“Meck County” is Poised for More Growth… for Those Who Can Afford It by Carole VanSickle Ellis In September 2024, Hurricane Helene, the deadliest Atlantic hurricane since 2017’s Maria, made landfall in the Big Bend region of Florida, moved inland, and stalled over Tennessee and western North Carolina, dumping record-breaking amounts of rainfall into the entire region. Despite the massive damages sustained throughout western North Carolina and in Charlotte and
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Georgia’s Most Populous County Offers Vast Opportunities by Carole VanSickle Ellis The state of Georgia boasts more counties than every other state in the United States except for Texas, and of all Georgia’s 159 counties, none are more populous than Fulton County. Containing roughly 90% of the state capital, Atlanta, and housing roughly one in every 10 Georgians in the state, Fulton County has long been an area of prime
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3 Specialized Markets & Sectors to Watch in 2025 by Carole VanSickle Ellis In late 2024, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) released its annual forecast for “The Top 10 Housing Hot Spots” for 2025. Not surprisingly, most of these markets were located in relatively affordable areas of the country, had posted job growth in 2024 appearing likely to continue into 2025, and showed positive net migration into the area.
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A Window of Opportunity Could be Closing in the “Air Capital of the World” by Carole VanSickle Ellis Wichita, Kansas, has been a destination from its inception. Located near the confluence of the Arkansas and Little Arkansas Rivers, Wichita is named for the Native American tribe that inhabited the area before Spanish explorer Francisco Vasquez de Coronado explored the area in the mid-1550s. Ultimately, the region was acquired by the
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Florida’s “City Beautiful” Endures a Statewide Market Shift by Carole VanSickle Ellis The third-most-visited city in the United States could see a shift in the next few years as formerly happy pandemic-era homebuyers put their properties back on the market and flee inland once more…or the market could “correct” in one of the gentlest “softening” events in the country. Analysts can make compelling arguments in both directions. “Florida’s real estate
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The Impact of Elections on the National Housing Market by Carole VanSickle Ellis Conventional wisdom states that uncertainty in almost any element of the economy will usually result in “bad news” or short-term negative behavior in most financial markets. Presidential elections have historically been considered a prime example of how uncertainty affects investor behavior, with financial markets typically responding to the election process and months following the actual vote with
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