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6-15-2023 10:00pm
3-bedroom Baldwin County house listed at 2.365 million dollars
Christian McKearney
Editor
First it was the $2,000 per month rental house in Carrington Woods.
Then, it was the nine-figure property in Greysone Arbor.
After that came the trailer in Harrisburg with the $111,000 listing price and then the $1,300 per month rental house in the middle of the southside.
Now, meet the $2.36 million three-bedroom lakehouse. Located on Island Drive and off of Gumm Cemetery Road, the 2,800-square-foot house ($845 per square foot) sits on 1.06 acres. Less than a year old, the house "boasts immaculate construction and features including all new Kitchenaid appliances, custom cabinets, granite countertops & backsplash, extra large kitchen island, tongue-in-groove knotty pine ceiling, gorgeous LVP flooring, oversized 'Marvin' windows and sliding glass doors w/ remote control electric blinds, stacked stone fireplace w/ built-ins and classic molding & trim," according to its Zillow listing.
So, how much has the cost of housing risen in recent years here in Baldwin County? Well, there's no hard-and-fast answer or complete database. Instead, it's all based on sampling. According to Zillow, at least, the median cost of a residential property in the 31061 zip code has risen by:
• 99.1 percent or roughly $90,000 in the last eight years
•63.4 percent or roughy $70,000 in the last five years
• 41.6 percent or roughly $54,000 in the last three years
Zillow
Why has this happened, and what's behind the phenomenon? Well, no one here at Baldwin2K News is an expert on complex economic matters or the housing market, and everyone has limitations.
One theory that can be dismissed, however, is an increase in the population. Milledgeville-Baldwin County has actually lost people in the last few years, according to the Census Bureau. There were more people living in Milledgeville-Baldwin County back in 2010 than there are today.
Nor can it be attributed to Georgia College & State University. After all, Georgia College has been around for more than 100 years, and it hasn't gotten any bigger lately. The in-person enrollment at the university has remained steady at somewhere between 5,500-6,000 students for the last several decades, and GCSU hasn't been considered a "commuter college" for going on 20 years now.
When the price of homes increases, of course, this causes the cost of rent to increase, too. Louise Sallstrom, currently the executive director of Milledgeville Cares, has been volunteering around Milledgeville for more than 30 years.
"Housing is the worst problem we have in Milledgevlle. It's awful," she said.
Wanda Addeo is the executive director of Overview Inc. and is on the front lines of the runaway rent situation."
"I have been here for 13 years, and I've never seen it this bad. It's a pretty big issue right now, especially for lower-income families," said Addeo, adding that her organization recently was awarded with an emergency federal grant to help with rental assistance.
