All Forum Posts by: J. Mitchell Bernier

This past April a bill in the Georgia legislature that would essentially put a ban on out of state landlords' self-managing their rental properties passed and is now effective as of July 1st. Bill 399 that was recently signed by Govenor Kemp mandates that any out of state landlord must have a point of contact for the tenant to communicate in regard to maintenance concerns. While this does not completely ban Out of State investors to Georgia, the bill does increase scrutiny for those owners.  Enforcement of this law is vague and looks to only come into play when a tenant notifies code enforcement, but it is something for investors to be aware of. There is a carve out as this only applies to property owners of single-family homes or duplexes, because as the article states in the link below, it was to try and increase affordability by limiting demand of buyers for cheaper homes. 

Simple solution for all out of state investors in Georgia, hire a professional property manager. 

Bill passes for out-of-state landlords to have Georgia staff for tenant issues - Atlanta Civic Circle

Supply and Demand 101

If you follow housing news on any social media platforms or listen for it in the news, then you would of heard all the “Doomers” report on the Redfin article about “500,000 More Sellers Than Buyers”. This sent every housing doomer to project another 2008 like event and even Redfin misled the public for clicks by saying “Will likely cause home prices to Fall”. Let me be clear, home prices are not projected to fall. And a 2008 style credit event doesn’t seem to be on the horizon anytime soon. What we are seeing on a national level is a continuation of the low transaction volumes nationwide with inventory starting to stack up. This is causing prices to be lower in some of the major markets, but at most they are down 5%, while nationwide it is mostly flat. Even Redfin corrects itself by saying they expect a drop of 1% by the end of the year nationally. Does 1% constitute a fall??

The article does go into detail on which markets have more buyers, and which have more sellers, and they estimate that 31 out of 50 metro markets are buyers’ markets, and these are the markets seeing the most in price reductions and sellers' concessions. But again, the market they list as the biggest buyers' market is Miami, Florida, but they are showing a 5.6% YoY change in median price, so it actually is up higher!

The main take away from this is yes, we are not in the pandemic market anymore and we all have to remind ourselves of what real estate was like between 2016-2020. It was steady and most things didn’t sell in an hour. But prices weren’t falling either. Another important point to this is, Real Estate is local. Every market is different and there is no such thing as a National Real Estate Market. Now I can’t use the same formula as Redfin, but the best way to look at a market is inventory and days on market. So here is where Valdosta stands as of end of April 2025.

As you can see, inventory has begun to rise since 2023 but is still of pre-pandemic levels to the tune of -37.74%. Lastly, average days on market sits at 70 days per Altos Research. This is compared to an average of north of 150 days pre pandemic.

So, are some markets in the US seeing prices flatten and decrease by 1-2%, yes absolutely. Is Valdosta seeing that, no. Are some markets in the US seeing prices fall? No. Is the Valdosta market seeing prices fall? Heck no! 

Don't be fooled by the headlines....

The Housing Market Has Nearly 500,000 More Sellers Than Buyers

Spring has Come to an End

For the first time this year we have a report that doesn’t look like a rocket ship up to new highs. This is not unusual for housing, as it has seasonality and Spring has notoriously been the time for housing. So, this report could be the first sign of the spring season ending or it could be an anomaly and next month could be back to setting new highs. Let's dive in!

Median list price of homes for sale came down to $260,000 from the previous high of $287,000. Also, the median price of new listings came down as well to just $245,000. With all else being held equally seeing this drop would be a cause of concern, however; what is interesting is the average days on market fell during this time as well. down to 67 days on average. Plus, we also see price decreases remaining flat and listing with a price increase coming up. So, what we could be seeing is more inventory of lower priced affordable homes coming to market which is weighing down the listing price averages, but they are still priced right and are moving quickly. This is backed up by the majority of new listings this month come from the median price range of $235,000.

