Myrtle Beach Buyer Guide
What It Costs to Own a Home or Condo in Myrtle Beach SC
Updated October 2026 · Property tax uses 2025 Horry County millage. Association fees and insurance are typical Grand Strand ranges, rounded; confirm any specific property with its association budget and an insurance quote.
The Four Bills on Every Myrtle Beach Home
Property tax is the smallest of the four on most Myrtle Beach homes. Plan for the association fee and insurance alongside it and the budget is complete.
The first good news for buyers moving here from the Northeast or the Midwest is the property tax bill. South Carolina's is among the four lowest in the country, a primary residence is taxed at a fraction of what the same house costs up north, and on most Myrtle Beach homes it is the smallest of the four bills. The other three bills are the ones to plan for. A coastal home carries a homeowners policy priced for wind, an association fee that is often larger than the tax, and in some locations a flood policy. Put the four together and you have the full monthly cost of a Myrtle Beach home, with no surprises after closing.
Property Tax
4%
of value assessed for a primary residence; 6% for a second home or rental
Association Fee
$21–$4,108
a month, from the Dunes Club to the top oceanfront building at Grande Dunes
Homeowners Insurance
$2,000–$5,000
a year for a typical house, lowest inland and highest on the ocean
Flood insurance is the fourth bill, and it is the one that depends entirely on the address: often nothing west of the waterway, and a four-figure policy in a mapped flood zone near the ocean or a creek. Each of the four is covered below, then put together for a house and for a condo.
What a House Costs to Own in Myrtle Beach
A $400,000 single-family home in Carolina Forest, which is unincorporated Horry County and carries the lowest total tax rate in the county, in a neighborhood with a pool and a modest association fee, outside any mapped flood zone.
As a Primary Residence
Property tax: $400,000 × 4% × .0919 = about $1,470
Association fee: about $100 a month = $1,200
Homeowners insurance: about $2,000 to $2,500
Flood insurance: not required in an X zone
About $4,700 to $5,200 a year, or $390 to $430 a month
As a Second Home
Property tax: $400,000 × 6% × .2010 = about $4,820
Association fee: about $100 a month = $1,200
Homeowners insurance: about $2,000 to $2,500
Flood insurance: not required in an X zone
About $8,000 to $8,500 a year, or $670 to $710 a month
Two things to notice. For a full-time resident the whole carrying cost is under $450 a month on a $400,000 house, and property tax is less than a third of it. For a second-home owner the tax more than triples, because the 6% ratio and the school operating millage both apply, and tax becomes the biggest line. The 4% versus 6% rule is the single largest variable in owning here, and it is decided by how you use the home, not where it is.
Move the same house east of the Intracoastal Waterway, into the City of Myrtle Beach or Grande Dunes, and two lines change: the city millage raises the primary-residence tax to about $2,330, and the insurance climbs toward $4,000 to $5,000 because the home is closer to the coast. Move it to the oceanfront and flood insurance joins the list.
What a Condo Costs to Own in Myrtle Beach
A $300,000 two-bedroom condo in an oceanfront building inside the City of Myrtle Beach, with the building's master insurance, water, sewer, cable and exterior maintenance inside a $900 monthly association fee — the middle of the two-bedroom range across the Myrtle Beach oceanfront buildings on this site.
As a Second Home or Rental
Property tax: $300,000 × 6% × .2546 = about $4,580
Association fee: about $900 a month = $10,800
Walls-in (HO-6) insurance: about $800 to $1,200
Flood insurance: carried by the building in the master policy
About $16,200 to $16,600 a year, or $1,350 to $1,380 a month
As a Primary Residence
Property tax: $300,000 × 4% × .1455 = about $1,750
Association fee: about $900 a month = $10,800
Walls-in (HO-6) insurance: about $800 to $1,200
Flood insurance: carried by the building in the master policy
About $13,350 to $13,750 a year, or $1,110 to $1,145 a month
The condo costs nearly three times what the house costs to carry, on a lower purchase price, and the reason is the association fee. That is not a mark against condos. An oceanfront building's fee is paying for the master wind and flood insurance on the whole structure, the elevators, the pool, the exterior and the reserves, which a house owner pays for separately or defers. A condo fee is most of the ownership cost gathered into one line. What matters is knowing exactly what is in that line before comparing two buildings, which is the subject of the next section.
