What happenned in 2010? 2010 was a challenging year for real estate across the country. While Athens-Clarke County Ga did not escape those challenges the presence of the University of Georgia and an unemployment rate that remained well below both the state and national averages kept the real estate market a little bit more stable than in many areas of the country
The numbers: Chart 1, below, shows how the 2010 residential real estate market faired against the 2009 market as far as total sales and Days on Market. In 2009, there were 842 residental units sold. In 2010 that number decreased by about 11% to 751 units. At the same time the percentage of sales that were foreclosures increased in 2010 over 2009. In 2009 there were 189 foreclosures, or about 21.8% of the total sales volume. In 2010 there were 249 foreclosures or about 1/3 of the total sales volume. The good news however is that almost 2/3 of the volume were "organic" sales, or sales of homes by the owner or builder. In 2011 foreclosures and short sales will more than likely make up they same or higher percentage of the total sales volume.
The average time to sell a residential property (Days on Market, D.O.M.) , in Athens-Clarke County Ga showed a positive movement by declining from 204 days in 2009 to 182 days in 2010, and improvement of about 11%.
Chart 1
Chart 2 below shows the direction of both average and median sales prices in Athens-Clarke County Ga. The average sales price declined just over 10% from $160,156.00 to $144,121.00. The median price declined about 9% from $140,500.00 in 2009 to $128,000.00. The decline in both median and average prices were more likely driven by a combination of the increased percentage of foreclosures along with the numer of first time buyers trying to take advantage of the federal income tax credit during the first six months of last year.
Chart 2
What does 2011 hold? 2011 will probably be almost as challenging as 2010 was. Foreclosures and short sales are expected to become a larger part of the market. Prices are expected to suffer some decrease, at least during the first 6 months of the year. The forecast is for prices to stabilize during the second half of the year.
For those that want, or need, to sell their homes for reasons other foreclosure, the good news is that, as the numbers for 2010 indicate, "organic" sales of homes are still happenning and the larger part of the Athens-Clarke County GA market. However, they need to be both priced competitively and in a condition considerably better than foreclosure or short sale properties in order to get that higher price.
All chart information is derived from data in the Athens Area Association of Realtors® multiple listing service (MLS). The market data covers all of Athens-Clarke County Ga including the City of Winterville.
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