Rents have continued to bounce around and have retreated a little bit to just shy of $1400 a month. We still believe that in the long run this will trend higher and be above $1500 in the near future. The big driver for this is going to be supply of rental homes and vacancy rates. Which we have two additional articles supporting that thesis.

Last week, CNBC had an article that talked about on a national level renters are staying put more than historically. This is causing renewal rates to climb higher and in better news keep turnover costs down for investors. On a more local level, the University of Georgia tracks rental vacancy rates across the state and shows the state average to be at 6.7% between the time of 2019-2023, Lowndes County comes in at 5.7% during that same time. What’s even more, this is down almost by half from the previous 4-year period of 2014-2018. With vacancy trending lower, this creates a supply constrain for renters and when supply is limited rent rates will climb.

Feel free to click through different counties in GA in the link below to compare with Lowndes County.

Rental Vacancy Rate | Georgia Data

Something 'striking' is happening with apartment renters

Valdosta GA Market Update: April 2025

Stock Market Down, Housing still going UP!

I feel like I am becoming a broken record here, but it’s hard not to be right now. As investors we are always paying attention to other markets, and it’s hard not to watch and be concerned with all the red across the board in the Stock Market. So, take a deep breath and remember that the Stock market is always volatile, and we are in for a bumpy ride with all the changes this administration is going after. However, one market that is not showing any cause for concern is the Valdosta Housing Market! Let’s dive into the numbers.

Median list price of homes for sale shot up to another record high of $287,400. This is a big jump from $267,000 in last month’s report, also median price of new listings went up as well from $252,400 to $279,900. Again, the trend continues to show support to the upside with days on the market and inventory continues to fall to lows we haven’t since the rise in rates in 2023. It’s hard to imagine that home prices in Valdosta going anywhere but up in the short term.

With housing prices up and inventory down, this leads to the metric I know most of us are focused on, rent rates. Median rents are trending back up and are almost back to the peak we saw around $1500. As we mentioned in earlier reports, we are expecting rent rates to continue to rise over the next 3- 6 months and are projecting to be solidly over $1500 median rent by August of 2025. Attached is the full housing report from Altos Research as of 04/04/25.

The numbers don’t lie, Valdosta is proving to be a strong housing market in 2025, and there could be even more good news on the Horizon!

No Doom and Gloom Here!

If you have been watching the news lately, especially the financial markets, there have been a lot of sad faces on there. Especially on Wall Street, there is a lot of doom and gloom around tariffs, inflation risks, and slowing economic growth in the US. This could be the start of a rolling over on the stock market with the DOW, S&P, and Nasdaq all pulling back over the past month. However, if you’re a real estate investor in Valdosta, No DOOM AND GLOOM HERE!! Let’s dive into the numbers.

Median list price of homes for sale continues its march higher to another record high of $267,000. This is only up slightly from last month, but the trend is what matters. And that trend is showing no signs of turning in the other direction. This trend is being reinforced by price per sqft hitting another record high and days on market decreasing again for another straight month.

Another sign of good things to come are inventory levels have decreased again and quite dramatically from last month. With the spring home buying season fast approaching, if these levels stay low, this will just push prices even higher in 2025. Higher prices will lead to higher rents as well. Which are starting to bounce back after being around $1500 at the start of the year, they have come back slightly to around $1,400. I would project that over the next 9-12 months it will be choppy, but by the end rent median rates will be back above $1,500 in Valdosta.

All in all, the data continues to show that Valdosta is an excellent market and is on the trend higher, and we are starting to see other media outlets take notice.

In January, Prop.text.com did their own report of their top 10 markets for 2025. They used a variety of data sources and focused on three main categories: Overvalued vs Undervalued, Population growth, and job growth. And look who came in as number 1, Valdosta came in at number 1 as the best market of 2025. The full list is listed below.