Ask for the association budget and the master insurance declarations.
Every Myrtle Beach condo seller must provide the association documents, and the two pages that matter most are the current budget and the master policy declarations. The budget tells you what the fee covers and how much is going to reserves. The declarations tell you whether wind and flood are on the master policy and what the hurricane deductible is, because a large deductible on the building becomes a special assessment on the owners after a storm. Ashley reads both on every condo contract.
HOA Fees in Myrtle Beach: What They Cost and What They Cover
Two communities at the same price can differ by hundreds of dollars a month, and the cheaper fee is not always the better deal.
Nearly every home built on the Grand Strand since the 1990s is in a homeowners association, and fees run from $21 a month in the Dunes Club to more than $4,000 in the top oceanfront building at Grande Dunes. The table below shows the range by type of property with examples; the table by area further down gives the fee range in each part of the Grand Strand, with a link to that area's hub where every neighborhood page carries its own fee.
| Property type | Monthly fee | Examples from this site |
|---|---|---|
| Established Myrtle Beach neighborhood, no amenities | $20 – $50 | Dunes Club $21; Southgate $46 |
| Single-family neighborhood with a pool and common areas (Carolina Forest, Market Common) | $75 – $135 | Covington Lake $74; Avalon $84; Emmens Preserve at Market Common about $96; The Reserve at Market Common about $101; The Farm $107; Berkshire Forest $116; Plantation Lakes $125; Wild Wing $135 |
| Gated, golf or higher-amenity single-family | $165 – $300 | Legends $167; Carrara at Tuscany $207; Sweetgrass Square at Market Common about $240; Grande Dunes Beach View about $295 |
| Townhome, lawn and exterior included | $365 – $700 | The Retreat at Barefoot $366 (cable, internet, lawn, two pools); Barefoot's gated townhomes about $670 (insurance, pest, security, trash) |
| Golf or waterway condo, not oceanfront | $550 – $1,250 | Barefoot Resort: Clearwater Bay $556, Cypress Bend $568, Arbor Trace $573, Yacht Club Villas $870–$1,235, North Tower $1,195–$1,240 |
| 55+ active adult community | $335 – $400 | Cresswind at Market Common $335 (lawn care, internet, cable, amenity campus); Carillon at Tuscany $392 (clubhouse, theater, tennis, two fitness rooms) |
| Oceanfront condo, Myrtle Beach | $615 – $2,060 | Anchorage $615–$730; Sea Watch $635–$1,745 by size; Breakers $880–$1,710; Island Vista $890–$1,740; South Wind $910–$960; Kingston Plantation's Royale Palms $1,455–$1,875 and Margate Tower $1,690–$2,060 |
| Oceanfront resort community, North Myrtle Beach | $740 – $2,770 | North Beach Plantation: homes and cottages $740–$898, The Exchange condos $787–$1,559, North Beach Towers $940–$2,767 by unit size |
| Luxury condo, Grande Dunes | $980 – $4,100 | Villa Marbella $977–$1,224; Marina Inn $1,277–$2,826; Villa Firenze $1,600; Vista del Mar $3,333–$4,108 |
Fees as published on each community's page on this site, rounded, and set annually by each association. Oceanfront fees rise with unit size, so a one-bedroom and a three-bedroom in the same tower can be a thousand dollars a month apart; every listing on this site shows the exact fee for that unit.
Compare Fees by What They Cover, Not by the Number
A $515 townhome fee reads high beside a $100 single-family fee until you notice the townhome fee includes the roof, the exterior and the master insurance policy, and the house fee includes none of those. The right way to compare is to list what the cheaper fee does not cover — roof, siding, lawn, insurance on the structure, water — add those costs back, and then compare. Done that way, a condo or townhome fee is often closer to the true cost of a house than it looks.
Three things to check in any association budget before you offer: how much of the fee goes to reserves, whether there has been a special assessment in the last five years, and whether the master insurance is written with a percentage hurricane deductible. A building that underfunds reserves is a building that will assess its owners for the next roof or the next storm.
