If you're traveling into Myrtle Beach for this Memorial Day Weekend, feel free to stop and visit one of Weichert Realtors Southern Coast's Open Houses.  There will be Agents on site that can help with you with any questions that you may have.  You might possibly even find the home that you've been searching for!

Here are a few of the Homes that are going to be held open:

                 562 Concord Drive Myrtle Beach SC 29579            05/30/2010 from 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM

                501 Hyacinth  Drive Longs SC 29568                        05/30/2010 from 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM

For a complete list of Weichert Open houses, Click Here.

Have a Safe and Happy Memorial Day Weekend!!

While you're out enjoying the Blue Crab Festival, or taking another ride to finish out Bike Week 2010, feel free to stop by one of Weichert Realtors Southern Coast's open houses.  There will be an Associate there to answer any questions that you may have about Myrtle Beach Real Estate, or North Myrtle Beach Real Estate.

Here is just a peek at some of the open houses that will be held open:

05/15 from 1-4pm   120 Red Tip Blvd. Little River SC 29566

05/16 from 1-4pm      237 Wedgefield Drive Conway SC 29526

For a complete list of Weichert Open Houses, Click HERE.

Weichert Realtors Southern Coast would like to congratulate Anita Anthony of our Carolina Forest Office for being the Grand Prize Winner for our 1st Quarter Open House Contest.

To qualify for out contest, Agents had to hold at least 6 Sunday open houses.  After that, all open houses that were held counted for the drawing.  For every open house each agent held, their name was put into the drawing that many times.  Anita held 16 total open houses!  She was picked in the drawing and won the Big Grand Prize.  A Brand New Apple Laptop computer!  Congratulations Anita!

WEICHERT, REALTORS®- Southern Coast has announced the top agents for March from its offices in Carolina Forest and North Myrtle Beach. The awards were presented at Weichert's Company Meeting on April 8th.

For the second time in 2010, Anna Marie Brock was honored as Top Listing Agent of the Month while Willie Finley was recognized as Top Sales Agent for our Carolina Forest office. 

Congratulations also goes out to Top Listing Agent, Rachel Hess and Top Sales Agent, JD MacNair for our North Myrtle Beach Office.

Congratulations Everyone!

Happy Easter from Weichert Realtors Southern Coast!!

During your Easter travels, take a minute to visit one of our Weichert Open houses.  Who knows?  You may find exactly what you're looking for.  One of our on site Sales Associates are ready to help, and to answer any questions that you may have.

Click Here to view Weichert's open houses for this weekend.

Enjoy the beautiful weather!

Weichert Realtors Southern coast welcomes Karen O'Donovan to our Carolina Forest Office.  Karen moved to the area from Georgia, and now resides in Conway, SC.   Karen previously worked in the Real Estate market in the Metro Atlantic area of Georgia specializing in mortgages.  Welcome Karen!

If you are looking for Myrtle Beach Real Estate, or are interested in speaking with Karen, or another one of our experienced Sales Associates, feel free to call us at 843-903-4443 or 843-280-4445.

You are welcome to stop and visit one of our Weichert Open Houses this weekend.  Our Sales Associates will be on site and ready to answer any questions you may have about Myrtle Beach Real Estate and surrounding areas.  If you're not in town this weekend, feel free to give us a call at 843-903-4443 or 843-280-4445.

Here are some of the properties that you can visit this weekend:

Sunday  1-4pm   120 Red Tip Blvd.   Little River : 

Sunday 1-4pm   4200 Coquina Harbour Drive.  Little River

Saturday 12-3pm  4604 Cypress Bay Court.  Carolina Forest

For a complete list of Weichert's open houses, Click Here. 

by Marty Morgan

Star Yang was named “Rookie of the Year” by the Weichert Southeast Coastal Broker Council. WEICHERT, REALTORS® – Southern Coast can be reached at 843-280-4445 or 843-903-4443.

Source: The Sun News

The Grand Strand real estate market continued to improve in February with double-digit jumps in single-family home and condominium sales and with median single-family home prices increasing for the first time in about two years.

Single-family home sales were up about 17 percent in February from the same month last year, and condo sales were up about 54 percent, according to data collected from the Multiple Listing Service on Wednesday.

"I think definitely sales are going to continue to improve as the pricing is declining," said Tom Maeser, a real estate analyst with the Coastal Carolinas Association of Realtors. "Those economic factors are going to eventually mean a recovery when you have decreased supply and increased demand. As those continue, it's a healthy sign."

The median price - the price at which half sold for more and half sold for less - for single-family homes was up about 8 percent in February compared with the same month last year. Prices rose from $173,500 in 2009 to $187,500 in 2010. The median condo price was down about 15 percent, dropping from $127,700 in 2009 to $109,000 in 2010.

The increase in home prices may turn out to be a temporary blip, experts say. But the single-family home market isn't as volatile as the condo market, which has been harder hit by short sales and foreclosures, he said.

The increase in median home price may have been due to a foreclosure moratorium over the holidays, which meant buyers were opting for slightly higher priced homes that typically couldn't compete with foreclosure pricing, said Paige Bird, a Realtor with Remax Ocean Forest. Some lenders including Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac suspended foreclosure evictions for several weeks during the holidays. It takes between 40 and 60 days to close on a property so the sales finalized in February would have started in December and January.

The number of condos on the market dropped by more than 1,000 from 2009, according to the MLS, and that loss of supply has created a little buying frenzy because there are fewer condos available and buyers don't want to miss the chance to get one, which has resulted in multiple bids on some properties, Bird said.

"A decline in the supply with higher demand creates a little more urgency," she said, adding that eventually it can lead to an equilibrium.

For Coldwell Banker Chicora, business throughout the Grand Strand from investors, first time home buyers and second home buyers has picked up.

"I think the numbers continue to validate the fact that our market continues to improve on a monthly basis, or a daily basis even," said Rod Smith, the director of general brokerage at Coldwell Banker Chicora.

Until this point, most sales have been on properties under $250,000 but some higher-priced properties between $500,000 and $700,000 have started to sell as well, he said. The median price increase in single-family homes may be a result of those higher priced properties starting to sell and shows a strengthening and firming of that market, Smith said.

The rise in median price is the result not of increasing prices, but of less availability of low-priced properties, said Greg Harrelson, of Century 21 The Harrelson Group. The lower-priced inventory is selling quicker than it was last year, he said.

Part of what is driving sales in the lower price ranges, especially in the condo market, is the number of cash buyers, he said.

Most of the sales in February, 51 percent, were paid for in cash, with 41 percent traditionally financed and the remaining 8 percent financed through the Federal Housing Administration, Veterans Affairs or other programs.

That may be the largest proportion of cash sales ever, with the average typically hovering around 18 percent, Maeser said.

Many of the cash buyers are scooping up oceanfront properties as an investment, Harrelson said. Some people who pulled money out of the stock market are now ready to invest it in real estate.

"A lot of money has been sitting on the sidelines," Harrelson said. "Over time they're starting to gain their confidence back in the economy and in the real estate market."

Harrelson is concerned about how long the market will stay at the bottom and whether a boost in business this spring can be carried through the rest of the year. He will be more optimistic if there are three consecutive months of a decrease in properties for sale, an increase in the number of pending sales and a decrease in the days on market, he said.

"The market could go down a little bit more ... but I don't anticipate anything drastic," Harrelson said.