One Coastal ZIP Is Closing Fewer Homes. It's Still the Fastest Market on the Grand Strand.

Over the twelve weeks ending August 23, 2026, home sales fell across the Myrtle Beach ZIP codes and rose in Murrells Inlet and Pawleys Island, while pending-contract speed moved in the opposite direction from where the closings did.

Something changed along this stretch of the coast over the twelve weeks ending August 23, 2026. Homes still sold. Buyers still closed. But how much closed, and how fast, depended entirely on which ZIP code you were standing in.

Rank the five ZIP codes we track by how their closings moved compared with the same window a year earlier, and the split runs the length of the territory. Two of the three Myrtle Beach ZIP codes posted the steepest declines anywhere in the territory. A third eased only slightly. Murrells Inlet and Pawleys Island moved the opposite direction, each closing noticeably more homes than they did a year ago.

The steepest drop belongs to one of the Myrtle Beach ZIP codes. Sales there fell to 475 homes this period, down about 19% from a year earlier, the largest year-over-year decline in the territory.

A second Myrtle Beach ZIP code was close behind, down about 17% over the same comparison.

The third Myrtle Beach ZIP code slipped too, but far more gently, easing only slightly against last year's pace.

Murrells Inlet told the opposite story. Home sales there climbed to 391 this period, up about 12% from a year earlier, one of the two strongest gains anywhere we track.

Pawleys Island rose almost as much, up about 11% over the same stretch.

Across all five ZIP codes combined, 1,837 homes sold this period, down from 1,988 in the twelve weeks ending August 24, 2025. The territory as a whole cooled. It did not cool evenly, and the ZIP losing the most sales is not the one moving the slowest.

Here is the part that does not fit the obvious read. The same Myrtle Beach ZIP that posted the territory's steepest closings decline also got homes to pending contract fastest: just 58 days this period, the quickest pace in the territory.

Murrells Inlet, the ZIP with the largest gain in closings, took the longest to get a home to pending contract: 73 days this period, the slowest pace in the territory.

The ZIP losing the most sales is moving the fastest toward contract. The ZIP gaining the most sales is moving the slowest. Closings volume and absorption pace are telling two different stories inside the same twelve weeks.

Fewer sales did not mean less urgency in that Myrtle Beach ZIP.

What it means depends on where you sit. If you are selling in that fast Myrtle Beach ZIP, the drop in overall closings has not slowed down the buyers who are showing up. A serious offer there still moves quickly, and pricing for a leisurely decision window is pricing for a market that is not actually leisurely. If you are selling in Murrells Inlet, the rising closings count is real, but it is arriving on a longer runway. Expect more time between an accepted showing and a signed contract than the sales count alone would suggest.

For buyers, the read flips. Fewer closings in that Myrtle Beach ZIP likely means less competition to wade through, but a faster clock once you find something worth an offer. Murrells Inlet and Pawleys Island, with more homes changing hands, give a buyer more to choose from and a bit more room to decide once they do.

What to watch over the next reporting period is whether that gap between closings and speed narrows or holds. If the fast Myrtle Beach ZIP keeps closing fewer homes while still getting to contract faster than everywhere else, that reads like a market getting more selective, not slower. If Murrells Inlet's pace catches up to its rising sales count, that reads like a market settling into its new demand. Either way, the number worth checking next isn't just how many homes closed in each ZIP, but how long it took each one to reach pending contract.

This is based on MLS sold data for the ZIP codes covering Murrells Inlet, Myrtle Beach, and Pawleys Island. Zillow verified the inputs before this piece was written. That is the kind of divergence you only find by walking each ZIP code's numbers on its own, not by looking at the territory as one market.