Tea. Tea is definately the answer to staying warm right now. I have found some excellent tea at the new Ollie's in Kingsland. I'm having some lemon ginger here at work. At home I have Strawberry cuccumber which sounds gross but tastes excellent. Sure, 58 sounds warm, until you walk outside and get hit with the wind. It should be back up to 80 tomorrow but then back down to 38 the day after. It's a wonder we aren't all out sick. John and I are closing in on our big Valentines Date week we do every year. (well, 3 days anyway). We are going to Universal for Mardi Gras this year for something new. It sounds like it is going to be a lot of fun. Need to keep the magic alive. 34 years and counting.
I found an interesting article on home value increases by area that I have placed at the end of the email if you are interested.
otherwise, if you are in area this week, here are some fun things going on:
Bad Axe Book Club - Unleashed Camden
Murder, Mayhem, and Martinis Walking Tour
Georgia Coastal Railway Experience Train Rides
Not interested in a themed experience?
Georgia Coastal Railway invites you to enjoy a 1 hour train ride in historic, air-conditioned railcars from the golden age of railroading. Travel from downtown Kingsland to St. Mary’s and back crossing through neighborhoods, commercial districts, woodlands and cross over a beautiful southern Georgia marsh along the way. Due to the historic nature of our rail cars we are unable to offer ADA compliant seating on this excursion.
Boarding Dates & Times:
- January 21 @ 3:30pm & 6:30pm
- January 28 @ 3:30pm & 6:30pm
- February 4 @ 3:30pm & 6:30pm
- February 11 @ 3:30pm & 6:30pm
- February 18 @ 3:30pm & 6:30pm
For more information: Call (904) 370-3744 or info@thegeorgiatrain.com
Adult Book Club St. Marys Public Library Public · Anyone on or off Facebook
Kids Night Out Ops Pizza Kingsland
Bingo - All Ages Welcome!
Free to Play -TouchTunes!
An Occupied Town: St. Marys in the War of 1812 Walking Tour
100 St. Marys St.
St. Marys, GA 31558
400 Osborne St.
St. Marys, GA 31558
100 St. Marys St.
St. Marys, GA 31558
400 Osborne St.
St. Marys, GA 31558
Seagles - Man Apart Live
Paddle the Okefenokee Swamp - Folkston
Live @ Kingsland Station: Christina Vukel
Kingsland Station welcomes Christina Vukel! At just 16 years old, Christina has created a name for herself with over 150,000 Spotify streams, 3,000 Facebook followers, and a dedicated fan base in her Florida hometown..
Live performances include covers from popular radio light rock songs from 70s to 2022. Her original songs of the similar genre are intertwined. For live events she performs with guitar, ukulele.
52nd Thiokol Anniversary Commemoration Ceremony
Save the Date! Everyone is invited to attend the Thiokol Anniversary Commemoration Ceremony on February 3, 2023.
The ceremony will be held at 10:00 A.M. at the Kingsland Depot at 200 E. King Avenue in Kingsland. This event is free to the public.
For more information: (912) 576-1760 or http://thiokolmemorial.org/
Galentines - Unleashed Camden
From bottomless mimosas, to learning the art of axe throwing, there is something for everyone. But that's not all—you will also create your own unique charcuterie board! Don't wait another minute; get your tickets and make it a night that you and your best girlfriends will never forget!
Fla. Top State for 2022 Home Value Increases
Analysis finds Fla. home prices rose 17.27% last year, the most in the U.S., with Vermont second at 15.15%. But in last-place Idaho, values sank 0.18%.
TAMPA, Fla. – Florida home values rose more in 2022 than in any other state, according to data analyzed from real estate company, Zillow.
The average value of a Florida home, per the most recent publicly available data measured in December 2022, was just under $405,000 – That’s up more than $56,000 from $345,305 in January 2022.
The 17.27% change in value outpaced every other state in the nation.
Vermont was the runner-up, with home values rising an estimated 15.15% in the 12-month timeframe. The average value of a home there was estimated to be $386,000.
The state with the highest value homes was recorded in Hawaii, where the average value was $902,175 in December 2022 – up 9.63% from $822,924 in January 2022.
On the opposite end of the spectrum was Idaho, where home values actually fell 0.18%, or by $825, since January 2022. The average home value was $459,947 in December.
“The housing market has indeed been turbulent over the past few years, with house prices being affected by inflation, the pandemic and many more factors,” a spokesperson from Santa Monica Realtors said. “This study provides a fascinating insight into which parts of America have seen the highest increases as well as the lowest.”
The housing crisis facing America is particularly acute in Florida. Researchers at Florida Atlantic University study the price of housing across the country and in the Sunshine State. The data from FAU and Florida International University, called the Beracha and Johnson Index, analyzes home prices by comparing their expected prices and list prices.
As recently as December, FAU reported that five Florida real estate markets were among the most overpriced in the country.
“We hear how slow the U.S. housing market is,” Ken H. Johnson, Ph.D., a real estate economist in FAU’s College of Business, said, “but consumers are still buying and selling, and that activity is keeping prices elevated in a lot of metro areas.”
The Beracha and Johnson Index does not consider historical market prices when showing rankings of value versus list price, according to FAU. However, even the researchers behind the Index say the prices in Florida will likely stay higher, as other markets decline.
FAU and FIU said in December that Florida markets like North Port and Cape Coral were starting to go down in price for the first time since their markets peaked, but that Florida prices remained elevated.
“It is hard to say where prices will go from here in Florida,” said Eli Beracha, Ph.D., of FIU’s Hollo School of Real Estate. “But it seems most likely that Florida housing markets will fare better than most other markets across the country due to the persistent shortage of homes for sale and the pace at which people are relocating to the state.”
While the real estate trends remain in flux, AgentStory, a tech real estate company, has focused on measuring how many real estate agents are actively engaged in the market.
Their proprietary end-of-year data for 2022 showed fewer agents were active at the end of 2022 than at the end of 2021, down roughly 6.5% in the Tampa area. Additionally, AgentStory said quarter-to-quarter, the data tells a different story than just looking at changes year-over-year.
While companies like Zillow or Redfin measure the market by list price and mortgage rates, AgentStory bases their analysis on multiple listing service data instead. Their data is also made up of averages rather than medians.
“According to the Tampa report, in Q4 2022, there were 2188 active agents and in Q4 2021 there were 2339. So the difference is -6.5%,” AgentStory told WFLA.com. “The annual comparison hides the fact that the first half of 2022 was strong and then dropped.”
Looking at listing data, AgentStory reported that Tampa area homes spent twice as long on the market in Q4 2022, compared to Q4 2021, for 34 days on the market compared to 17 days the year before.
Turning to the housing market more broadly, the reported rate for a 30-year-fixed rate mortgage is currently 6.15%, according to Freddie Mac, a federally-backed mortgage company. Freddie Mac reports the rates every Thursday. The new rate reported Thursday is the second week in a row with a decrease in level.
“As inflation continues to moderate, mortgage rates declined again this week,” Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist, said. “Rates are at their lowest level since September of last year, boosting both homebuyer demand and homebuilder sentiment. Declining rates are providing a much-needed boost to the housing market, but the supply of homes remains a persistent concern.”
© 2023 WFLA, Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc. All rights reserved.
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