Stacie's Take on Real Estate and Living in Augusta GA

The Greater Augusta Association of Realtors covers the counties of Burke, Columbia, Glascock, Jefferson, Jenkins, Lincoln, McDuffie, Richmond, Warren and Wilkes in Georgia and Abbeville, Aiken, Allendale, Barnwell, Edgefield, Greenwood, McCormick and Saluda in South Carolina.

The absorption rate for this entire area was 13.6 months for the month of February. Since I don't cover all of these counties in my business, I thought it would be more useful to point out the absorption rate for the area that I focus on the most: Columbia County. I do work in Richmond and Aiken counties as well, but I really prefer Columbia County because I live there and know it very well.

Columbia County is divided in our MLS into 4 quadrants:

Quadrant 1 centers around the town of Appling, GA and includes the neighborhoods of Windmill Plantation, Riverwood Plantation, Kiokee Ridge, Wood Creek, Lake Cumberland and Keg Creek.

Quadrant 2 consists of Martinez and Evans and includes neighborhoods such as Jones Creek, Knob Hill, Orchard Hill, Chaparral, Stratford, Sumter Landing, Northridge, Heritage Hill, Farmington, River Island, Tudor Branch, High Meadows, West Lake, River Birch Landing, Brookwood Glen, Bartram Trail, Springlakes, Ivy Falls, Rivershyre and Watervale.

Quadrant 3 centers around Harlem, GA and includes the neighborhoods of Cornerstone Creek, Hardy Station, Ansley Place and The Village at Sandy Run Creek.

Quadrant 4 centers around the city of Grovetown, GA and includes such neighborhoods as Main Street, Indian Springs, Northlake, Canterbury Farms, Euchee Creek, Creek Bend, Pamir Place, Pepper Hill and Grove Landing.

When the county is broken down into these quadrants, I came up with the following absorption rates (based on data obtained from the Greater Augusta Association of Realtors MLS, which comes with no warranties and no guarantees):

Appling, GA (quadrant 1) shows a 14.8 month absorption rate. Martinez and Evans, GA (quadrant 2) show a 11.0 month absorption rate. Harlem, GA (quadrant 3) shows a 18 month absorption rate Grovetown, GA (quadrant 4) shows a 13.9 month absorption rate. As a reminder, the absorption rate is the amount of time that it would take all of the active listings to sell in a particular area at the current rate that they are selling. In a future post, I'll tackle the absorption rate numbers for Richmond County...

For more information,  please visit my website at www.AugustaGALiving.com.

Thanks!

Stacie Wells
stacie@staciewells.com
706-373-4663
@AugustaGALiving on Twitter

Although we're not quite through the 1st quarter of 2009, I feel compelled to share the current market stats as compared to the 1st Quarter Market Stats of 2008. We've had some big changes during the last 12 months...

We're still deep in a Buyer's Market, with over 13 months worth of inventory. In fact, January '09 had the highest absorption rate that I've seen since I started my real estate career in 2002.

Other statistics worth noting (as reported by the MLS of the Greater Augusta Association of Realtors):

• Average days on market (residential): 128 days
• Average list price: $151,166
• Average sale price: $146,613
• % Difference Between list and sale price: 97%
  

For more information on Augusta, GA, including the Columbia County areas of Evans, Grovetown, and Martinez, visit www.AugustaGALiving.com