There’s been some good news recently for the local Myrtle Beach real estate market. Building permits  in both Horry and Georgetown counties saw slight increases in February.  Additionally, existing home sales increased nationally in February by 5.1%.  This increase is higher than economists had predicted and while most of this increase is attributed to the sales of distressed properties, Wall Street seems to be receiving the news positively.

As the Myrtle Beach real estate market gears up for Spring, innovation will be the key. As leaders in the building of Green Homes in Myrtle Beach, Ameribuilt is excited about the following offer:

For a Limited Time Every New Southbury Home Will Be a Green Home Complete With Rinnai Tankless Gas Hot Water Heaters, Low E Windows, 14 SEERHeat Pumps, Energy Star Fixtures and Appliances, Water Saving Toilets & Faucets, Drip Irrigation, High Performance Insulation and Air Infiltration and muchmore! Contact us today for more information!

Courtsey of BuilderOnline.com

Builder, in conjunction with Hanley Wood Market Intelligence, debuts its metric for determining markets with the best and least potential.

With most economists and builders expecting a national market decline this year, this may not seem like the best time to be selecting the “healthiest” markets in the country. Virtually every market was down last year. But a close look at the numbers reveals that some markets have way outperformed others during the last four years and are likely to continue to do so this year.

When the housing market stages its official recovery, the markets listed on the following pages are likely to lead the parade. It may take a year or more for the weakest markets–where burgeoning foreclosure sales are still pounding new home values, making building and selling new homes an exercise in futility– to finally stage a turnaround. We’ll present that list next week.

The healthiest markets have many things in common. Most of them are great places to live, either close to the ocean, mountains, or major universities. Most of them didn’t have a huge run-up in prices during the boom and aren’t experiencing rampant deflation during the bust.

To compile these lists, we analyzed the top 75 housing markets in the country. We ranked them based on population trends and job growth, perennial drivers of housing demand. We also examined what’s happened with home prices; many of the healthiest markets have managed to hold the line on home values. And finally, we considered the rate building permits, which may be the single best ongoing indicator of builder confidence in a market. We combined all these metrics to produce a score for each market. Here are the top 15, in reverse order.

The Healthiest Markets for 2009

15. Myrtle Beach, S.C.

2008 total building permits: 3,211

Though permit activity dropped sharply last year, Myrtle Beach remains one of the hottest markets in the country, especially when you analyze the number of permits pulled per resident. Only 263,287 people live in the Myrtle Beach metro area, which until recently had been growing its population by nearly 5 percent a year. That means builders pulled one permit for every 82 residents. A steady influx of people, many of them retirees, are drawn by close proximity to the ocean and 117 golf courses at last count. That has helped keep home prices steady; they fell only 10 percent last year to a very affordable $174,800. Most of the home building is split between Brunswick and New Hanover counties. Jobs are dependent on the tourist industry, though, and the metro area was rocked last year when a $400 million rock-and-roll themed amusement part, Hard Rock Park, opened and then filed for bankruptcy. Myrtle Beach added jobs last year, but as of December employment was decreasing at a 4.2 percent rate compared to a year earlier.

Click here for the complete article.

March 2, 2009 Myrtle Beach, SC-Today, 135 Southbury Drive was awarded LEED Silver by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) for achievement in green homebuilding. LEED for Homes is a national third-party certification system for energy efficient, healthy, green homes.  LEED-certified homes complete a technically rigorous process that includes a home energy (HERS) rating and onsite inspections to verify that the home is built to be energy and water efficient, environmentally sound, and a healthier place to live.

135 Southbury Drive is located in Southbury Subdivision, where all of the new homes will be certified using LEED standards.  The home was built by Ameri Built Homes, which is well-known in the area for their expertise in building LEED homes.  LEED homes have substantially lower utility bills and may qualify for advantageous financing, lower insurance rates and government incentives. Through their commitment to green homebuilding, Ameri Built Homes is helping to keep homeownership affordable. In fact, the homes at Southbury are 35-50% more efficient than a standard home built to code, offering Southbury homeowners long term savings.

Quote from USGBC National:

“The U.S. Green Building Council is proud to help celebrate Ameri Built Homes’ commitment to greener living,” said Michelle Moore, Senior Vice President of Policy & Market Development, U.S. Green Building Council.  “Their leadership – demonstrated at Southbury, is at the national forefront of quality; and their example can help us all to live better by reducing our environmental footprint, cutting our utility bills, and coming home to a healthier place to live.”

Information about the home:
This home is located approximately one mile from St. James High School.  135 Southbury Drive is in Southbury Subdivision.  Design & construction of the home focused heavily on reducing energy use.  The five bedroom project features Rinnai tankless gas water heaters, low-e windows, high efficiency lighting fixtures, compact fluorescent bulbs and high density, recycled cellulose insulation.  Other energy efficient features include programmable thermostats, high efficiency HVAC, and a sealed thermal building envelope.  Water efficiency was achieved using dual flush toilets, automatic drip irrigation systems and high efficiency fixtures.  More information about green homes can be found on www.ameribuilt-homes.com