by Kevin Gunn
Often when people speak of real estate along the Grand Strand, the entirety of the area is referred to as Myrtle Beach.
But many people don’t realize that within the Grand Strand, we have mini real estate markets that sometimes can behave exactly in the opposite way to what the rest of the area seems to be doing.
Pawleys Island is no exception when it comes to that behavior.
The Pawleys Island and Litchfield area enjoyed the same stellar 2017 that most of the Grand Strand enjoyed, seeing the most movement in real estate since before the crash of 2008.
Then, Pawleys Island dropped 8% in activity from 2017 to 2018. The only good news for the area in 2018 was that the “Average Days on the Market” decreased by nearly a month. In many respects, the Pawleys Island market was the only “buyer’s market” along the Grand Strand for 2018. Price appreciation remained relatively the same from 2017. The rest of the Grand Strand enjoyed over 5% growth in home values.
In terms of resales, Pawleys Island has found itself at the forefront of positive growth. For 2019, 724 homes have sold in the Pawleys Island market. With time still left to go, market analyzers are projecting a total of 750 homes will be sold. Even without that, Pawleys Island would rank among the Grand Strand’s leader in units sold with a gain of over 12% versus 2018.
For average sales price, as of December 2019, Pawleys Island has seen home prices rise from $349,793 to $376,825 this year, making for an 8% increase in home values.
We’ve mentioned that Pawleys Island was a buyer’s market last year. What determines if it is a buyer’s or seller’s market?
Quite simply, we look at three criteria from data: new listings, closed sales, and days on the market. As of this month, Pawleys Island has seen a decrease in residential new listings of 9%. Meanwhile, closed sales have increased over the same timeframe by 15.8%, with days on the market virtually unchanged.
With less inventory coming on and more closed sales occurring, Pawleys Island is firm in the sellers market territory. Add to this record-low interest rates and a booming economy, and Pawleys Island is set for a fantastic 2020 real estate market.
