2023 is expected to be a very successful year for the local housing market, according to a recent article from USA Today. The newspaper ranked the top 10 real estate markets in the U.S., and Augusta made the list, which also includes Columbia, Chattanooga, Toledo, and El Paso.
“Home sales across the top 10 markets are expected to grow by 5.2 percent year over year, whereas national home sales are projected to experience a decline in sales (-14.1 percent),” the article said. “Average home prices in these markets are expected to increase by 7.3 percent compared with 5.4 percent nationally.”
Shawna Woodward, an experienced real estate agent with RE/MAX Reinvented, isn’t surprised Augusta was named one of the top 10.
“Historically, Augusta and the CSRA housing trends are protected from what the national housing market experiences,” Woodward said. “I do expect property value appreciation to remain consistent in our area.”
Like Woodward, Augusta’s ranking doesn’t surprise Auben Realty’s Director of Sales, Cole Thompson. Auben, a full-service investment brokerage firm, was founded in Augusta in 2009. The company also has locations in Columbia and Chattanooga, and Auben expanded into those cities based on customer demand. It has four major divisions: sales, property management, project management, and maintenance.
“First and foremost, property taxes in Georgia are significantly less than they are in South Carolina and Tennessee,” Thompson said.
He said other reasons Augusta’s housing market is so strong include the city’s proximity to Fort Gordon, as well as its major hospitals and universities. Thompson said Auben actively manages its clients’ real estate investments and is looking at possibly expanding to other areas of the Southeast, including Florida and Greenville-Spartanburg.
But he said in the future, the company would like to open locations outside of the region. “We’re really trying to stay in the Southeast for 2023,” Thompson said. “We’re expanding exponentially, and we’re excited about 2023.”
The USA Today article cites other ways the top 10 markets differentiate themselves from the rest, including affordability.
“The markets didn’t get as caught up in 2022’s wild buying frenzy – and price increases – as other areas,” the article said. “In the top 10 markets, 23 percent of housing inventory is affordable at the median income level, compared to just 17 percent of affordable homes nationally.”
To read the full article, visit usatoday.com.
