Grand Strand real estate agent John Taylor says the average price of condos on the Grand Strand declined about 40 percent since 2008, but some have seen even bigger losses. "We've seen one bedroom condos drop more than half," says Taylor, "and two bedrooms went from $300,000 to about $150,000."
Beach front condos have seen the worst of the value decline. At the Ocean Forest Plaza in Myrtle Beach, one bedroom beach front condos that sold five years ago for $200,000 are now priced at $70,000.
A real estate report shows there are about 100 foreclosed condos in Horry and Georgetown counties, driving those condo prices down.
But Taylor says what's hurting Grand Strand condo prices the most is the amount of short sales listed.
A short sale is a agreement between the mortgage lender and the owner of the condo to accept a payoff less than the balance due on the loan. There are about 350 short sale condos on the market.
The average price of a foreclosed beach front condo is $196,000 and the average short sale is $166,000.
Taylor says a downward trend is continuing because of lending restrictionsand low consumer confidence.
"A lot of my market is second home or investor market," he says. "We'll probably be, my guess is, the last in the real estate industry to bounce back."
He says until something changes he doesn't see the market turning around for another couple of years.
Helene LaCaille is also a Grand Strand real estate agent. She optimistically says people should, if at all possible, hold on to their properties because the market will turn around for the better. "I know I'm one of the few telling people this," she says. "There's a lot of opportunity out there right now for people to take advantage of."
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