Chips and putts

    The newspapers are full of interesting bits this morning.  The Myrtle Beach, SC, Sun News has a front-page business section feature under the headline "Homes Glut Market."  A study of homes in different price ranges in the popular golfing mecca indicates that if you are a seller of a home in the $150,000 to $250,000 range, about 32 percent of the overall Myrtle Beach market, your competition is 2,095 other houses, or about a year's supply.  At the other end of the spectrum, the $1 million and over segment, just 487 homes are on the market currently; however, that accounts for a whopping 54 months worth of inventory (Note:  In the last 12 months, 108 homes sold in the luxury category).
    Of course, bad news for sellers means good news for buyers.  The time may be approaching for those with an interest in a Myrtle Beach second or retirement home to take a closer look...
    Also in today's Sun News is a front-page article about how state governments in the Carolinas limit the amount of local county budget increases.  The counties complain that they cannot improve their infrastructure - for example roadways -- fast enough to keep up with the population explosion.  Of greatest interest to us was a margin note in the article that indicated "North Carolina expects to see its population surge by 50 percent to 12 million people in the next two decades."  We've seen similar predictions for North Carolina elsewhere (one predicted an additional 10 million people over the next 30 years).  We've written the author of the article asking for his source of the data, which was un-attributed, and we will report back here...
    The Sunday New York Times in its business section today has a piece about how residents of the Texas Hill Country are trying to hold back the scourge of housing developments.  We were keen to see the piece since we are planning an upcoming visit to check out the golf course communities in the Austin area.  The story has been told many times:  Developers make offers to farmers and ranchers that are too good to pass up.  Then those who moved to the Hill Country, or families that have lived there for generations, organize to limit or at least manage the impact of the growth.  The developers don't often lose these fights, but over time they have become slightly more accommodating, donating more and more green space back to the community.  We'll report on the Hill Country later this year in an issue of HomeOnTheCourse, our bi-monthly newsletter...
    There is also an interesting short article in the same business section of the Times that will be of some importance to anyone looking for a job, part time or full, in the southeast.  The unemployment rate in the state of Virginia is one of the lowest in the nation, less than 3 percent.  Florida and Alabama are around 4 percent or less, and North Carolina and Georgia at less than 5 percent.  South Carolina is the southeastern state with the highest unemployment, somewhere above 5 percent.  The data was gathered from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.