Myrtle Beach HOA Fees by Area
The fee range in each part of the Grand Strand, from the association fees published on this site.
These ranges come from the fees stated on the community pages across this site, taken from active listings when each page was written. Associations set fees once a year, so treat the range as the going rate for the area rather than a quote for a specific home. Each area name links to its hub, where every neighborhood page carries its own fee, and every listing on this site shows the exact fee for that unit.
| Area | Property type | Monthly fee range | Lowest and highest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Myrtle Beach | Established neighborhoods | $21 | Dunes Club $21; Long Bay Extension has no association |
| Carolina Forest | Single-family | $46 – $207 | Southgate $46 to Carrara at Tuscany $207; Carillon at Tuscany (55+) $392 |
| Carolina Forest | Townhomes and condos | $150 – $515 | Townes at Carolina Forest $150 to Berkshire Forest Townhomes $515 |
| Market Common | Single-family | $86 – $240 | Monarch Estates $86 to Sweetgrass Square $240; Cresswind (55+) $335 |
| Market Common | Townhomes and condos | $264 – $683 | Belle Harbor Townhomes $264 to Market View $683 |
| Grande Dunes | Homes and townhomes | $295 – $370 | Beach View $295, The Promenade $313, Living Dunes Townhomes $370 |
| Grande Dunes | Condos | $977 – $4,108 | Villa Marbella $977 to Vista del Mar $4,108 |
| Barefoot Resort | Single-family | $200 – $392 | Sweetbriar $200 to Park Hill $392; every fee includes the Residents Club |
| Barefoot Resort | Townhomes and condos | $280 – $670 | Townes at Barefoot $280 to The Dye Townhomes $670 |
| North Beach Plantation | Homes, townhomes and towers | $700 – $2,767 | Appleton Townhomes $700 to North Beach Towers $2,767 |
| Kingston Plantation | Condos and villas | $580 – $2,060 | Canterbury Court $580 to Margate Tower $2,060 |
| Myrtle Beach Oceanfront | Condos | $425 – $2,070 | Camelot by the Sea $425 to Dunes Village $2,070; fees rise with unit size |
Ranges cover the communities whose pages state a fee; a handful of pages do not yet, and the North Myrtle Beach oceanfront buildings will be added when those pages are rebuilt. Golf and beach club memberships at Grande Dunes and the Dunes Club are separate from every figure here.
Homeowners Insurance in Myrtle Beach
The same house insures for about $2,000 a year in Carolina Forest and about $5,000 on the ocean. Distance to the coast is the rate.
Coastal South Carolina homeowners insurance is priced for wind, and the price follows the address. Typical premiums for a Myrtle Beach-area house run from around $2,000 a year in the inland ZIP codes west of the waterway to $4,000 to $5,000 a year for a home east of Highway 17 or on the ocean, with the citywide average somewhere between. Four things move the number more than anything else:
- Distance to the coast. West of the Intracoastal Waterway is the cheapest band; between the waterway and Highway 17 is the middle; east of 17 and oceanfront is the highest. In the beachfront zone some standard carriers exclude wind altogether, and the wind coverage is written as a separate policy through the South Carolina Wind and Hail Underwriting Association.
- Age and shape of the roof. A roof under ten years old, a hip roof rather than a gable, and documented hurricane straps each earn a discount. A wind mitigation inspection costs about $100 and can take a meaningful percentage off the wind portion of the premium.
- Year built. Homes built to the current wind code, broadly since the mid-2000s, insure for less than older homes of the same value. Most of Carolina Forest, Grande Dunes and the 55+ communities qualify.
- The hurricane deductible. Coastal policies carry a separate named-storm deductible of 2% to 5% of the insured value rather than a flat dollar amount. On a $400,000 home that is $8,000 to $20,000 out of pocket after a hurricane. A lower percentage costs more in premium; a higher one is a bet you can cover the gap.
Condos are different. The building's master policy insures the structure, and the owner carries a walls-in policy, called an HO-6, for the interior, contents and personal liability. A Myrtle Beach HO-6 typically runs $500 to $1,500 a year, and the one coverage to make sure it includes is loss assessment, which pays your share if the association assesses owners after a storm because the master deductible was not covered by reserves.
