JENNY BURNS-SUN NEWS
The Myrtle Beach area is getting ranked with the big boys in price appreciation.
The Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach metropolitan statistical area was listed 59th in price appreciation out of 265 cities in the country after shooting up 16.5 percent in one year, according to the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight's third-quarter statistics.
That's a giant move up from our second-quarter ranking of 93rd when the area showed a 12.6 percent price jump year over year.
The Grand Strand's phenomenal price leaps and some Western cities' price fallouts, such as Las Vegas', contributed to the rise.
"Throughout the 1990s, Myrtle Beach and South Carolina appreciation rates closely tracked each other. But over the last two years, Myrtle Beach has really shot up while South Carolina has stayed at a modest price appreciation," Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight economist Andrew Leventis said.
Las Vegas, a market that had been one of the hottest in the country, fell from 21st to 77th, with appreciation of 13.7 percent over the course of a year.
Local analysts say it's a sign that Myrtle Beach real estate has been discovered by the country as a booming resort market: Skyrocketing prices are driven by investor demand as folks nationally started eyeing the Myrtle Beach area as a place to make money.
"Sixteen-point-five percent was very impressive relative to the [national] average [12 percent]," Leventis said.
But he said such appreciation rates are consistent with other retirement and second-home resort communities.
These numbers represent only single-family homes that have had repeat sales - leaving out the dramatic price gains of the area's condominium market.
Resale condos shot up 40 percent on the Grand Strand in the third quarter compared with the year before, according to Market Opportunity Research Enterprises.
We also moved past our neighbors in Charleston, which ranked 66th in the nation with a one-year price appreciation of 15.6 percent.
Charleston was ranked 71st in the first quarter, above Myrtle Beach's 93rd spot.
Myrtle Beach's ranking falls between 58th-ranked Eugene-Springfield, Ore., and 60th-ranked Tacoma, Wash.
If you have news for this column, please contact real estate report Jenny Burns.
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