About Oglethorpe County, GA

Oglethorpe County GA Courthouse - Lexington, GA

During the month of March 2011, the Oglethorpe County Ga real estate market had the second most active month for total sales in almost a year. Only June of 2010 had more total real estate properties sold in Oglethorpe County during the period and that was primarily driven by the requirement to close on homes by the end of June in order to get the Home Buyers Tax Credit.

At the end of March, there were 174 active listings in Oglethorpe County. 105 of those were residential listings and 57 farm, lot and land listings. 27 of the residential listings and 3 of the farm, lot and land listings are REO/foreclosure properties while another 3 of the residential listings are short sales.In addition, there are 19 listings under contract and pending sale, 17 residential and 2 farm/lot and land listings.

During March there were 14 total sales. The breakdown for these sales is 11 residential properties, of which 6 were REO/Foreclosure sales and 3 farm/lot and land properties, all 3 of which were REO/foreclosure sales. There were no short sales of any type in Oglethorpe County during March 2011.

Residential listings include single family homes, town homes, condos, mobile homes and modular homes. Farm, lot and land listings include residential lots (developed or undeveloped), farms, acreage and undeveloped land. The other listings not detailed include multi-family units, commercial properties, industrial properties, etc. and are included in the total listings but not broken out in the details. All real estate market information in this post is derived from data in the Athens Area Association of Realtors® multiple listing service (MLS).

Oglethorpe County Ga real estate activity includes the towns of Lexington, Crawford, Arnoldsville, Maxeys and Stephens as well as the unincorporated areas and the parts of Comer, Colbert and Winterville that are included within the boundaries of Oglethorpe County.

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).

Oglethorpe County, Ga 12 month sliding average of residential sales has shown a volume drop of 5 units after being flat or increasing slightly for 6 months. Sales volume is the lowest since June of 2009. Whether or not this month is an anomoly and the volume will pick back up and stabilize again is yet to be seen. However, the higher pending sales numbers than recent reports is positive.

Both the average and median sales price, while still down from a year ago, are continuing a 3 month trend higher. At the same time, however, average D.O.M., days on market, is at a 12 month high. Residential sales include the sale of single family residences, condos, townhomes, mobile and modular homes.

The Oglethorpe Count pending residential sales at the end of March are 23 units.

The following chart tracks the sliding 12 month averages for Oglethorpe County Ga through Mar 31, 2010.

All figures above are for 12 months and provide a clear picture of year to year and month to month trends in the market. Using annual numbers helps smooth out any temporary spikes or dips from month to month as well as shows the year to year comparisons which is an indicater of how the market is doing year to year.

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

Oglethorpe County, Ga 12 month sliding average of residential sales has shown a slight volume increase of 2 units after being flat for 4 months. Both January and February of this year have shown a sales volume higher than any of the other previous 11 months. This trend is a pretty good indicater that sales volume has bottomed in Oconee County and may be recovering.

The average selling price, while flat to slightly higher is still down significantly from the same period last year. This is most likely due to the increasing influence of ROE (foreclosure) sales, short sales and sales to first time home buyers.The average Days on Market (D.O.M.), which has been rising again is still below but approaching it's highs of April. The median sales price has remained relatively flat for 7 straight months showing some stabilization.

Residential sales include the sale of single family residences, condos, townhomes, mobile and modular homes.

The Oglethorpe Count pending residential sales at the end of February are 15 units.

The following chart tracks the sliding 12 month averages for Oglethorpe County Ga through Aug 31, 2009:

All figures above are for 12 months and provide a clear picture of year to year and month to month trends in the market. Using annual numbers helps smooth out any temporary spikes or dips from month to month as well as shows the year to year comparisons which is an indicater of how the market is doing year to year.

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

In Oglethorpe County, GA, for the week ending Dec. 6, 2009 the real estate market looks like this:

There are 195 active listings of which 117 are residential, 30 are farm and land. The number of listings is down 3 from the previous report.

There are 15 properties under contract, an decrease of 1 from the previous report.

During the week of Nov 29 - Dec. 6, 2009 there were closed residential sales and no closed farm and land sales. This is 1 fewer than the previous report.

For more information on Oglethorpe County, GA or if 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 Oglethorpe County please visit my website The Athens Real Estate Page.

Note: All data is taken from the Athens Area Association of Realtors MLS system and accurate as of one day after the reporting period.