| Atlanta home property values now projected to be at 1999 levels! The Case-Shiller Index just out shows - at the national level - an approximate decrease in overall property values of 4%. So...where is the bottom? I don't think we are there quite yet. The first quarter of this year started out pretty fiesty! Homes were selling and real estate agents were busy - at least some of us. So what happened? Now we have the housing activity back to a tortoise pace. The upside is the interest rates. They still remain low; so the theory remains: If you do decide to sell your house in the current housing market environment, you will loose equity gained when the housing market was good. However, when you become the buyer, you should benefit from lower housing prices thus making up for the loss of equity you experienced on the sale of your house. Plus!!! The historically low interest rates are still worth "making the move!". No doubt it is hard for most of us to get our head around that theory but if we all wait until the market improves.....guess what? You may get more for your house but you will pay more the house you buy AND be prepared to finance that new house at a higher interest rate than we are enjoying today. |
NUMBER OF HOMES
SINGLE FAMILY DETACHED
APRIL 2010 - APRIL 2011
(Data: FMLS)
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AVERAGE PRICE PER SQUARE FOOT
Single Family Detached
April 2010 through April 2011
(Data from FMLS)
As already discussed, the gain in home values continues to struggle in our Atlanta housing market. April saw an overall decline of approximately 8% in our home sold prices. Overall the Atlanta real estate market has been removed from the "depressed" market category by most lenders. However, there are still some areas of Atlanta that are still considered declining and this does have an impact in loan down payment requirements. It is important to know before you buy if you are looking in a "depressed" area or not.
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AVERAGE DAYS ON MARKET
Single Family Detached Homes
April 2010 through April 2011
(Data from FMLS)
The average days on market for April 2011 is up from the average days on market for March, 2011; but it is down from one year ago by 12%. The days on market for April 2011 was an average of 117 days. I continue to say, "It is a beauty contest and a price war. You have to win both."
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MONTHS of INVENTORY
Single Family Detached Homes
April 2010 through April 2011
(Date from FMLS)
Months of invenotry made a slight increase compared to one year ago. The stabilizing of inventory levels is helping home values but not enough to give any of us the green light indicating a housing recovery. With uneasyness in the economy, high gas prices and...for Atlanta continued high unemployment, it is difficult to see much improvement. Until many of the economic indicators start to improve, it is my opinion we won't have much to get excited about in our local housing market...EXCEPT the INTEREST RATES!
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Graphs created with permission from Trendgraphix, Inc.
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