1. Valdosta, GA
2. Shelby, NC
3. Harrisonburg, VA
4. Charlottesville, VA
5. Chamberburg, PA
6. California, MD
7. El Paso, TX
8. Grand Forks, ND
9. Jonesboro, AR
10. Las Cruces, NM

 Great buy! We own one and manage multiple others on that same street. Market rents ranged from 1100-1300 on that street for 3 bedrooms. I would suggest raising the rents though, even if it is only by 25 bucks a year. 

Reason being, Valdosta has experienced two hurricanes and inflation, like we all have, in the last 5 years and the property taxes have been rising every year for the last three. I have seen some practically double over the last two! 

So, I would suggest at least raising the rents, just to cover that increase in expenses. I would be shocked if your tenant tried to move with an increase of 100 bucks or less, due to the fact of limited supply for similar size and type for under 1100 a month. 

Good Luck Let me know if I can help in any way! 

Valdosta GA Market Update: FEB 2025

Love is in the air!!

Over the past two months, and really two years, I have been watching and waiting to see when rising inventory and higher rates will finally affect the Valdosta real estate market. Thankfully I have not held my breath, because it may not happen. Another month, another solid report on the housing data, provided by Altos Research.

If you are a current owner, you are going to love these statistics:

• Median List Price= UP month over month
• Median New Listing Price=UP month over month
• Price Per Sqft=UP month over month
• Avg days on Market=Down month over month
• Median days on Market=Down month over month
• Inventory=Down month over month

I don’t know if it could get much better for sellers! However, in every real estate transaction there is someone else on the other end of the table. Buyers are getting beat up right now… The question remains, will the buyers ever regain control, or will it always be an uphill climb to become a new homeowner???

The one negative from this month’s report is rent rates, surprisingly went down. It would seem logical to think that the above metrics would lead to higher rent prices, but that is not the case. Last month we saw median rent at $1,500 a month and it fell back to $1,350 a month this month. What could be a factor not showing up in the data is timing. With Valdosta being a town full of college kids and military families, the busiest time for U-Haul will be around December and May. So, with a flood of renter’s leases ending at year end this could of caused the demand to increase dramatically, driving up median asking rent. Now, that demand has cooled landlords are now offering lower rents to entice new renters.

This is a working theory that we will continue to monitor. None the less, the Valdosta housing market continues to move up and up.

Even if it is only a 2 bedroom, great looking place. Wish they would build houses with this style of architecture still. Instead of the cookie cutter blocks you see now a days. 

Valdosta GA Market Update: Jan 2025

Happy New Year!!

Most of the US real estate market has seen inventory continue to rise with a lot of relisting and stale dated listings, but Valdosta seems to be a “Great White Buffalo” (if you get the movie reference). Last month, I was projecting to see the inventory numbers rise with seasonality and get a slight bump from Hurricane Helene, but that has proven to not be the case.

New inventory and relisting rates have actually declined month over month which is allowing to pricing to remain elevated. Since the last report, we have seen a significant increase to Median Price of New Listings, from $227,950 to $241,450. This is also showing up in the increase to Median List Price of all inventories.

Transaction volumes continue to be slowed with days on market increasing, but Sellers are remaining defiant and not coming off too much of their higher prices. Sellers continue to drive the Valdosta market even during this higher rate environment.

Last month, we were hearing that rental listings under $1250 were continuing to get movement, but anything higher was becoming stale on the rental market. That was short lived! As you can see, the median rent MoM has jumped from $1388 to $1,500 and after a conversation with our leasing team, they have been the busiest they have been in a few weeks, leasing multiple properties with increased rates and in little time on the market for rent. When asked, Are you seeing any pushback on leasing rates? “Absolutely not, we had only one tenant out of eight give any dissatisfaction with the new rent rates this week”

Wil be interested to see if the resale market reverses course over the next month, with rates steady going up the past few weeks.

 Hey Kevin, 

I have worked with these two offices a bunch for clients and would recommend them over just about anyone. 

Mike Rayboun- Rayboun Winegardner Attorneys at Law

Owen Title Company. 

Good Luck!