About Columbia County, GA

Coming in June!

June 4 : Happy Feet (PG)

June 11: Curious George (G)

June 18: Madagascar (PG)

June 25: Herbie Fully Loaded (G)

Free admission at the Performing Arts Center in Evans, showtime is at 1pm, tickets available at 12pm - Limited seating - only bottled water allowed. For more information, call (706)312-7191.

See you there!

If you're like most people this holiday weekend, you'll be spending time at home instead of on the road. I heard today that this is the first Memorial Day this decade that is reporting a decrease in travel. Go figure! (With gas at $3.79/gal, who wants to drive?)

If you're staying close to Augusta this weekend, why not head out to Thurmond Lake? Although the weather predictions look rainy for Saturday, Sunday and Monday are supposed to be in the low to mid 80s and SUNNY - great lake weather! There are several great picnic and swimming spots - perfect for family fun. Two of my favorites are Lake Springs and West Dam. There are grills at several spots for cooking up hotdogs and hamburgers. The kids might enjoy a version of their own!

As we remember and are thankful for those who died in the service of our great Nation, be safe and enjoy your Memorial Day!

Looking at the market right now, I see a strong analogy between a hurricane and the market we reside in right now. Some of us are in the eye, stable communities that are being affected more by the price of gas and food than that of a huge down surge in the market. The good news here in Evans Georgia is that the house prices have been affected very little to the negative. The bad news is buyers are more cautious than ever before and there are less of them. A lot of my peers are complaining about the lack of business. I say to them, feel blessed they are not in other parts of the country where sellers are giving away new cars to sell their house. One way or the other, as with the hurricane, some will get blown away and others will rebuild stronger. I say to you, dig deep and weather the storm.

Kim Hankins (my wonderful Buyer Specialist) forwarded an article to me today and suggested that I share it in our blog. I'm taking her up on her suggestion. Best Life magazine took note of the fact that men (I dare say women as well) are faced with the reality of wanting to raise their children somewhere safe. The magazine evaluated 257 cities on such categories as student-teacher ratios, above-average test scores, and the number of museums, parks and pediatricians. Armed with data from the U.S. census bureau, the FBI, National Association for Education Statistics, National Center for Health Statistics and the American Bar Association, they placed Augusta in the top 100 at #85.

This comes on the heels of Martinez, GA being named #76 on Money magazine's list of Top 100 Best Places to Live 2007, and Evans, GA being named #32 on the same list for 2005.

Like I've always said, "Big town amenities together with small town charm make a winning combination!"

An overview of residential listings (as reported by the Multiple Listing Service of the Greater Augusta Association of Realtors) shows a 12% increase in active listings from March to April of this year, but a 5% decrease from April '07. The number of sold listings is up 6% from March, but down over 16% from April '07. Another item to note is the average days on market stood at 108 for April. This was down slightly from March, but considerably higher than the 81 days reported in April '07. Also, the absorption rates since January have us still squarely in a Buyer's Market, with not much movement. Rates were at 12.1 months in January, 11.4 in Feb., 10.2 in March, and 11.5 in April. Based on current numbers for the month, it looks like that number may be moving back down in the direction of a balanced market. Stay tuned!