Happy December. It certainly feels like winter. Hopefully this front will blow through soon and return us to our lovely Georgia weather. James and I are down in Florida waiting for the movers to arrive tomorrow morning to move Mom up our way. I was beginning to think this wouldn't happen. It's been a tough couple of days, but the end is in sight. I will get to have a nice family (delayed) Thanksgiving dinner with week as my daughter arrives tonight and we will all be together this week. The thing I am most looking forward to is my hairdresser, Barbara down at Ritual Beauty in St Marys, was able to fit all 3 of us in so we will be getting our holiday haircuts together. Sometimes the simple things mean the most. I'm hoping to make White Lighting downtown, but that is in the hands of fate with the movers.
I found a rather interesting article (at the bottom of this email) from NAR (national assoc. of Realtors) regarding buying trends in real estate. The age shift was somewhat startling.
If you are looking for some FUN THINGS GOING ON:
Camden County Run Off Election December 3, 2024
Information: https://www.camdencountyga.gov/971/Elections-Registration
City of St. Marys, Georgia
Wednesday 5:30-7:30p
*Event changed to December 4th due to the run off election scheduled for Dec. 3rd.**There are no vendor opportunities at this event.* …St. Marys Annual White Lighting Processional Parade is a free fun night for all. The parade begins at 5:30pm, or just after dusk, at Meeting Street and helps kick off the holiday season. The public is encouraged to join the procession from Meeting Street up Osborne Street as Santa and friends make their way toward the waterfront.
During this delightful holiday event, The Friese Studio of Music's Christmas Carolers will lead Santa & Mrs. Claus up the street.
Following Santa, you'll be entertained by dancers from Coastal Dance Studio with performances at Dillingham Street and Weed Street and by Lisa Allen's Dance Works at Conyers Street and Bryant Street.
The Camden Community Band will be playing at the intersection of Conyers Street, as well.
Santa will light the giant St. Marys Christmas Tree and then take time to sit with the kids at the St. Marys Waterfront Pavilion, behind the Christmas Tree. Bring your camera for a quick photo with Santa! No Golf Carts are allowed in the Procession. Walkers Only. Event and Processional line up subject to change.
St. Marys Waterfront Park
Saturday 12-5pm
*There are no tickets required for this event and there are no vendor opportunities for this event.* Christmas in the Park is an annual one-day event at the St. Marys Waterfront Park. Eighteen years ago, this event was created by the Dixon Family to provide a Christmas Experience for St. Marys kids. Saltwater Performing Arts & the City of St. Marys are honored to carry on the tradition with help from our local Camden County community.
This year’s events are presented by Saltwater Performing Arts and the City of St. Marys. Festivities begin on Saturday, December 7th with the arrival of Santa and Mrs. Claus and his entourage at Noon at the St. Marys Waterfront Park to hand out stockings full of goodies to all the girls and boys, while supplies last. The entrance line to see Santa and Mrs. Claus closes at 4:00 p.m. and games end at 5:00 p.m.
Make sure to come early and enjoy a fun-filled day with free Christmas themed carnival-style games, free refreshments, and lots of local entertainment. If you have a creative side, you will want to enter the Gingerbread House Contest and it’s always a joy to view the houses entered for judging. Kids will love the photo opportunities and interactions with their favorite Christmas characters like Olaf, the Grinch, the Abdominal Snowman & Yukon Cornelius, Buddy the Elf, and more.
For questions, sponsorship opportunities, or to volunteer, call Saltwater Performing Arts at 912-510-9700 or the St. Marys Welcome Center at 912-882-4000.
Event by Sweet Luncheonette
101 E Weed Street Unit A, St. Marys, GA, United States, Georgia 31558
Stop by for First Friday: Wine & Bites Friday 6-10pm
Enjoy self-guided tastings and desserts paired with high-quality wines, craft beers, and ciders. Let the weekend begin!
Event by Crooked River State Park
6222 Charlie Smith Sr. Hwy, 31558 Friday 6pm
Learn the basics of fire building and its uses with our rangers in this new class! Cost is $5.00 and pre-registration is required. Call our main office at (912)-882-5256 for more information.
Event by St. Marys Public Library
100 Herb Bauer Drive, St. Marys, GA, United States, Georgia 31558
Join us for a relaxing afternoon and enjoy the art of book folding.
All Supplies are provided. Registration is Required. Please call 912.882.4800 or stop by the library to register.
