The first day of summer has just passed, and in retrospect this is the first Atlanta real estate spring market that never materialized.  There are many reasons for this, rising gas prices, less consumer confidence, and a credit crunch, but the reality is simple, there are more homes and less buyers.  The system for the time being is broke.  The number of homes in our primary FMLS is now at a historic 88980 Active listings, just under 89400 listings where it stood this weekend! There is so much information about historic listed home inventory, drops in sales, and pricing that I will have to post all of that and more in a separate Blog.  Unlike much of the county the Atlanta selling season in recent years coincides with the school year.  Unlike the previous decade, our market is now considered a local market. School lets out in early mid May here in the Atlanta area, and starts in early August.  Local sales are always driven by the anticipation of putting get the home on the market just as school finishes, and sell it by the end of June, and get settled in the new home before the start of the new school year in early August.  This is pretty much the way it is.  Unlike the 1990's where we had an incredible influx of relo's due to an exploding TelCom, and Dot.Com businesses we do not have today to rely on.  This years Atlanta real estate Spring market was so lack luster, that the following forecast is inevitable.  I see home prices dropping even steeper due to the high homes inventory, an incredible amount of foreclosures now setting new comparables, and I see condos and town homes particularly vulnerable.  30 year fixed rate mortgages are rising, and in spite of what you hear on the news, it is still harder to qualify to purchase a home, and getting the money for a down deposit will remain harder still!   We must also factor in the rising cost of gasoline that is eroding the average families budget.  It is with all of the above in mind that I can predict that the summer Atlanta real estate market will also be much lower than previous years.  Yes we are still selling our listings, but we are dealing with sellers that are realistic about the current market, and have a need to move forward with their lives.

• Further decline in home sales
• A drop in sales on the upper end market
• Lower selling prices
• More Seller contributions
• Longer time to sell - increased days on market
• More negotiations
• More negotiations on the inspection items
• Rising homes inventory
• More foreclosures
• Less buyer traffic through homes
• Less qualified buyers
• More real estate company closures
• More real estate agents leaving the business