The Wall Street Journal reports on South Carolina. "Oh, how the world has changed. Along the coast, which includes Myrtle Beach, July sales of new and existing homes were off 42.7% from the same period last year, according to the South Carolina Association of Realtors. Here's another clue to the state of the market in Myrtle Beach: Developers aren't pushing away presale buyers anymore, they're courting them."

From the State. "An insurance crisis along the S.C. coast could drive people from their homes, devastate the real estate market and slow tourism. Mary Lewis shakes her head in disbelief. The letter has to be a misprint. She’ll have to find a way to pay an initial increase of $690. Lewis and her husband live on a fixed income, and the increase might force them to move out of their Waterway Village condo, which they bought seven years ago for $77,000."

"'We’re seeing nightmares across the board,' said Bruce Langston, certified public accountant at a Myrtle Beach management company. 'It’s every condo, no matter whether the condo costs $100,000 or a million dollars. This is going to result in foreclosures or people forced to sell.'"

"Growth along the coast and rising real estate values have tightened the state’s insurance market, said S.C. director of insurance Eleanor Kitzman. Every time a new home is built, more insurance is needed."

"With skyrocketing reinsurance rates, and forecasts of severe hurricane seasons, the problem has worsened, she said. 'A large part of this is the fear that insurance companies have of another Katrina-like event,' Kitzman said. 'That has really caused a lot of companies to reconsider how much business they want to write.'"

"Kitzman acknowledged that a 700 percent increase is 'certainly a lot,' but added: 'If no one else will write it for less, I don’t know how you can think it is too much.'"

"A once-booming real estate industry could take the biggest hit. Condo owners can’t afford to pay an HOA fee that is almost as large as their mortgage. And when potential buyers find out what the insurance payments are, some might back out. Investors are finding they can’t raise rents enough to cover the increased cost."

"The Myrtle Beach area has seen the number of condos on the market triple since last year and condo sales have fallen by 27 percent. 'This is not going to help that. This is without the massive insurance scare. It’s just going to add to that problem,'said Tom Maeser, local market analyst."