Oglethorpe County Ga 2010 Residential Real Estate Year in Review

What happenned in 2010? 2010 was a challenging year for real estate across the country. While Oglethorpe County Ga did not escape those challenges the presence of the University of Georgia in neighboring Athens and an unemployment rate that remained  below both the state  and national averages kept the real estate market a little bit more stable than in many areas of the country as well as Georgia.

The numbers: Chart 1, below, shows how the 2010 residential real estate market faired against the 2009 market as far as total sales and Days on Market. In 2009, there were 88 residental units sold. In 2010 that number decreased by slightly more than 10% to 79 units. During the same period the percentage of sales that were foreclosures remained increase slightly. In 2009 there were 46 foreclosure sales, or just over 62% of the total sales volume. In 2010 there were 50 foreclosures or about 62.3% of the total sales volume.  In 2011 foreclosures and short sales will more than likely make up they same or higher percentage of the total sales volume. Those wanting to sell their homes for reasons other than foreclosure or short sale will need to differentiate their homes in order to obtain a higher price.

The average time to sell a residential property (Days on Market, D.O.M.) , in Oglethorpe County Ga decreased about 4.1% from 170 in 2009 days to 163 days in 2010.

Chart 1

Chart 2 below shows the direction of both average and median sales prices in Oglethorpe County Ga. The average sales price declined just over 1% from $113,253.00 to $111,876.00. The median price increased  5.3% from $114,000.00 in 2009 to $120,000.00 in 2010. The decline in average price and the increase in median price are an interesting anomoly but are both caused by the increase in foreclosed property sales as well as an influx of buyers looking to take advantage of the tax credits as well as the lower property taxes in Oglethorpe County Ga.

Chart 2

What does 2011 hold? 2011 will probably be almost as challenging as 2010 was. Foreclosures and short sales are expected to become a larger part of the market. Prices are expected to suffer some decrease, at least during the first 6 months of the year. The forecast is for prices to stabilize during the second half of the year. This will really be dependant upon how the economy fairs, especially in regard to unemployment.

For those that want, or need, to sell their homes for reasons other foreclosure, the good news is that, as the numbers for 2010 indicate, "organic" sales of homes are still happenning in the Oglethorpe County GA market. However, they need to be both priced competitively and in a condition considerably better than foreclosure or short sale properties in order to get that higher price.

All chart information is derived from data in the Athens Area Association of Realtors® multiple listing service (MLS).