Published November 2, 2026 in Market Update

North Myrtle Beach Bidding Wars Stopped After January 21

By Bill Sullivan

Real estate, North Myrtle Beach SFH

Sellers still talk about the days when buyers fought over homes and paid over the asking price. That story is still out there. I pulled every lived-in single-family sale in North Myrtle Beach through October 30, 2026, and the numbers tell a different one.

What the numbers actually show

I counted a bidding war as any lived-in home that sold 3% or more over its asking price. New builds are left out, because their price climbs with upgrades and that is a different thing. By that measure, there were 5 bidding wars in the whole file. The biggest one paid $52,973 over asking. The last one was on Hope Pointe Dr, and it went under contract January 21.

Since that day, 421 lived-in homes have found buyers. Not one sold 3% or more over asking. That is 282 days without a bidding war in NMB single-family homes.

The bidding war era did not slow down. It stopped on a specific day.

There is one fair warning: the file only shows what a home sold for once the sale closes. Homes that went under contract in the last few weeks are not counted yet. So the very end of the file is a little thin. But 282 days is a long run, and it holds.

The clearest sign is in the share of homes that sold at or over their asking price. In October and November 2025, 43.4% of lived-in homes sold at or above what sellers asked. By July and August 2026, that share had dropped to 16.8%. That is a real shift, not a small wobble.

The typical home across the whole market sold for 97.6% of what it first asked. That is not a collapse. Sellers are still getting close to their number. But getting close is not the same as getting more, and pricing as if buyers will fight over your home is the mistake that costs sellers the most right now.

What I would do differently if I were selling now

First, I would price to the 97.6% reality, not to a hope. The typical home sold for 97.6% of its first asking price across all 728 sales. If you price $50,000 high expecting a bidding war to close the gap, you are pricing for a market that has not existed since January.

Second, I would watch the sweet spot. Homes priced between $550K and $650K sold for 98.6% of what they first asked, the best ratio of any price range in the file. Homes priced at $800K and up came in at 97.3%. The middle of the market is where buyers are pushing hardest right now.

Third, I would not assume my neighborhood protects me from this shift. Del Webb North Myrtle Beach had a home on Crested Iris Way sell in 7 days at full price, and another on Oxeye St. sit for 393 days before it sold for $2,499 under asking. Same neighborhood, similar size, nearly identical first asking price. The difference was not the community. It was the home.

What this means for you

If you are selling, the market is still moving. All 728 lived-in homes in this file found buyers, and not one came off the market without a sale. But buyers are not competing the way they were. The typical seller gave up 2.4 cents on every dollar they first asked. Price accurately from day one, and that gap stays small. Price high and wait, and you may end up chasing the market down.

If you are buying, this is a market where a calm, reasonable offer gets heard. You are not going to win a bidding war you do not need to fight. That said, rates are not helping your monthly payment right now. The 30-year fixed averaged 7.24% as of October 29, 2026, up from 6.17% a year earlier, according to Freddie Mac's weekly rate survey. That is a real cost. Know your number before you make an offer, and do not let a seller's optimistic price set your ceiling.