GEORGETOWN, S.C. —  The economic picture continues to be grim for Georgetown County, as the prices of houses continue to drop in the wake of soaring foreclosures.

The number of foreclosures for single family homes in Georgetown County is now around five percent, said Tom Maeser, market analyst for the Coastal Carolinas Association of Realtors.

It is the highest forclosure rate in Georgetown County he has ever seen, he said.

The rate used to be around one percent, or even less.

“Until this mess, you hardly saw any foreclosures at all in Georgetown County,’’ Maeser said.

“The good news is, by the lowering of prices we’re seeing more affordable houses available.

“The negative is that it really throws sellers into a quandry because it makes you not put your house up for sale.”

He said the foreclosure rate is tied to the high unemployment rate, because many people have lost their homes due to unemployment.

Georgetown County’s unemployment rate now stands at 14.9 percent.

New figures on the local unemployment rate, including Georgetown County, will be released Wednesday, according to the U.S. Labor Bureau.

South Carolina unemployment

The national economic updates were released Friday, showing South Carolina as being the second highest in the nation in the number of unemployed, according to information from the Bureau.

Currently, Georgetown County’s unemployment rate falls in about the middle of the state.

Maeser said about 37 percent of the people buying single-family homes in Georgetown County are paying cash, which is another startling change from the past.

“It used to be about 15 to 18 percent,’’ he said.

He does not know how the Georgetown County economy or the real estate market will fare this year.

“I don’t even know how to project for next year,’’ Maeser said. “I don’t see a whole lot of change. We might see some improvement at the end of the year. It’s so volatile right now, it’s really hard to guess at it.”

Meanwhile, South Carolina was topped by Michigan in the number of people who remain jobless, according to a press release from the Labor Bureau.

South Carolina was one of four states whose jobless rate soared to over 10 percent in January, according to a release from the Bureau.

In January, 49 states and the District of Columbia recorded month-over-month unemployment rate increases, the Labor Department reported, the release said.

All 50 states and the District of Columbia had higher rates than the previous year, the Bureau release said.

According to the Bureau, employers slashed 651,000 jobs across the nation in February and a revised 655,000 jobs in January.

That brought job losses over the last six months to more than 3.3 million.

The nation's unemployment rate in February stood at 8.1 percent, its highest level in 25 years, according to the Bureau.

By Kelly Marshall Fuller

Kfuller@gtowntimes.com