Bob Nixon and his family moved to Valdosta from Fort Lauderdale about 15 years ago to retire. Shortly after, he decided to open a restaurant in Valdosta.

He had hoped some of his friends from south Florida would spend their golden years in the Peach State with him, but the real estate market is making that tough.

"Especially a lot of retired people are in condominiums, they can't sell them," says Bob.

The Valdosta- Lowndes Chamber of Commerce says it's seeing fewer and fewer people coming from Florida to South Georgia to retire.

"It's gonna hurt us because it stops an influx of people coming in here," added Nixon.

"We're continuing to see people research us and want to move here but some of them are just kind of playing the waiting game," says Alison Stokes of Triple Crown Hometowns

In South Georgia, similar to Florida, you can swim just about any time of the year, so why are fewer retirees moving here? The Chamber says it mostly boils down to the economy, rising gas prices and a slumping housing market.

Plus last year's quiet hurricane season meant residents weren't so quick to flee Mother Nature's wrath.

"They're eager to come, they're planning to come. We're working with them diligently in the way we're staying the purchasing so that they will be able to do that," says Sandra Hayden a spokesperson for Southern Landing, an active adult community.

They've waited years to retire, and now it seems they'll be waiting just a little longer.

The Chamber of Commerce says one retiree household in Lowndes County is equivalent to the indirect creation of two new jobs.