Event by Coastal Camden Art League
2006 Osborne Rd, St. Marys, GA Friday, Dec 6 6-8pm
Join us for a Sip & Paint- Winter Wonderland Snowman. All supplies included for $30. To register call Terry at 912-464-4146.
Event by Thebox:V'Jinga
1709 Osborne Rd, St. Marys, GA Saturday 11am
Thebox:V’Jinga Holistic Spa. We are excited to announce our upcoming Bubbles with Santa event, a free community celebration this Christmas season designed to spread joy, warmth, and holiday cheer.
Bubbles with Santa will be held at Thebox:V’Jinga Holistic Spa. This event is intended to create a festive, welcoming environment where families can enjoy an afternoon of bubbly beverages, delicious treats, and heartwarming holiday activities with Santa Claus himself—all at no cost to attendees.
Event by Coastal Baptist Church
106 Catherine St, St. Marys, GA, United States, Georgia 31558 Friday 5PM
Get ready for the 3rd annual Drive In Christmas Movie Spectacular at Coastal Baptist Church in St. Marys, GA!
Reserve your spot : https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1076967281129?aff=oddtdtcreator
This event is free for everyone! Bring your family and friends and enjoy a free dinner, an outdoor movie, activities, treats, prizes and more!
Event by Tacocat Trio
Seagles Saloon Saturday 7pm
Christmas time on the river! See you there!!!
Event by Lisa Allen's Dance Works
10880 Colerain Rd, St. Marys, GA
Come get cozied up, learn different ways of breathing and calming the body down, stretch, get some giggles, be present in the moment, light yoga, stories and crafts. A meaningful and memorable way to start your December �� $5 per yogi www.ladanceworks.net
Event by Latosha CoachTasj Hubbard
St Mary's GA
5th Annual Curvy Confidence Photoshoot
MODEL SEARCH
Ages 18 +
Must be size 12+, No height requirements
Looking for 10 Confident Plus Size Ladies
Investment: $60: includes 1-2 Individual shots plus Group shots. You will also
receive hands-on posing coaching from CoachTasj
Event by Captain Seagles Saloon
105 Osborne Street, St. Marys, GA Monday 6-10pm
Free to play, come out & get those brain Juices going with a competitive game of Chess! Boards are provided just bring yourself & your friends for some food, drinks & a game or two!
First-Time Buyers at 24%, Age Hits Record High
A record high 26% of buyers paid cash for their home and 17% purchased a multigenerational home, according to NAR’s new 2024 buyers and sellers profile.
WASHINGTON — The first-time homebuyer market share decreased to a historic low of 24% (down from 32% last year), while home buyers’ ages hit all-time highs of 56 years overall (49 last year), 38 years for first-time buyers (35 last year) and 61 years for repeat buyers (58 last year), according to the National Association of Realtors®' 2024 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers.
This annual survey of recent home buyers and sellers – this year tracking transactions between July 2023 and June 2024 – has been NAR's flagship report since it first published in 1981, providing industry professionals insight into detailed homebuying and selling behavior.
“The U.S. housing market is split into two groups: first-time buyers struggling to enter the market and current homeowners buying with cash,” said Jessica Lautz, NAR deputy chief economist and vice president of research. “First-time buyers face high home prices, high mortgage interest rates and limited inventory, making them a decade older with significantly higher incomes than previous generations of buyers. Meanwhile, current homeowners can more easily make housing trades using built-up housing equity for cash purchases or large down payments on dream homes.”
The typical home buyer’s median household income for 2023 rose to $108,800 from $107,000 in 2022. First-time buyers had a median household income of $97,000, up from $95,900 the prior year and an increase of $26,000 in the last two years. Repeat buyers had a median household income of $114,300, up from $111,700 the previous year.
The share of married couples increased to 62% of all buyers, with single female buyers seeing a slight rise to 20%. Conversely, the share of single males decreased to 8% and unmarried couples dropped to 6%. In addition, the share of single female first-time buyers jumped by 5%.
Eighty-three percent of recent home buyers identified their ethnicity as White or Caucasian. Seven percent of recent buyers identified as Black/African American, 6% identified as Hispanic/Latino, 4% identified as Asian/Pacific Islander and 3% as some other ethnicity.
Seventy-three percent of recent home buyers did not have a child under the age of 18 in their home – the highest share recorded.
Seventeen percent of home buyers purchased a multigenerational home, the highest share in the data series. The top reasons cited were cost savings (36%), to take care of aging parents (25%), children over the age of 18 moving back home (21%), and children over the age of 18 who never left home (20%).
