North Atlanta Real Estate Voice
Archive for the 'Market Trends' Category
Cobb County, GA – Housing Market Review
The most common questions I am asked are: Is the market getting any better and is activity picking up?
The problem in providing an answer is that is really depends on the day you ask. Over the last 12 months, there really hasn’t been any consistent trend in the market. Some weeks see lots of activity and interest while others have no activity. It has been this lack of consistency that has made this such a difficult market. However, things are starting to change and a trend is starting to develop.
Positive News
Interest rates continue to be low (in the high 4%/low 5% range) and the $8000 federal tax credit for first time buyers and $1800 Georgia state tax credit for all buyers are good until the end of November. In fact, houses are probably the most affordable they’ve ever been. And, if you’re a home buyer, it’s still a buyer’s market.
Atlanta Home Real Estate Prices Increase Slightly
The rate of home-price declines improved in July in the top 20 U.S. cities, and Atlanta posted a rise. The average price of a home in Atlanta rose 2.3 percent from June to July, according to the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller Home Price Index. However, the average price of a home in Atlanta was down 11.8 percent year over year in July.
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New Realities of the Housing Market
The American dream of homeownership is still attainable. Buyers just have to deal with a new set of realities.
A year after the collapse of the housing market triggered the financial meltdown, lenders are demanding more money up front, high credit scores and proof of income. Paperwork must be in perfect order. Patience and persistence are required. And don’t even bother asking about a subprime mortgage.
It’s a vastly different set of rules from earlier this decade, when home prices soared and mortgages were easy to come by.
Tax Credit Helps Spur Pending Home Sales
RISMEDIA, September 10, 2009—(MCT)—A gauge of future U.S. home sales rose more than expected in July 2009 to the highest level in more than two years as first-time buyers rushed to take advantage of a tax credit that expires this fall. The National Association of Realtors recently said its seasonally adjusted index of sales contracts signed in July for previously occupied homes rose 3.2% to 97.6. It was the sixth straight increase, and 12% higher than the same month last year. The index of pending home sales could indicate how sales completed this month and next will turn out.
National Pending Home Sales Rise for 3rd Month In A Row
Contracts signed show a big jump, especially in the Northeast, another indicator the market may be bottoming
Low interest rates and an $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers helped push pending home sales up for the third month in a row, another indication that the decline in the real estate market may be stabilizing, the National Association of Realtors reported on June 2.
Atlanta Home Prices Drop At Slower Pace
March stats in national Case-Shiller index offer hope, local analysts say.
Metro Atlanta home prices kept falling in March, but the pace of decline slowed a bit, according to a closely watched index.
Local prices slipped 1.5 percent in March from February, following several previous month-to-month declines of more than 2 percent. Still, on a year-to-year basis metro Atlanta home prices were down almost 16 percent from March 2008, dropping to levels not seen since late 2000, according to the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller National Home Price Index.
But the long fall is over, argued Steve Palm, president of SmartNumbers, a real estate research firm in Marietta.
Atlanta, Georgia Housing Market Review
The most common questions I am asked are: Is the market getting any better and is activity picking up? The problem in providing an answer is that is really depends on the day you ask. Over the last 6 – 9 months, there really has been any consistent trend in the market. Some weeks see lots of activity and interest while others have no activity. It has been this lack of consistency that has made this such a difficult market.
On the positive side, we have low interest rates, an $8000 federal tax credit for first time buyers, an $1800 Georgia state tax credit for all buyers and a buyer’s market. On the negative side, high unemployment, low consumer confidence and a credit crunch have kept buyers from jumping back into the market.
To get a clear picture of the overall Atlanta market, I have broken down the sales trends for 2006 through April 2009. The chart below shows the trends for all of the Atlanta using the FMLS data for single family homes.
Roswell-Alpharetta, Georgia Housing Market Review
The most common questions I am asked are: Is the market getting any better and is activity picking up? The problem in providing an answer is that is really depends on the day you ask. Over the last 6 – 9 months, there really has been any consistent trend in the market. Some weeks see lots of activity and interest while others have no activity. It has been this lack of consistency that has made this such a difficult market.
On the positive side, we have low interest rates, an $8000 federal tax credit for first time buyers, an $1800 Georgia state tax credit for all buyers and a buyer’s market. On the negative side, high unemployment, low consumer confidence and a credit crunch have kept buyers from jumping back into the market.
To get a clear picture of the Roswell/Alpharetta market, I have broken down the sales trends for 2006 through April 2009. The chart below shows the trends for Roswell and Alpharetta, Georgia (Fulton County only) combined.
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, Georgia Make Top 100 List Of Affordable US Housing Markets
Housing Affordability Surges to Highest Level in 18 Years
RISMEDIA, May 20, 2009-Nationwide housing affordability jumped 10 percentage points during the first quarter of 2009 to its highest level since the series began 18 years ago, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI). The HOI showed that 72.5% of all new and existing homes sold in the first quarter of 2009 were affordable to families earning the national median income of $64,000, up from 62.4% during the previous quarter and up from 53.8% during the first quarter of 2008.
“Underlying the increase in affordability are lower home prices and record low interest rates. Combined with the $8,000 federal tax credit for first-time home buyers, consumers are beginning to return to the marketplace,” said NAHB Chairman Joe Robson, a home builder from Tulsa, Okla.
Cherokee County, Georgia Housing Market Review
The most common questions I am asked are: Is the market getting any better and is activity picking up? The problem in providing an answer is that is really depends on the day you ask. Over the last 6 – 9 months, there really has been any consistent trend in the market. Some weeks see lots of activity and interest while others have no activity. It has been this lack of consistency that has made this such a difficult market.
On the positive side, we have low interest rates, an $8000 federal tax credit for first time buyers, an $1800 Georgia state tax credit for all buyers and a buyer’s market. On the negative side, high unemployment, low consumer confidence and a credit crunch have kept buyers from jumping back into the market.
To get a clear picture of the Cherokee market, I have broken down the sales trends for 2006 through April 2009. The chart below for Cherokee County includes the cities of Woodstock, Canton, Ball Ground, Holly Springs and Waleska.
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