Whether you're in the market to sell your home or buy a new one; whether you're a real estate investor or just have a single property; whether you watch the world market or just your local neighborhood, there are some interesting real estate statistics for the Covington and Conyers real estate markets for November.
Foreclosures continue to dominate the local real estate scene. There were 54 new foreclosures in Newton County during November, and 39 in Rockdale County. This brings the totals for 2008 to 687 foreclosures in Newton and 378 in Rockdale. That's only 26% more for Rockdale over the 2007 figure, but a whopping 60% increase in foreclosures in Newton County over the previous year.
Is anything selling? Yes. 665 single family homes sold in Newton County during November. The problem is that it took an average of 148 days per home to sell them. Pretty much the same holds true for the Rockdale market...429 homes sold with an average days on the market of 151 days per home.
What's interesting is that, of the 665 sales in Newton County, 366 - or 55% - were priced below $125,000. In Rockdale, 144 homes - or 33% of those sold - were priced below $125,000. In both cases, this price range also had the lowest "Days On Market," times, selling in about 127 days. These are pretty good indicators that a large part of sales in both counties were foreclosed properties. This is constantly reducing the number of foreclosed properties on the market, and is good for the market overall because it reduces the total number of homes available and helps to stabilize property prices.
As of the end of November, there were 1622 single family homes for sale in Newton County - a 14.7 month supply - and 1031 active listings in Rockdale County - a 14.5 month supply for that market.
The most difficult segment of the market in either county right now is homes listed between $250,000 and $350,000. They are taking longer to sell (up to 214 days), and are selling for between 89% and 92% of the asking price.
All this said, believe it or not, this is still a great time to buy a home. Interest rates are low and predicted to go even lower before the end of the year. There's plenty of mortgage loan money available for those with good credit. The average sales price of homes in November was down between 13% and 19% over 2007 prices. And inventory is great.
What's going to happen in 2009? Diana Olick has a pretty good idea in her article written for CNBC's "Realty Check." Take a look at her predictions in "Predictions: 9 For '09 in Real Estate."
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