“As home buyers encounter an unaffordable housing market, many are choosing to double up as families,” explains Lautz. “Cost savings are a major factor, with young adults returning home – or never leaving – due to prohibitive rental and home prices. Meanwhile, elderly parents and relatives are moving in with family members as home buyers reprioritize what matters most to them.”
Real estate agents played a crucial role in the homebuying process, with 86% of all buyers utilizing their services – the highest of all information sources used. Agents were the most useful information source in the home search process.
Eighty-eight percent of home purchases were made through a real estate agent or broker, demonstrating the continued importance of agents in the homebuying process. Nearly 90% of buyers each expressed satisfaction with their agent’s responsiveness, knowledge of the purchase process, honesty and integrity, knowledge of the real estate market and people skills. Eighty-eight percent of home buyers would use their agent again or recommend to others.
In 2024, the median down payments were 18% for all home buyers, 9% for first-time home buyers and 23% for repeat home buyers – the highest down payments for first-time home buyers since 1997 and repeat home buyers since 2003. First-time buyers continue to rely on savings (69%); however, 25% used loans or gifts from friends and family, 21% used financial assets and an all-time high of 7% used inheritances. A record 26% of home buyers paid cash for their homes.
The typical age of home sellers reached 63 years, the highest ever recorded. The share of married couples selling their homes was 69%, an increase from 65% last year, marking the first increase in four years.
For sellers, the most cited reason for selling their home was the desire to move closer to friends and family (23%), followed by home was too small (12%), home was too large (11%) and neighborhood becoming less desirable (10%).
“Family support systems are influencing buying and selling decisions,” said Lautz. “Being close to friends and family is the top reason to sell, while buying a home convenient to friends and family continues to grow in importance. Today’s buyers are less likely to be concerned with their work locations when purchasing, perhaps because of a higher share of older repeat buyers and remote work flexibility remaining a factor.”
Ninety percent of sellers sold with the assistance of a real estate agent, up from 89% last year, and only 6% were for-sale-by-owner sales, an all-time low. Most sellers (87%) said that they would definitely (72%) or probably (15%) recommend their agent for future services.
“Most home buyers and sellers find it valuable to use an agent who is a Realtor® to help them maneuver through the complicated homebuying and selling processes, especially in a challenging housing market,” said NAR President Kevin Sears, broker-associate of Sears Real Estate/Lamacchia Realty in Springfield, Massachusetts. “Realtors® provide critical knowledge and expertise that ensure a successful transaction.”
Methodology
Data gathered in the report is based on primary residence home buyers. In July 2024, NAR mailed out a 127-question survey using a random sample weighted to be representative of sales on a geographic basis to 167,750 recent home buyers. The buyers must have purchased a primary residence home between July 2023 and June 2024. NAR received 5,390 responses from primary residence buyers. After accounting for undeliverable questionnaires, the survey had an adjusted response rate of 3.2%. Per the Realtor Confidence Index, 83% of home buyers were primary residence buyers in 2023, which accounts for 4,756,000 homes sold in 2023 (among new and existing homes). Using that calculation, the sample at the 95% confidence level has a confidence interval of plus-or-minus 1%.
© 2024 National Association of Realtors® (NAR)
December 4: National Sock Day
Everyone's favorite holiday is here! Okay that might be a slight exaggeration, but why not celebrate a small part of our everyday lives in a big way?
Today is about celebrating all of our socks that have managed to stay matched. It's not an easy feet (sorry), and the more feet you have in your home, the harder it becomes to keep all those sock pairs straight.
Use #NationalSockDay on social media to show off how many pairs of matching socks you still have - extra credit for baby sock matches. Alternatively, you can use today to flaunt your more eccentric socks (hello knee-high argyles!) or just pop on your favorite pair with a little extra appreciation.
When you're ready to pack up all your socks and move (and find all the lost pairs behind your furniture), call me. I'm ready to get to work for you.
Cathy Holman Home Stagging Expert
Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Hodnett Cooper RE
717-801-5900
912-673-7373
cathy@holmansellhomes.com
HolmanSellHomes.com
©2024 BHH Affiliates, LLC. An independently owned and operated franchisee of BHH Affiliates, LLC. Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices and the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices symbol are registered service marks of Columbia Insurance Company, a Berkshire Hathaway affiliate. Equal Housing Opportunity.