Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2009

Real estate sales continue upswing in October in Myrtle Beach area

Single-family homes and condominium sales continued the upward trends of the past few months with increases in October.

Single-family home sales were up 8 percent and condo sales were up 31 percent when compared with the same month last year.

"I'm hoping this trend will continue and we'll stay fluid and this will be the beginning of our next upswing," said Alex Holbert, the broker-in-charge at Remax Town & Country in Myrtle Beach.

Median house prices continued to fall for both single family homes and condos. The median price - the price at which half sold for more and half sold for less - of single-family homes was $168,000, down 12 percent from the same month last year.

The median condo price was down 10 percent to $131,000, a smaller decline than the 35 percent drop in price reported last year.

About 41 percent of buyers in October paid cash for their real estate purchases, while about 47 percent used convential financing.