Life & Real Estate In & Around Athens GA. : Georgia

The unemployment rate in Athens GA dropped from 7.9% to 7.7% in July according to the Georgia Department of Labor. The state rate also dropped from 10% to 9.9% during the same period while the national rate has remained at 9.5%.

The Athens MSA (Metropolitan Statistical Area) consists of Athens-Clarke County, Oconee County, Madison County & Oglethorpe County and it has the second lowest rate in the state with only Warner Robbins MSA at 7.6% being lower. Oconee County continues to have the lowest unemployment rate of all the counties in Georgia.

For more information about real estate in the Athens, GA area, or, if you are looking to buy or sell real estate in the Athens Ga area and surrounding counties, please call me at 706-207-5290, or, you can click to email me at athensrealestate@earthlink.net with any questions. To search for homes, land and other real estate in the Athens Ga area please visit my website, www.The Athens Real Estate Page.com .

The following charts show the month to month residential real estate sales volume of the Greater Athens Ga metropolitan area for the months of July 2009 through July 2010. Sales volume of residential real estate has decrease in July for the second consecutive month. The July decrease of 37 units is a drop of over 22-1/2% from June and a decrease of over 41% than the same period last year.

The largest drops in volume were in Athens-Clarke County, accounting for almost 75% and Oglethorpe County, with Jackson County and Watkinsville showing small decreases. Oconee County and Madison County both had increased sales volume.

Chart 1 shows the trends for both the number of residential units sold and the average number of Days on Market (D.O.M.) for residential units sold. After peaking for the year in May, sales volume has declined in June & July, more steeply in July. These declines are probably due to buyers accelerating their purchases to close before June 30 in order to take advantage of the federal income tax credits available. How long this impact will last remains to be seen and is probably going to depend more upon a recovery in employment than anything else this year.

Chart 1

 The total number of residential units sold in July 2010 was 127 units, down 37 units, over 22-1/2%, from June. The average days on market did have a very large increase of 24%. Much of this increase, though, is more than likely due to the extended closing times of homes with contracts signed at the end of April in order to be eligible for the tax credit. At the end of July there were 220 units under contract to sell.

Chart 2

 Chart 2 shows that average prices have remained virtually flat with June at $177,684. However, the median sales price has shown a drop to $141,500 or almost 9%. The average sales price is still at the highest levels of tghe year. Whether or not this is a trend will depend upon whether these prices remain at this level of higher for July and beyond.

The Greater Athens Metropolitan area, for this report, includes Athens-Clarke County, Oconee County, Oglethorpe County, Jackson County and Madison County. All chart information is derived from data in the Athens Area Association of Realtors® multiple listing service (MLS).

For more information about real estate in the Athens, GA area, or, if you are looking to buy or sell real estate in the Athens Ga area and surrounding counties, please call me at 706-207-5290, or, you can click to email me at athensrealestate@earthlink.net with any questions. To search for homes, land and other real estate in the Athens Ga area please visit my website, www.The Athens Real Estate Page.com .

On Aug. 19, Whatever It Takes Athens will have its Dine Out for Kids Event. Participating restaurants in and around Athens will donate a portion of their receipts to Whatever It Takes. WIT is a non-profit organization that is dedicated to fighting poverty by helping students, especially low income students, get a quality K-12 education.

As the name states, the volunteers will do Whatever It Takes to make sure this happens. Please visit the website and watch the video about the organization, introduced by Michael Stipes (R.E.M.). And then eat one, or all of your meals, on Aug. 19, at one of more of the participating restaurants.

There will also be various prizes such as gift cards to Krogers and other places that will be given to some of those who eat at on the the participating restaurants. All Atlanta area Longhorn restaurants are participating. You can get a list of participating restaurants here.

Dine Out For Kids will take place in cities throughout Georgia as well as Charlotte & Rocky Mount, NC.

June 2010 residential real estate sales volume in Athens - Clarke County, GA  slid 3% in June from May 2010 sales volume. However, this is still 2% higher volume than the the same period last year and 13% higher than the lows of last September.  While down, this is not a indicating a negative trend nor a major weakening of the Athens-Clarke County housing market. However, the July volumes, which will come out later this month, will be a better indicator of the market.   A positive indicator is that the D.O.M. (days on market) remained the same, 192 days, which is the low for the last year.

