It says the cost of living in the upper NC Beach area is higher than us...also surprising. Even to the point that New York and Boston were the only ones higher. I've never heard of that...and can't imagine why that would be.
Houses and condos in Myrtle Beach are slow, but not flat...yet. I have a realtor friend in Charlotte that deals with Lake Norman real estate, and she's going full guns. The last I heard, Brunswick County and the beaches like Holden Beach and Ocean Isle were still strong.
I find this article rather puzzling all the way around....
Economic indicators show downward shift
The Outer Banks Sentinel Wednesday January 17, 2007
The Dare County economic indicators now available through the end of November show a crashing real estate and construction market, a weak retail sector, but a 10.53 percent increase in occupancy taxes for the calendar year.
Dare County building permit values fell 64.59 percent for November 2006 when compared to the same month in 2005. For 2006 through the end of November, construction was down 32.29 percent.
Land transfers also took a dive with a year-to-date total loss of 42.03 percent compared to 2005. November 2005 showed a dip of 30.87 percent.
Retail sales taxes for calendar year 2006 through September showed a gain of just 1.79 percent for the year. September shook out at .79 percent over the same period in 2005.Occupancy taxes through November show a 10.53 percent increase, although it is unclear whether the increase is in visitors or rental prices.
Sales taxes on restaurant sales through November 2005 showed a year-to-date decline of .19 percent. The slowest month, based on sales tax collections for restaurants, was October with a 33.05 percent fall from the previous year.
Neighboring Currituck County, through October 2006, experienced a 48.66 drop in land transfer receipts and a 29.2 percent drop from the previous year's building permit values.
Retail sales in Currituck through September 2006 were up 15.14 percent, although September is reported to have had a 30.08 percent drop from 2005.
A cost of living index prepared by the Outer Banks Chamber of Commerce indicates that Dare County residents pay more for grocery items, housing, transportation, health care and goods and services than the average U.S. consumer.
In a comparison with other cities, including Boston, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Myrtle Beach, Harrisonburg, Va., Richmond, Asheville, Charlotte, Durham, Greenville, Raleigh, Chapel Hill and Tampa, only Boston and Philadelphia have higher living costs than Dare.
###
Myrtle Beach Web Design
No comments:
Post a Comment