Assessor: Horry County property values may fall for 1 in 5

Numbers show real estate sales plunged by more than 80% from 2007 to 2008 on the Grand Strand. That decline can affect you, even if you aren't buying or selling property.

By: | SCNOW
Published: December 01, 2009

Numbers show real estate sales plunged by more than 80% from 2007 to 2008 on the Grand Strand. That decline can affect you, even if you aren't buying or selling property.

According to the Horry County assessor, changes in the housing market have caused some property values to drop.

Right now, taxes on most homes are based on values assessed in 2003.

Horry County home assessments will come out in the upcoming year.

County Assessor Rendell Mincey says his calculations show for the first time, a large portion of the area will see a decrease in home values.

“There’s a possibility that 20% of our partial population could possibly fall below their last re-assessment value,” said Mincey.

One out of every five homes in Horry County may be assessed at a value less in 2010 than 2003.

Mincey says the properties most likely to see a drop in value are condominiums.

“Apparently the decline has hit them harder in most cases. That's where most of our appeals are existing from,” said Mincey.

One example is in The Pointe complex in the Grand Dunes area in Myrtle Beach.

Units that sold for well over one million dollars in 2008 are selling for less than half a million dollars this year.

Another area affected is the Carolina Woods apartment complex.

According to county records, all 8 apartments sold in the complex in 2007 and 2008 sold for at least $70,000.

Out of 18 apartments sold there in 2009,.just one went for more than $55,000.

The county says the drop in property values is taking away from tax revenue it collects for many of its departments.

Partially as a result, the county won't fill close to 100 open job positions.

“It is a juggle through all of our departments to make sure that we hold tight. We do reduce wherever we can. There are going to be impacts and there have been service impacts,” said Lisa Bourcier, Horry County public information officer.

The county says a drop in tax revenue could also cause an increase in police response time, and a reduced 9-1-1 dispatcher per shift.

According to Bourcier, public works may also be impacted and people may see a delay in maintenance on dirt roads with a 4.5 mile reduction in dirt road improvements, and an increase in bush hogging intervals.