Analysis of housing and economic growth for parts of South Ga.
ALBANY, Ga. (WALB) - The economic outlook for the year ahead is more positive for Georgia than it is for the rest of the country.
According to an annual research project conducted by the University of Georgia, studies focused on a range of things - including housing, employment and population.
Georgia is less likely to be impacted by a recession and should have double the population growth than the national average in the year ahead. The housing outlook is better in South Georgia cities than the rest of the state.
If you’re looking to buy a home in South Georgia, you’ve likely been discouraged by low inventory and high prices. Research, more homes should become available in the coming months.
“The lack of homes for sale will help prevent home prices from declining too much despite moderate over evaluation. We do expect the number of single-family housing permits to rise this year, you can see the little uptick of 5% but it’s from depressed levels.” says Ben Ayers, Dean of UGA Terry College of Business.
This graphic shows home prices across have gone up dramatically since before the pandemic across the state. But prices haven’t gone up near as much in South Georgia cities like Albany and Valdosta.
“We heard about Albany’s strong housing market. It doesn’t live in a bubble and that’s going to protect Albany from some declines that we see across the state with housing costs.” says Barbara Rivera Holmes, President of the Albany Area Chamber of Commerce
“We’re not going to get back to where we were a couple of years ago, but long term it will stay strong in Albany become of demand.” Ayers says.
The study shows that migration of residents who have higher education tend to move out of Albany. That contributes to more high paying technical jobs in the city.
According to that research, migration of residents who have higher education tend to move out of Albany. That contributes to more high paying technical jobs in the city. This means there is enormous opportunity here for those with a good education.
“This is an area where healthcare is an important component, we’re a regional provider for healthcare. Here also military spending will be up across the country so that’s going to be good for our state and likewise here in the Albany area as well.” Ayers says.
The Albany job market isn’t that dependent on government jobs. So there are many opportunities in fields like health care.
“Strong strong private sectors in health care, in manufacturing, in distribution, in defense, in logistics. All of those pieces come together to keep Albany floating well despite pressures that you might feel in other areas.” Rivera Holmes says.
Some of the main takeaways from this study is that although there may be an Economic Slowdown, a recession isn’t likely for Georgia. And the Peach State is set to outperform the country as a whole.
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