Market Common, Broadway at the Beach, and the Intracoastal at Grande Dunes — the corridor where retirement means walking to dinner, not driving to it.
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Talk to a Specialist →Myrtle Beach proper runs roughly from the Intracoastal Waterway at Grande Dunes on the north end down through Market Common and the airport district. Myrtle Beach International Airport (MYR) sits inside city limits — a genuine convenience for buyers flying in family. US-17 Business (Kings Highway) and US-17 Bypass both run through the corridor, giving quick access north to Little River (15–20 minutes) and south to Surfside Beach (10–15 minutes).
This is the corridor with the tightest concentration of retail, medical offices, and dining of anywhere on the Grand Strand — which is exactly the trade a buyer here is making: pay a location premium, get the density of a real town center.
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For Horry County primary residents 65 and older, the stacked SC tax advantage — the 4% owner-occupied assessment ratio, the $50,000 homestead exemption, and the school operating mill exemption — brings the effective annual tax bill on a $400,000 home down to roughly $900–$1,200/year, versus $4,200–$4,800/year for a second-home owner on the same property. Rates and exemption thresholds change; verify the current numbers with the Horry County Assessor before you budget around them.
What that tax math doesn't capture is the location premium itself. You are paying more per square foot here than in Murrells Inlet or Conway for the same reason a downtown condo costs more than a suburban one anywhere in the country: proximity.
This corridor is the most expensive entry point on the Grand Strand outside of oceanfront property, and it carries the heaviest seasonal tourist traffic of any zone in this guide — Broadway at the Beach and the boardwalk district draw crowds from May through September that can make routine errands slower. Cresswind's resale-only status also means no builder-fresh inventory here; if new construction matters to you, look north to Little River or south to Bridgewater's footprint instead.
Buyers who want to walk or golf-cart to dinner, live inside a real town center rather than a subdivision, and are willing to pay a premium and tolerate tourist-season congestion for that convenience. Less ideal for buyers chasing the lowest possible carrying cost — Conway and Murrells Inlet do that better.
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