The number of transactions was up 3.1% year over year for September, which was better than the national trend which was down slightly. Year to date the number of closed transaction is up 11% and the median price is up 12.6%. Affordability has had a significant impact on home buyers, many of whom have been priced out of the market and are choosing to wait for sales prices to ease before resuming their home search.

New Listings were up 5.5 percent to 1,732. Inventory grew 6.4 percent to 2,961 units. Days on Market decreased 57.4 percent to 23 days. Months’ Supply of Inventory remained flat at 2.1, indicating a stabilizing supply-demand balance. New listings have continued to hit the market, bucking seasonality trends commonly seen in the fall, a time when listing and sales activity typically slows as children return to school. As inventory increases, competition for homes may soften, and could even bring a moderation in sales prices, which, after 114 months of year-over-year gains, would be music to the ears of home buyers throughout the country.

GGAR Market Stats September MLS Statistics Cumulative MLS Stats Year-to-Date Stats

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose to its highest point since April. As inflationary pressure builds due to the ongoing pandemic and tightening monetary policy, we expect rates to continue a modest upswing. Historically speaking, rates are still low, but many potential home buyers are staying on the sidelines due to high home price growth. Rising mortgage rates combined with growing home prices make affordability more challenging for potential home buyers. Visit the following link for the Definitions. Borrowers may still pay closing costs which are not included in the survey. View the Survey

30-Yr Fixed Rate Mortgage 3.05% 0.06 1-Wk 0.24 1-Yr 0.7 Fees/Points

15-Yr Fixed Rate Mortgage 2.3% 0.07 1-Wk 0.05 1-Yr 0.7 Fees/Points

5/1-Yr Adjustable Rate Mortgage 2.55% 0.03 1-Wk 0.35 1-Yr 0.2 Fees/Points

love to garden and it gives me a feeling of joy when I’m doing it. My Dad was a gardener and I had a huge garden BK (Before Keith). The dog days of summer usually leaves the garden colorless and weedy. I like to take time to trim back, weed, and then add color to liven up the porches and niches. You can use creative containers made from baskets, bark, or pine cones to put in the bare areas among existing plantings. This year I purchased some potted plants and created my own interesting containers with cool colored, variegated, or textured leaves to tuck into spots left vacant from the spring annuals and faded perennials. Good choices like plants that have foliage or blooms that have fall colors like maroons, purples, and oranges will really make your garden areas pop. In the Spring I planted colorful annual vines like potato vine that can be used to twist and curve around the garden to fill in the blank spots. If you would like some free input on your garden just give me a call on my cell at 864-419-3011.

It's time to replace our deck but we decided to see if we can get another five years out of it before we have to replace it. This is no small job, and as most of you know, I participate in mapping out the who, what, where, when, and why of what to do and Mary is in charge of making it happen. The first step was to replace some of the boards that we could not repair. Our repair guy took care of that on his regularly scheduled stop at our home. We repaired some of the damaged boards with an easy to use Minwax Wood Filler and then sanded them smooth after it dried. The next step was to clean the surface well using the pressure washer and a nonabrasive soap as well as a long handled brush and soap and water. Then we painted the deck with your typical exterior paint as primer. The final step is to put down a high build deck and dock coating designed to protect, resurface, and repel water on old damaged wood. There is a shortage of paint right now so we ordered the Sherwin Williams SuperDeck and as soon as it arrives we'll apply it as the final step. It already looks much better and I think when the final material goes down we should get at least another five years out of it if not a few more! Great Job Mary!

Listen to me on the radio every Saturday morning on House Plans. "House Plans" airs on WORD, 106.3 FM locally from 8:00AM until 9:00 AM. JD Nelson (Countybank Mortgage) and I discuss local, state, and national real estate issues along with a variety of mortgage topics. The debate is lively and callers engage the hosts with local real estate questions. You'll learn all about the current real estate and mortgage market.