Get an insurance quote on the specific house.
Insurance is the one cost on this page you can pin down to the dollar before you write an offer. Give an agent the address, the year built, the roof age and the square footage and you will have a number the same day. On a coastal home it is a four-figure question, and it belongs in the offer decision, not in the closing paperwork.
Flood Insurance in Myrtle Beach
Flood is the bill that depends entirely on the address, and the rule is simple: a lender requires flood insurance only when the home is in a mapped Special Flood Hazard Area, the zones marked AE or VE on the FEMA map. Outside those zones, in an X zone, flood insurance is optional, and a large share of the Grand Strand's inland neighborhoods sit there — most of Carolina Forest, Conway, the Highway 90 corridor and the inland 55+ communities.
| Flood zone | Where it tends to be | Typical annual cost |
|---|---|---|
| X zone (outside the flood hazard area) | Most of Carolina Forest, Conway, Longs, inland Socastee | Optional; roughly $500 – $900 |
| AE zone (flood hazard area, inland water) | Along the waterway, creeks and the inlets; low sections of older neighborhoods | Required; roughly $1,200 – $2,500 |
| VE zone (coastal, wave action) | Oceanfront and the first rows behind it | Required; roughly $2,000 – $3,500+ |
National Flood Insurance Program and private-market figures for the Myrtle Beach area, rounded. The exact premium depends on the home's elevation relative to the base flood elevation, which is what an elevation certificate records.
Two practical points. First, an optional X-zone policy is cheap for what it covers, and some of the Grand Strand's worst flooding in recent memory happened outside the mapped zones, so many owners in Carolina Forest and Socastee carry one anyway. Second, for an oceanfront condo the flood policy is almost always on the building's master policy, so the owner is not buying it separately; the question is the deductible, which goes back to the association documents.
Horry County publishes elevation certificates for many addresses, and the seller will often have one. If the home is in an AE or VE zone, get the certificate before the offer, because the difference between a house two feet above base flood elevation and one two feet below is a thousand dollars a year for as long as you own it.
Budget the Whole Number
The buyers who end up happiest here are the ones who ran all four bills before they chose a property, not after. I have watched a buyer pass on a condo because the fee was $900 and buy a house with a $100 fee, then spend more than the difference on a new roof, a wind policy and lawn service in the first three years. The fee was never the problem; it was the comparison.
For a full-time resident, the property tax here is so low that it should not drive the decision at all. Insurance and the association fee should. For a second-home or rental buyer the tax matters more, and the 4% versus 6% rule needs to be in the budget from the start.
Give me the address of any home you are considering and I will put the four bills on one page for you before you make an offer. Please refer to my Buying a Home page for greater detail about my process.
Frequently Asked Questions About the Cost of Owning in Myrtle Beach
What does it cost to own a home in Myrtle Beach per month?
A $400,000 single-family home in Carolina Forest costs a full-time resident roughly $390 to $430 a month to carry before any mortgage: about $1,470 a year in property tax, $1,200 in association fees and $2,000 to $2,500 in homeowners insurance, with no flood insurance required outside a mapped flood zone. The same home as a second home runs $670 to $710 a month, because the tax more than triples at the 6% rate.
What does it cost to own a condo in Myrtle Beach?
A $300,000 oceanfront two-bedroom inside the City of Myrtle Beach runs roughly $1,110 to $1,145 a month as a primary residence and $1,350 to $1,380 a month as a second home or rental. The association fee, about $900 a month in this example, is the largest line, and it carries the building's master wind and flood insurance, water, cable, elevators, pools and reserves.
How much are HOA fees in Myrtle Beach?
