North Myrtle Beach most expensive spot in state

North Myrtle Beach is the most expensive place in South Carolina to buy a four-bedroom, two-bathroom house, according to a study released this week.

The average listing price for a four-bedroom, two-bathroom house in North Myrtle Beach was $399,094, according to Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC.

"The property here at the beach has always typically been...more expensive than property found inland because of the ocean," said Rod Smith, the broker-in-charge of Coldwell Banker Chicora . Areas such as the Upstate and the Midlands have generally been lower-priced, he said.

Coldwell Banker, a national real estate company, did a snapshot survey of prices for four-bedroom, two-bathroom homes listed in their database. The survey included more than 2,300 North American real estate markets, including 35 in South Carolina.

Darlington was found to be the most affordable real estate market in the state, with an average listing price of $95,120 for four-bedroom, two-bathroom homes.

Conway was the sixth most affordable market in the state, Myrtle Beach was the 24th most affordable and Murrells Inlet was the 30th most affordable, according to the survey.

The survey aimed to look at a specific type of property that is common across markets so that they can be compared equally, Smith said.

Nationwide, six of the 10 most expensive markets were in California. Newport Beach, Calif., was the most expensive place to buy a four-bedroom, two bathroom home, with an average list price of $2.5 million. The most affordable housing market was Niagara Falls, N.Y., with an average list price of $80,820.

Nationwide, the average list price of a U.S. home that fit the survey criteria was about $293,000, according to the survey.