The Carolina Coast Is a Seller's Market and a Buyer's Market at the Same Time

Written by:

Alejandra Rodriguez

Date:

04 Jun 2026

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Coastal real estate markets have long attracted a mix of lifestyle buyers, retirees, and investors, but 2026 is presenting a more nuanced picture than the headline numbers suggest. In Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, two distinct markets are operating side by side – one favoring sellers, the other favoring buyers – and understanding the difference matters for anyone looking to buy, sell, or invest along the Carolina coast.

Greg Harrelson, owner of CENTURY 21 The Harrelson Group, has been working this market since 1999. With 12 offices across five markets in North and South Carolina and around 450 agents completing 4,300 transactions last year, the firm has a ground-level view of how conditions vary across property types and price points.

A Market Divided by Purpose

The clearest way to understand Myrtle Beach right now is to separate the residential market from the vacation condo market. They are behaving very differently.

The residential market, where people are buying primary homes, has only about five and a half months of supply, which technically makes it a seller’s market. The vacation condo segment is sitting at about eight months of supply, placing it firmly in buyer’s market territory.

That divide reflects the different motivations driving each segment. Residential buyers are relocating, most often from northeastern states, drawn by affordability and climate. The average purchase price in the residential segment sits around $390,000, a figure that looks attractive to buyers selling homes in New Jersey or New York for well over a million dollars. “They come to South Carolina and buy the same house, if not even more house, for half the price,” Harrelson notes.

The vacation condo buyer, on the other hand, thinks more like an investor. HOA fees, insurance costs, property taxes, and projected rental income all factor into the decision. “The numbers have to work for them to make the purchase,” Harrelson says.

Cautious Buyers, Selective Sellers

Economic uncertainty, elevated interest rates, and rising everyday costs have made buyers far more deliberate than they were during the pandemic boom. Properties that would have drawn multiple offers in 2021 now require patience and competitive pricing.

“During the pandemic market, people were not cautious at all. They were buying anything, paying over full price, competing for multiple offers,” Harrelson recalls. “That’s not happening today.”

On the seller side, motivation remains the key variable. Sellers who need to move are pricing at market value and closing deals. Those testing the waters with elevated prices are watching their listings sit.

“You don’t have to price it under value to sell in today’s market, you just have to meet the market value,” Harrelson explains.

One data point illustrates how sellers can feel like they’re losing ground even when they’re not: the list-to-sale price ratio currently sits at around 96.7%, meaning sellers are negotiating roughly 3.3% off their asking price on average. But asking prices have risen 4.4% over the same 12-month period. Sellers are netting more than they would have a year ago, even after concessions, they just don’t feel like it because they only see what they’re giving up.

Where Supply Dictates the Outcome

Beyond the residential-versus-condo split, supply levels within each segment are the most reliable predictor of which sellers are winning and which are struggling.

In neighborhoods where builders are still active, resale sellers face real competition. New construction comes with incentives, rate buydowns, upgrade packages, and closing cost assistance that individual sellers simply cannot match. In established communities where building has stopped, and inventory is thin, sellers are seeing stronger appreciation and faster sales.

The same logic applies to the condo segment. Smaller studio and one-bedroom units are sitting on the market due to oversupply. Three- and four-bedroom units, which are far less common, are moving well. “When there’s low supply, sellers are doing well,” Harrelson says. “If there’s high supply, buyers are doing very well.”

The mid-range price band, roughly $600,000 to $900,000 in residential, is the softest part of the market. Entry-level homes under $300,000 move quickly, and properties above $1 million have their own active buyer pool. It is the middle segment that is taking the longest to clear.

Deal Failures and What They Signal

When transactions fall apart in Myrtle Beach, the most common cause is financial qualification, specifically, debt-to-income ratios. Buyers may enter the process pre-qualified, but full verification sometimes surfaces debt levels that lenders cannot approve.

“It’s usually not an interest rate issue that causes a deal to fall through,” Harrelson notes. “It’s usually something they verify later on that is not quite matching what the bank is looking for.”

For cash buyers, the sticking point tends to come during inspection negotiations. When sellers and buyers cannot agree on repair credits or price adjustments, deals unravel at the finish line.

Where Investors Should Be Looking

For capital looking to enter the Myrtle Beach market, Harrelson’s view is direct: multifamily residential is where the strongest opportunity sits right now. The combination of steady in-migration from higher-cost states, relative affordability, and consistent rental demand makes it the most reliable performer among investment-grade property types in the area.

What Comes Next

For a market that outsiders sometimes reduce to a simple vacation destination story, Myrtle Beach is showing considerably more complexity in 2026. The divergence between residential and vacation segments, the supply-driven pockets of strength and weakness, and the cautious but present buyer pool all point to a market that rewards careful analysis over broad assumptions.

The key question heading into 2027 is whether the vacation condo segment will rebalance as older inventory clears, or whether rising insurance and HOA costs will continue to suppress investor demand. On the residential side, affordability relative to feeder markets in the Northeast remains a powerful draw, but only as long as the price gap stays wide enough to justify the move. Buyers and sellers who understand which side of the split they’re operating in will be best positioned to act decisively when conditions align.

About the Expert: Greg Harrelson is owner of CENTURY 21 The Harrelson Group, operating 12 offices across five markets in North and South Carolina with approximately 450 agents. The firm completed around 4,300 transactions last year. Harrelson has been working the Myrtle Beach market since 1999.

This article is based on information provided by the expert source cited above. It is intended for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, financial, or real estate advice. Readers should conduct their own research and consult qualified professionals before making any real estate or financial decisions.