showing stability and positive, though admittedly weak trends.  The pace of growth is slow, but that's to be expected in an economic recovery from a financial crisis. 

Some good trends:

• Households are paying off their consumer debt even though credit is becoming easier to obtain, including home equity lines of credit which grew for the first time in years in the 3rd quarter of 2011. 
• Consumer sentiment picked up sharply in the last half of 2011, to a 6 month high in December.  Still low, but maybe consumers believe the economy will pick up in 2012.  Increasing confidence can become self fulfilling.
• The labor market is slowly coming back--December jobless claims were at their lowest level since 2008, but unemployment remains persistently high and gains are often due to declines in the number of people in the workforce.  It's going to take years until we get unemployment down to where it should be, 2 or 3 percent, and until we do, those folks can't buy houses and will have trouble keeping the ones they have, both downward pressure on the housing market.
• Housing prices continue to decline, a trend that will continue until we work off the backlog of foreclosures, short sales and the shadow inventory  (homes that folks want to sell which they took off the market, waiting for higher prices).  Until all of these houses are sold, prices will remain under pressure.  Housing recessions are always long and this one is no different.  But the good news is, affordability is rising dramatically due to lower prices and rock bottom mortgage rates.

Home prices may not stabilize completely in 2012, but we're getting closer--rising affordability itself will put a floor under prices, maybe this summer.  Stay tuned.

Better Year in 2012?

No question about it, new home construction around town has picked up since the first of the year.  While noting like boom days a few years back, builders are back to work, perhaps at pre boom levels, building homes in all price ranges.  Hard data are difficult to gather and it's difficult to say what's causing this up tick in construction, but several things may be driving buyers.  First, folks may just be tired of waiting, second, interest rates remain historically low for those who qualify and third, some of the new homes sitting on the market have been sold and inventory levels are down from a year ago.

One thing for sure, the market is more competitive than ever as the many foreclosures and short sales continue to push prices lower. Home buyers are all looking for a good deal and all expect to spend less money than a few yearts ago, so builders will have to squeeze their profit margins and be ready to bargain.  Buyers who are serious have their financing lined up and ready to sign, something we haven't seen in a while.  If one developer can't make the deal happen, the next one will.

2012 may not mark the end of our troubled housing market, but it may mark the beginning of the long awaited stabilization of house prices and better markets down the road.