The Southwest Georgia Board of Relators released its housing indicator reporter for the fourth quarter of 2015. The report includes the housing market statistics for the entire 2015 calendar year.

After looking at the report Southwest Georgia Board of Relators Vice President Gail Long said it is a buyers market. There was an influx of new houses on the market as new listings jumped 25-percent to 1,144 homes.

The increase in listings and lower prices creates a market where buyers can find a good deal. The average sale price for a home in Decatur, Seminole, Grady, Mitchell and Miller counties, the area covered by the Southwest Georgia Board of Relators, fell 18-percent to $103,852.

“Whoever are coming has retired,” Long said. “Some of these houses have been on the market a good while. If you don’t have a job you can’t buy. I’m hoping Decatur County will push and have some more industry come.”

Houses are also staying on the market longer as the average days on the market increased by 5-percent to 238 days.

According to Long, if a new home buyer is interested in taking advantage of the buyer’s market they need to make sure that they are prepared.

“The first step [is] to be pre-approved,” Long said. “If you have some issues they can tell you what to do and it can be resolved real quickly. If you have a credit card, student loans and a new car you are pretty much not going to be able to buy a home. You do need to have credit though.”

According to Long it takes 45-60 days to close on a home if the buyer is taking out a mortgage. She said the delay is because the government is requiring people to be more careful about giving out loans because of the abundance of foreclosures over the last few years.

Long said that she is hopeful that 2016 will be a great year for the housing market in the southwest Georgia region

“I’m hoping that this year will be the year,” Long said. “Bainbridge is a great place to live we just need some more industry. I’m thinking the realtors need to get more involved and talk to the city and the county and see what we can do to help.”

There are currently 414 active listings on the SW Georgia MLS service.