The June housing numbers - taken from the Greater Augusta Association of Realtors MLS reports - show the Augusta area is truly a "Tale of Two Cities."  Perhaps a more accurate title would be a "Tale of Two Counties."

Columbia County - on the one hand - showed a flat sales month when compared to June of 2008.  Residential sales (single family, townhomes, condos, manufactured homes) for June '09 in Columbia County came in at 235 closed transactions - compared to 237 for the same month in 2008.

Richmond County numbers plummeted over 2008 - a strong sign that the Augusta Housing market - as a whole - is far from recovery.  June 2009 sales in Richmond County totalled 156 properties.  A stark dropoff from an already-horrible 2008 figure of 205.

When taken in context - it seems Columbia County's flat sales number is actually an improvement.   It marked the first time monthly sales did not reflect at least a double-digit drop over the same month of the previous year since 2006.  A trend?  Too early to tell.  If July and August numbers show continuing stability, it may mean the Columbia County macro-level of the CSRA market has hit bottom.  I do not sense this to be the case in the rest of the area.

Richmond County - home to the vast majority of foreclosures, distressed, and lower-income properties in the CSRA - is still suffering the recession impact and it may get worse.  There are still close to two million Adjustable Rate Mortgage and other toxic mortgage products scheduled to recast over the next few years across the country.   This means an almost certain increase in foreclosed homes in the Augusta area.  This will not be limited to the Richmond County macro - but it is in that sector of our market that many believe the predatory lenders took the most advantage of home buyers over the last several years.

The bottom line is all Augustans are still weathering the Housing Crisis storm, and it will probably be well into 2010 before any hint of a housing recovery truly affects the ENTIRE area.

If you feel you are in peril of losing your home to foreclosure - you need to click here to watch a video from the FTC about Foreclosure Rescue Scams.

I look forward to any comments about this post.