Both the average and median sales price of homes were down slightly from May .This is probably driven by two factors: 1) the number of foreclosures and short sales on the market; 2) first time and repeat homebuyers taking advantage of the $8000 and $6500 tax credits respectively.

At the end of June there were 126 pending sales of residential property in Athens - Clarke County. Residential properties include single family homes, duplexes, triplexes, condos, townhouses, mobile and manufactured homes.

The following table shows the sliding 12 month residential sales volume in Athens-Clarke County over the last 12 months:

If you would like more information on Athens-Clarke County, GA, or you are interested in buying or selling your home there, please call me at 706-207-5290. Or you can click here to email me with your inquiries. To search for homes in Jackson County you, please visit my website.

June 2010 residential real estate sales volume in Oconee, GA showed sales flat in the 12 month sliding sales volume from May, after being basically flat from April. The volume is holding steadily higher than the same period a year ago. The average Days on Market (D.O.M.)  rose slightly in the same period. The average sales price is down slightly from May while the medial price has risen slightly. Both are down from the same period in 2009. 

Sales volume was up very slightly in both South and West Oconee County, as were the average and median sales prices. Watkinsville had slightly reduced volume and prices. At the end of June there were 39 pending sales of residential property in Oconee County.

The following tables show the sliding 12 month residential sales volume in Oconee County over the last 12 months through June 30, 2011:

If you would like more information on Oconee County, GA, or  you are interested in buying or selling your home there, please call me at 706-207-5290. Or you can click here to email me with your inquiries. To search for homes in Oconee County please visit  The Athens Real Estate Page website.

The following charts show the month to month residential real estate sales volume of the Greater Athens Ga metropolitan area for the months of June 2009 through June 2010. Sales volume of residential real estate has decrease in June after managing increases for the previous 4 months from February through May, with May showing the second highest montly volume in the past 12 months.

The largest drops in volume were in Athens-Clarke County and Oglethorped County, with Jackson County and Watkinsville showing small decreases. Oconee County and Madison County both had increased sales volume.

Chart 1 shows the trends for both the number of residential units sold and the average number of Days on Market (D.O.M.) for those units. May shows another increase in the sales volume, after increases in February March and April. This is probably due to buyers coming back into the market to take advantage of the extended First Time Home Buyers Tax Credit extension as well as the Repeat Home Buyers Tax Credit.

Chart 1

The total number of residential units sold in June 2010 was 164 units, down 17 units, almost 10%, from May. While volume was down from theprevious month it is still a good showing when comparing with only May showing stronger volume since August of last year. The average days on market did have a very large increase of 24%. Much of this increase, thought, is more than likely due to the extended closing times of homes with contracts signed at the end of April in order to be eligible for the tax credit.

Chart 2

Chart 2 shows that prices have increased since June with an average sales price of $177,893.00. Median prices are also up with a median price of $155,000. The average sales price is the highest it has been in 2010 while the median price is the highest since October 2009. Whether or not this is a trend will depend upon whether these prices remain at this level of higher for July and beyond.

The Greater Athens Metropolitan area, for this report, includes Athens-Clarke County, Oconee County, Oglethorpe County, Jackson County and Madison County. All chart information is derived from data in the Athens Area Association of Realtors® multiple listing service (MLS).

For more information about real estate in the Athens, GA area, or, if you are looking to buy or sell real estate in the Athens Ga area and surrounding counties, please call me at 706-207-5290, or, you can click to email me at athensrealestate@earthlink.net with any questions. To search for homes, land and other real estate in the Athens Ga area please visit my website, www.The Athens Real Estate Page.com .

The following charts show the month to month residential real estate sales volume of the Greater Athens Ga metropolitan area for the months of June 2009 through May 2010. Sales volume of residential real estate has now shown an increase for the last 4 months from February throuug May, with May showing the second highest montly volume in the past 12 months.

Chart 1 shows the trends for both the number of residential units sold and the average number of Days on Market (D.O.M.) for those units. May shows another increase in the sales volume, after increases in February March and April. This is probably due to buyers coming back into the market to take advantage of the extended First Time Home Buyers Tax Credit extension as well as the Repeat Home Buyers Tax Credit.

