A recent report from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey determined that based on its 2009 reporting - the most recent year for which data was available - Forsyth County has held its home values far better than most other areas of metro Atlanta.
Per the report, Forsyth’s median home value was stated as $275,200; compared to Fulton at $250,800, Dawson at $210,700 and $194,300 in Gwinnett.
Other neighboring counties also faired worse with lower 2009 values. HallCounty’s median home value was stated as $171,100 with CherokeeCounty slightly higher at $199,800.
While this is a powerful statement in regard to the overall strength the Forsyth County real estate market, it is not a surprise to me as this area has a great deal to offer a prospective home buyer.
With a high standard of living in relation to area amenities, a strong infrastructure and low property taxes, as well as an outstanding school system, ForsythCounty remains extremely attractive to homebuyers. Understandably, this combination of benefits creates a higher demand for homes in the area resulting in more stable home prices.
While ForsythCounty has seen a drop in homes sales over the last year it is still faring better than the rest of metro Atlanta. And, in terms of price, while Forsyth prices did drop by almost 9 percent over the last 12 months, Metro-Atlanta sales prices saw a decline of 16.4 percent overall during that same time period.
In the current market, I believe that this drop in local sales prices can easily be attributed to an increase in foreclosures and short sale homes on the market as well as local builders undercutting prices to sell off existing spec homes.
On the positive side, home sales have increased overall and market inventory has dropped to less than 25 percent over last year’s numbers which means that the homes that are being put on the market are selling!
An additional indicator that the Forsyth County real estate market may be headed out of the slump is the fact that, for the first time in the last four years, we have seen two consecutive quarters reflect a positive home sales number without having a Federal Tax Credit program in place.
While Forsyth remains a buyer’s market it appears that we are working toward reaching a more balanced market which paints a beautiful picture for the future ForsythCounty real estate market.
Comments(0)