I played golf yesterday at Pawleys Plantation Country Club with a man from Greenville, SC, who was making one of his frequent annual visits to the Myrtle Beach area. He told me he and friends in Greenville had purchased an inexpensive condo some years ago just up the road in Litchfield Beach, almost across the street from Willbrook Plantation Golf Club; together, they turned it into a kind of timeshare for themselves. His share was 13 weeks a year, which he used for solo golf trips as well as beach visits with his wife. I know the condo complex where he and his friends own, and I'd estimate they paid less than $100,000 for the unit six years ago, or about $25,000 each.
        The Myrtle Beach golf condo market is still rife with bargains, although if the month of December is any indication, buyers are starting to notice. Of the 3,337 condos listed going into the month, 327, or nearly 10% were sold. (Single-family homes sold at an even more robust rate, 480 of 3,681.) Of the lowest priced condos, $100,000 to $150,000, 91 of 891 were sold, according to a report I received from Century 21's Harrelson Group in Myrtle Beach.
Myrtle Beach area condos, such as these across from the True Blue golf course in Pawleys Island, are listed from below $100,000.
        If you are interested in a second home golf condo in the Myrtle Beach area, please contact me for more information. In the meantime, here are a few current listings in some of the best known and golf communities in the area, all under $130,000.

Pawleys Plantation, Pawleys Island, SC....$129,900
2 BR, 2 ½ BA unit with views from screened porch of 9th fairway. Potential to rent to others and generate extra income or use to your heart's content. Jack Nicklaus golf course is one of the best in Myrtle Beach area (100 courses).

International Club, Murrells Inlet, SC...$112,000
2 BR, 2 ½ BA fully furnished townhouse just a couple of miles to beaches and much shorter distance to the community's pool. Private patio courtyard and golf course, designed by Willard Byrd, is reported to have some of best greens in the area.

Arrowhead Golf Club, Myrtle Beach, SC...$87,500
2 BR, 2 BA fully furnished end unit with nice views of the golf course, which was designed by Ray Floyd & Tom Jackson and spans 27 holes. Not far from the Myrtle Beach action but surrounded by mature trees.

Legends Resort, Myrtle Beach, SC...$88,500
2 BR, 2 BA townhouse with fairway views at one of the area's most favored golf complexes, including two courses designed by Tom Doak and one by P.B. Dye. Just off Highway 501 and almost across the road from huge outlet mall.

Barefoot Resort, North Myrtle Beach, SC...$108,900
2 BR, 2 BA fully furnished unit on the corner of the second floor in the Ironwood section, overlooking 13th fairway of Greg Norman golf course, one of four at Barefoot (Fazio, Dye and Love III are the others). Ironwood has its own pool, basketball and tennis courts. Short drive to the beach, shorter to shops and restaurants.

Tidewater Plantation, Little River, SC...$104,900
2 BR, 2 BA condo beside one of the highest rated and most popular golf courses in the Myrtle Beach area, designed by Ken Tomlinson. Close to North Carolina line and multiple seafood restaurants in Calabash.

        The zip code 29585 comprises Pawleys Island and Litchfield Beach in South Carolina, two resort-oriented coastal towns rich in beaches and golf communities. The year-round population within the zip code is approximately 13,500, but that number can swell significantly during the peak beach and golf seasons that include spring and fall for golfers and summer for families looking for a week or more on some of the cleanest and most expansive beaches on the east coast.
        Supermarket shopping during peak seasons at beach and golf resorts can be a chore, what with the crowded aisles and long checkout lines as well as prices considerably higher than back home. Neither of those conditions should nag visitors or residents in the Pawleys Island area.
A par 3 at Litchfield Beach's River Club golf community may be difficult to negotiate, but the five supermarkets within a couple of miles of the golf community make shopping easy. Homes currently for sale around the River Club in Litchfield Beach start at just $160,000 for a 3 BR, 3 BA condo.
        In March, the Publix chain of supermarkets will open a large facility on Highway 17, the main north/south thoroughfare through town that stretches all the way south through Charleston and Savannah and north through Wilmington, NC, to Norfolk, VA. The Publix is rising literally across the highway from an established Food Lion supermarket and less than a mile north of a less-than-year-old Loewes supermarket. A half mile north of the Publix is a Fresh Market, a chain of more "boutique" type produce, meats and other products has done quite well since opening a couple of years ago. Less than four miles farther north, in Litchfield Beach, a BI-LO supermarket took over the space formerly occupied by the iconic southern chain with the funny name, Piggly Wiggly. (BI-LO's previous store was ¼ mile from the former Piggly Wiggly.)
        For residents of Pawleys Island golf communities, as well as visiting golfers and families renting the many condos in the area, the glut of supermarkets is good news. The intense competition will keep prices down, and the sheer number of places to shop will ensure short or non-existent wait times to check out. Supermarkets also require a large number of employees, albeit mostly low-wage jobs, but the continuity of employment in off seasons or through tourism dry spells should be an economic boost to the area.
        Pawleys Island and Myrtle Beach golf courses and beach resorts are preparing for a high level of traffic this spring and summer as prices at the gas pump continue to fall. At the gas station in front of the Pawleys Island Loewes supermarket, the advertised price for regular gas is $1.99 per gallon, the lowest I recall since my early visits to Myrtle Beach in the late 1960s. Myrtle Beach real estate officials, who experienced their best year of the decade in 2014, are also anticipating more sales traffic during the peak upcoming seasons. Condo prices still have not recovered substantially from the 2008 recession, and some prices remain low enough to make a vacation home within reach of many couples and families who might have thought such a purchase exceeded their grasp. For example, a 2 bedroom, 2 ½ bath unit in Pawleys Plantation, with a short walk to the first tee of the Jack Nicklaus Signature golf course, is currently listed at $124,900. (I played the golf course yesterday and it was in nice shape for the mid-winter; the greens were fast, the fairways only a little thin, and the dormant rough thick enough to prop up the ball a bit.) That unit can also be rented out to the almost constant flow of visiting golfers and families throughout the year.
        I'll have more to say about the entire Myrtle Beach housing market in the coming days. In the meantime, if you would like more information about Pawleys Island, Myrtle Beach or any golf community rich area in the southeast, please contact me.