September 2025 Real Estate Market Update for Athens, GA

By Scott Talley, Owner/Broker – 5Market Realty

SUMMARY

The Athens real estate market showed mixed signals in August 2025, with home sales rebounding after a slow July while overall transactions remain below last year’s pace. Listings stayed steady, homes continued to spend more time on the market, and buyer activity picked up slightly amid easing mortgage rates. In this update, Scott Talley of Five Market Realty discusses local trends, national housing conditions, and what these shifts mean for buyers and sellers as the market works toward a more balanced pace.

FULL ANALYSIS

If you’ve followed us on our YouTube channel or our website, you know that I’m Scott Talley, owner and broker here at Five Market Realty. We like to provide regular market updates to help our clients, past clients, and anyone interested in Athens-area real estate stay informed about what’s really happening in our market.

Our goal isn’t to sell you on anything—it’s to give you the facts as we see them. In this update, we’re reviewing what happened this past August, the trends we’re seeing in 2025 so far, and how our local market compares to national housing data.

Local Athens Real Estate Market Overview – September 2025

At Five Market Realty, we track four key indicators every month: new listings, days on market, home prices, and total home sales. In August, new listings remained relatively flat—up just over 1.5% from last year, with around 1,500 active listings. The more significant changes came in the other metrics.

Days on market increased 22% year-to-date, showing that homes are taking longer to sell. Meanwhile, total home sales are down 9% from last year. As I’ve mentioned before, 2025 has been behaving a lot like 2023, which wasn’t a strong year for transaction volume.

However, there is some good news. August—typically one of our slower months—saw an 18% uptick in home sales, with 134 closings recorded in the Athens MLS. That’s a welcome reversal after what was the slowest July we’ve tracked locally. Our office certainly felt the pickup in buyer activity, suggesting that small shifts in mortgage rates or buyer sentiment may be helping to reenergize the market.

Homes are still sitting longer—an average of 71 days on market—but that’s not unusual in this environment. Sellers are learning to adapt by paying closer attention to pricing and property presentation, while buyers are taking more time to evaluate their options.

Inventory declined slightly from July (480 down to 426 homes), but we remain 14% higher than last August, which gives buyers more choices. Historically, listings often come off the market after a slow summer and return later in the year, so this pattern isn’t unexpected.

Looking back at August data since 2017, Athens and Oconee County typically saw over 200 home sales per August through 2021. That changed dramatically in 2022 and beyond, as higher interest rates cooled demand. The 18% improvement we saw this August brings us closer to 2022 levels—a small but positive sign.

National Housing Trends

Nationally, the same themes we see locally are playing out at scale: lower sales volumes, longer days on market, and price stabilization. For over a year now, transaction totals have been in what we’d call a “real estate recession.” Prices haven’t collapsed—they’ve simply flattened—but buyer activity has slowed significantly. This is largely due to affordability challenges and consumer sentiment.

According to LendingTree, nearly two in three Americans believe a recession is coming, and 74% say that current events affect their financial decisions. When people feel uncertain about the economy, politics, or global events, they tend to delay major decisions like buying or selling a home.

We’ve also seen that today’s mortgage rates already reflect the anticipated Federal Reserve rate cuts expected later this year. This means that when the Fed officially announces a reduction, we shouldn’t expect a sudden drop in mortgage rates—they’re already priced in. Rates have already eased since early August, moving into the low six-percent range, which is a noticeable improvement from mid-summer levels.

Economists like those at First American and Realtor.com suggest that national home prices are moderating, not falling sharply. Regional variation is key: the South Atlantic region (which includes Georgia) has seen about a 1% increase in home prices, while areas like New England are up 5–6%. Here in the South, more listings and slower buyer demand are helping bring balance back to the market—a necessary adjustment after years of rapid appreciation.

Perspective from History

To put today’s slowdown in context, it’s important to look back. Over the past 50 years, the housing market has experienced multiple declines—in the early 1980s, 1991, 2008, and 2020—but each one was followed by recovery and long-term growth. Even after major downturns, home values have trended upward over time. For example, after the 2008 housing crisis, prices eventually rebounded and reached record highs. During the early months of COVID in 2020, many feared a market crash, but the opposite occurred as demand surged.

Transaction volume has fallen about 40% since 2022, similar to previous cyclical dips. Historical data shows that recoveries take time—anywhere from 3 to 4 years in past cycles—but they always come. The takeaway? The current slowdown is not unprecedented, and it doesn’t signal the end of the housing market. It’s part of a natural correction that will eventually lead to more sustainable growth.

Takeaways and Next Steps for Buyers and Sellers

The Athens market—and the national housing market—are both finding balance. Homes are taking longer to sell, buyers have more negotiating power, and sellers must be strategic with pricing. These are healthy adjustments after several years of intense competition and record price growth.

If you’re considering buying or selling, now is a time to stay informed, not fearful. At Five Market Realty, we’ll continue sharing data and honest insights about what’s really happening in Athens and beyond.

If you’d like to talk about your specific situation, anyone on our team would be happy to help. Simply contact us and be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for future updates.

Thank you for reading and following along—and as always, Go Dawgs.

If you’re considering buying, selling, or investing, or are in the market for luxury properties in Athens, GA, the team at 5Market Realty is here to guide you through current conditions.

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