2023 MID-YEAR REVIEW

We are almost half way through 2023. We hope this market update finds you and your family in good health and spirit! The Lake Oconee real estate market continues to be strong. Several new business (including several new restaurants) have opened. The golf course communities continue to thrive and expand. Building and construction has continued at a high level. We also just hosted our CLIENT APPRECIATION PARTY at our office on HWY 44. The weather turned out perfect, we had a great turnout and the band and food trucks were awesome! It was great to reconnect with many of our past clients and friends. Thanks to all that came and we hope all that couldn’t will stay in touch!

As we discussed in previous newsletters, our market has benefitted over the previous few years from a shift to working at home as opposed to going to an office, people wanting to escape the city and all the associated problems, greater desire to live in warmer climates, and people choosing where they want to live based on lifestyle/amenities. All of these trends are still in place and have continued to lead buyers to our market in HIGH NUMBERS. As a result, inventory of available homes (supply) continues to be low and the number of buyers (demand) continues to be strong. Consequently, there has been a dramatic increase in prices/home values over the previous few years. VERY EXCITING TIMES FOR HOME SELLERS! The lot market continues to be strong due to the declining housing inventory. On the building front, costs have been going up throughout the county and also in our market. Material costs continue to be high and there is a shortage of workers resulting in higher construction costs and longer building times. As you might expect, this has also made the cost and time to remodel go up as well. Current economic conditions that include rising interest rates and a more stagnant stock market, will no doubt have an effect on our market, but here is nothing to indicate that the positive trends that have caused our market to go up will diminish in the short term. We are forecasting that our market will continue to be strong and attractive to new buyers.

You can see from the statistics below, our market in 2023 is very similar to the first part of 2022. We often get asked if we think our market is “over-priced” and if we are at the “top”. While no one knows for sure, we do know that if you smooth out our market valuation over the past 30 years, our current valuations are not significantly above the 3-4% historical appreciation line for real estate. In other words, our values are in line with historical real estate appreciation and do not indicate we are over-priced. This is especially apparent if you compare our prices to other resort areas in the Southeast.

Bottom line = we still feel now is a great time for buyers and sellers alike in our market. If you are a seller - It is critical that you utilize someone who KNOWS the market and KNOWS HOW TO GET YOUR HOME SOLD for top dollar (LIKE US)! We have a proven track record in this market of selling more real estate than anyone for nearly two decades. If you are a buyer – with the shortage of inventory, it is critical you utilize an agent that will be pro-active, technology savvy, and notify you quickly of any market opportunities (LIKE US)!

Here is a snap-shot of the Jan-May 2023

Lake Oconee real estate market compared with Jan-May 2022

HOMES SOLD AVERAGE SOLD PRICE