From about $21 a month in the Dunes Club and $46 in Southgate to more than $4,100 at Vista del Mar in Grande Dunes. Most single-family neighborhoods in Carolina Forest and Market Common charge $75 to $135 (Avalon $84, Emmens Preserve $96, The Reserve at Market Common $101, The Farm $107, Berkshire Forest $116, Plantation Lakes $125); gated, golf and higher-amenity neighborhoods $165 to $300 (Legends $167, Sweetgrass Square $240); 55+ communities $335 to $400 (Cresswind $335, Carillon at Tuscany $392); townhomes $365 to $700; golf and waterway condos at Barefoot Resort $556 to $1,240; Myrtle Beach oceanfront condos $615 (Anchorage) to $2,060 (Margate Tower), with Sea Watch, Breakers and Island Vista between $635 and $1,745 by unit size; North Beach Plantation $740 to $2,767; and the Grande Dunes luxury buildings $977 to $4,108.
Where can I find the HOA fee for a specific Myrtle Beach neighborhood?
Every neighborhood and building page on this site states the current association fee, and every listing shows the exact fee for that unit. The table on this page gives the range by area: Carolina Forest single-family $46 to $207, Market Common $86 to $240, Barefoot Resort homes $200 to $392, Kingston Plantation $580 to $2,060, Myrtle Beach oceanfront condos $425 to $2,070, and Grande Dunes condos $977 to $4,108.
What do HOA fees cover in Myrtle Beach?
A house fee usually covers the common areas, entrance, pool and street lights. A townhome or condo fee usually covers the master insurance on the structure, the roof and exterior, water and sewer, trash, elevators, pools and reserves, and often cable. Because a condo fee includes costs a house owner pays separately, fees should be compared by what they cover, not by the number.
How much is homeowners insurance in Myrtle Beach?
Typically about $2,000 a year for a house west of the Intracoastal Waterway and $4,000 to $5,000 for a house east of Highway 17 or on the ocean, with the citywide average in between. Distance to the coast, roof age and shape, year built and the hurricane deductible move the number most. A condo walls-in HO-6 policy runs about $500 to $1,500 a year.
What is a hurricane deductible?
Coastal South Carolina policies carry a separate named-storm deductible of 2% to 5% of the insured value instead of a flat amount. On a $400,000 home that is $8,000 to $20,000 out of pocket after a hurricane. A lower percentage raises the premium.
Do I need flood insurance in Myrtle Beach?
A lender requires it only when the home is in a mapped Special Flood Hazard Area, zones AE or VE. Most of Carolina Forest, Conway and the inland 55+ communities are in an X zone, where it is optional and runs roughly $500 to $900 a year. In an AE zone expect roughly $1,200 to $2,500 and in a VE oceanfront zone $2,000 to $3,500 or more, depending on the home's elevation.
Is flood insurance included in a condo HOA fee?
For oceanfront buildings, almost always: the building carries flood on its master policy, so the owner does not buy a separate policy. The owner's exposure is the master deductible, which can become a special assessment after a storm. Check the master policy declarations before you offer.
Is it cheaper to own a house or a condo in Myrtle Beach?
A house is usually cheaper to carry per month, because its association fee is small and the owner pays for the roof, exterior and insurance directly and over time. A condo gathers most of those costs into the monthly fee, so it costs more per month but with fewer separate bills and surprises. Compared on what each fee covers, the gap is smaller than the monthly numbers suggest.
What is a special assessment?
A one-time charge an association levies on every owner when reserves cannot cover a cost, most often a roof, a structural repair or a storm deductible. On an oceanfront building they can run from a few thousand dollars to tens of thousands per unit. The association budget and the last five years of minutes show whether a building has a pattern of them.
Are property taxes or HOA fees higher in Myrtle Beach?
For a full-time resident the association fee is usually higher, often by a wide margin: on a $400,000 Carolina Forest home the tax is about $1,470 a year and even a modest fee is $1,200, while an oceanfront condo fee of $10,800 a year is six times the primary-residence tax on a $300,000 unit. For a second-home owner at the 6% rate, tax and fee are closer.
How can I lower insurance costs on a Myrtle Beach home?
Buy newer construction built to the current wind code, get a wind mitigation inspection documenting the roof shape, age and straps, consider a higher hurricane deductible if you can cover it, bundle with auto, and look west of the waterway if the coast itself is not the point. The South Carolina Safe Home program offers grants toward a FORTIFIED roof on qualifying homes.
Let's work together.
Want the four bills run on a specific property before you offer? Ashley DeLong will pull the association budget, the master policy and an insurance quote and put the numbers on one page.
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