2021 End of the Year Market Report
Hoping this market update finds you and your family in good health and spirit!
We are approaching the end of 2021 and it has been another strong year for our real estate market. As we discussed in the last newsletter, COVID accelerated several demographic and market trends that were already in place: a shift to working at home as opposed to going to an office, people wanting to escape the city and all the problems, a shift to warmer climates, people choosing where the want to live based on lifestyle/amenities and a very robust stock market. All of these trends are still in place and have continued to lead buyers to our market in UNPRECEDENTED NUMBERS. As a result, inventory of available homes (supply) has continued to go down and the number of buyers (demand) has continued to go up. Consequently, there has been a dramatic increase in prices/home values, shorter marketing times (many homes selling before or immediately when they hit the market), sellers negotiating very little if at all on their asking prices and soaring rent prices with a scarcity of rental homes. In some cases, homes are selling for more than asking price. VERY EXCITING TIMES FOR HOME SELLERS! The lot market has also continued 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 have soared 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.
As you can see from the statistics below, our market has continued to be “hot”. You can see that the number of sales has actually gone down reflecting the shortage of inventory, however, the average selling price and total sales dollar amount has gone up dramatically reflecting a significant increase in property values. There is nothing to indicate that the trends that have caused our market to go up will diminish in the short term. 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 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 feel now is a great time to sell and also to buy 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 of selling more real estate than anyone for over a decade. If you are a buyer – with the shortage of inventory, it is critical you utilize an agent that will be pro-active and notify you quickly of any market opportunities (LIKE US)!
Here is a snap-shot of the November 2021 market comparison with last year:
| Jan-Nov 2020 | Jan –Nov 2021 | |
| HOMES SOLD | 1431 | 1182 |
| AVERAGE SOLD PRICE | $505,400 | $622,263 |
| LAKE HOMES SOLD | 500 | 370 |
| LAKE LOTS SOLD | 130 | 119 |
| GOLF COMMUNITY HOMES SOLD | 402 | 376 |
| GOLF COMMUNITY LOTS SOLD | 76 | 71 |
| TOTAL REAL ESTATE SOLD | $818,777,000 | $901,038,000 |
As always, please contact us with any questions or if we can help in any way. WE LOVE TO TALK REAL ESTATE!
Best wishes and be safe,
Kim and Lin Logan Real Estate
