"Should we just wait for spring?" It's the question I hear most from buyers and sellers this time of year, and this fall it comes with a little more weight behind it. Mortgage rates are holding above 7%, which is starting to feel like the new normal, even though they've eased slightly from the highs at the beginning of October. Buyers who are financing are stretched to the top of their budgets, and sellers are watching the seasonal slowdown approach.

This is a hard market, no doubt. But there are opportunities in every market, and the September numbers show exactly where they are. The short version: there is no single Columbia County market right now. Once you break the numbers down by price point, the county has split into three markets that are behaving very differently heading into winter.