Chart 1

The total number of residential units sold in May 2010 was 181 units, up 21 units and more than 13%, from April. While down from the highs of last July it is a very strong showing and well over 200% of the low volume in January. The average days on market had its second consecutive decline to 165 days, down over 27% since the highs in March.

Chart 2

The Greater Athens Metropolitan area, for this report, includes Athens-Clarke County, Oconee County, Oglethorpe County, Jackson County and Madison County. All figures come from the Athens Area Association of Realtors® multiple listing service (MLS)

For more information about real estate in the Athens, GA area, or, if you are looking to buy or sell real estate in the Athens Ga area and surrounding counties, please call me at 706-207-5290, or, you can email me with any questions. To search for homes, land and other real estate in the Athens Ga area please visit my website, The Athens Real Estate Page.

AmericanStyle magazine has named Athens, Ga as one of the top 25 mid-sized city art destinations for the 9th straight year in a row. Rating cities on their visual and performance arts, Athens was rated #18 in the mid-sized city category this year.

While most people might know about Athens because of its contributions to the music scene with bands like R.E.M., Widespread Panic and The B-52's, there is also a strong visual arts environment here.

One the widest spread and easily recognized art displays is the Athens-Oconee Junior Woman's Club project "We Let the Dogs Out!". It is 36 bull dogs distributed all over Athens, each one whimsically painted by a different artist. You can find them scattered about downtown, in front of banks, fire stations, parks, etc. As you wander around town you might run into this handsome fellow out in front of St. Mary's hospital.

Or you may run into Dawg House, by artist Charlotte House out in front of the Athens Visitor Center.

So come spend some time, find all 36 of these pieces of art. And tour the galleries and museums. Take a tour of the classical southern architecture homes which are works of art in themselves. Stop in a some of the clubs and listen to the local music. And, of course, try some of the local cousine which is another form of art that satifies the body.

You can see the entire list of cities, large, small and in-between in the May 2010 issue of AmericanStyle magazine. To find out more about what's going on in Athens, Ga, including visual and performing arts, you can checkout Athens Life Unleashed.

For information on buying or sellingreal estate in the Athens Ga area, please call me at 706-207-5290. Or, you can click here to email me with your request for information. To search for homes and real estate in the Athens Ga area, please visit my website: The Athens Real Estate Page.

The unemployment rate in Athens - Clarke County Ga has dropped for the second straight month in April. It is now at 7.4%, down from 7.9% in March and 8.4% in February. This is well below the national unemployment average of 9.7% and the Georgia unemployment rate of 10.4%, down from a March rate of 10.5%.

While this is excellent news for the Athens area, it remains to be seen whether this is an organic job growth in the private sector or temporary decreases due to hiring of temporary census workers. The Athens area, for BlS employment statistics includes: Athens-Clarke County Ga, Oconee County Ga and Madison County Ga.

For information on buying or selling a home or property in the Athens Ga area, please call me at 706-207-5290. Or, you can click here to email me with your request for information. To search for homes and real estate in the Athens Ga area, please visit my website: The Athens Real Estate Page.

March 2010 residential real estate sales volume in Athens - Clarke County, GA showed flat sales for the third consecutive month. However, this is almost 10% higher volume than the lows of last September.  This appears to be a positive indicater that the Athens-Clarke County residential real estate market is stabilizing.  While the volume remained steady, the average Days on Market (D.O.M.) dropped by 3 days, another slightly positive indicator.

Both the average and median sales price of homes remainded flat from February, with the average price down just over 8% from a year ago and the median price fairing better, down just under 4% during the same period. .This is probably driven by two factors: 1) the number of foreclosures and short sales on the market; 2) first time and repeat homebuyers taking advantage of the $8000 and $6500 tax credits respectively.

At the end of March there were 194 pending sales of residential property in Athens - Clarke County, up significantly from February. Residential properties include single family homes, duplexes, triplexes, condos, townhouses, mobile and manufactured homes.

The following table shows the sliding 12 month residential sales volume in Athens-Clarke County over the last 12 months:

If you would like more information on Athens-Clarke County, GA, or you are interested in buying or selling your home there, please call me at 706-207-5290. Or you can click here to email me with your inquiries. To search for homes in Jackson County you, please visit my website.