Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Georgia Properties Real Estate Advisor For February 2016! Let's Check The Atlanta Real Estate Market Trends!

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Georgia Properties Real Estate Advisor For February 2016!  Let's Check The Atlanta Real Estate Market Trends!

We are providing this monthly real estate advisor to keep you informed about the latest trends and issues in the real estate market. Remember that real estate is local and every market is different. Contact us to find out the specific details for your local area. If you know someone else who might be interested in receiving this report or who may benefit from our expertise, please let us know.Better information helps our clients make better real estate decisions!

 

On Ground Hog Day, General Beauregard Lee did not see his shadow which forecasts an early spring. Our company is having a very fast start to 2016 with pending sales up over 20%.But the market as a whole is relatively normal compared to last year.

• Closings for January 2016 were up 1.4% versus January 2015 – which is statistically flat.
• The average sales price for January was $258,000 which was down 4% from last month and up 8% from last year.
• The listed inventory for January was down 4.3% from last month and down 4.6% from last year. But the limited availability of desirable properties is still driving multiple offers and very quick sales in select areas.
• Overall months of supply for January was 5.6 months versus 3.6 months in December and 5.9 months last January. Six months is considered normal. Luxury properties are taking longer with homes above $1 million averaging 22 months and properties over $2 million averaging 41 months.
• The latest Case-Shiller Index (1/26/16) reports that Metro Atlanta home values are up 52% from the recent bottom of March 2012 and up 5.6% from last year. Increased homes values are getting some sellers back into the market.
• Visit HomeServices Lending at http://Georgia.HomeServicesLending.com for the latest mortgage rates. The Mortgage Bankers Association predict rates over 5% in 12 months.
• New Homes are moving fast – but many builders cannot build them fast enough for the demand. Visit http://www.NewHomesServicesGA.com to view new home communities.
• Commercial real estate is also making a comeback in Metro Atlanta. Our Commercial Real Estate Division specializes in these areas and would be happy to help you.

 

Penske Truck Rental published their latest moving destination list and Atlanta was ranked #1 for the 6th year in a row. The trend of moving to the Sun Belt has returned. Desirable attributes that help Metro Atlanta include a business friendly environment, low cost of living for a metro area, airport, moderate weather with 4 seasons and a high quality of life.

Here is the Top 10 List including previous rank:

1. Atlanta (1)
2. Phoenix (4)
3. Tampa/Sarasota (2)
4. Dallas/Fort Worth (3)
5. Orlando (5)
6. Denver (7)
7. Houston (8)
8. Seattle (6)
9. Las Vegas (10)
10. Chicago (9)

 

Our MEGA Open House Event will be Sunday, February 21st from 2pm – 5pm. There will be hundreds of beautiful open houses across Metro Atlanta. We will be giving away a brand new iPad Air to one lucky person in our sweepstakes promotion. This might be the right time to make your move! Contact us for additional details.

 

Interested in the latest home values? Check out our exclusive home value estimate tool that provides three value estimates from sources including Zillow, Local Public Records and RPR (Realtors® Property Resource). We also provide a new option to make your own value adjustments on any property. You can print, save, share and get a reminder for the latest updates. This is the most comprehensive solution for home value estimates available. If you are interested in listing your property, we have additional information sources and professional local insight to help determine the most accurate value of your property.

We hope everyone had a great Valentine’s Day and wish you and your loved ones an early spring!

We would be honored to assist you or someone you know with their real estate needs. We are experts in the local market and have access to proprietary information sources that are not available to the public. Better information leads to better decisions!

Lake Sidney Lanier Homes is the most comprehensive online source for information on Lake Lanier homes for sale and Lake Lanier area real estate. View the latest Lake Lanier home listings, foreclosures, lots, land, sales trends and real estate topics on Lake Lanier. Arthur Prescott is an Accredited Buyer's Representative and Certified Residential Specialist with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Georgia Properties. He has over a decade of Lake Lanier real estate experience. If you would like to schedule a free buyer or seller consultation, please feel free to contact us directly at www.LakeSidneyLanierHomes.com or 678-513-2014 or email us at Arthur.Prescott@BHHSGeorgia.com.

Related articles

• The Latest Real Estate Market Trends For Metro Atlanta! Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Georgia Properties Real Estate Advisor - January 2016!

The Latest Case-Shiller Index Report For Metro Atlanta Homes!

This report was published courtesy of Prudential Georgia Realty from the AtlRealEstateScoop Blog and gives a tremendous overview of the latest trends in the Metro Atlanta home market.  While all real estate is local, we believe that the Atlanta market trends are similar in many ways to the trends that we see in Lake Lanier real estate.

The latest Case-Shiller Index was published on Tuesday, January 29th 2013. As always, the index reports on data 60 days in arrears. Therefore, the index reports Metro Atlanta home values for November 2012. So what does the latest index show and what does that mean for home values in Metro Atlanta? Things are improving in our market however two important considerations must be taken into account. First, the Case-Shiller index of home values is very different from average sale prices or median homes prices. The Case-Shiller Index reports on repeat properties sold and other factors, which are generally better indicators of home values. Second, this index reflects the average home values for all of Metro Atlanta. Remember, real estate is local and every market is different. There are some local communities that have held their values reasonably well and others that may continue to decline. In fact, some homes entering the market are getting multiple offers and closed prices above list price. As your local Prudential Georgia Realty agent, we can help you understand the specific metrics in your local market. However, the Case-Shiller Index is a good general indication on what is happening in our market.

Now for the news…. Nationally average home prices declined by .1% in the November Index when compared to the previous month of September for the 20-City Composite report. The September index for Atlanta shows a .08% (non-seasonally adjusted) increase in home values from September 2012, which is the 7th month of positive results out of the last 8 months.  That represents a 15.02% increase in home prices over that same 8 month period.  While these numbers are positive, we must bear in mind that home prices had dropped 23.19% over the prior 8-month period.For all of 2012, homes values in Atlanta are up 9.48% but remain down 29.89% from the peak of July 2007.  The current Case-Shiller index reflects values similar to home values in the spring of 1999. The November index for Atlanta is 95.68.  Atlanta is slightly above the national average for the past 12 months with a 7.6% increase in home value versus 5.5% for the 20-city composite index.  New York and Chicago show the worst performance over the past year.

The Metro Atlanta real estate market continues to show signs of improvement for sellers. Listing inventory is down 40.5% from January of 2012 and down 57.3% from January of 2011.  That represents a 4.7 month supply of inventory based upon the latest closed sales trend.  Six months supply is considered normal. We have seen an extended period of low inventory since last year.  Buyer activity remains strong led by baby boomers, first time buyers and investors.  At the same time, the pace of pre-foreclosures (notices of default) and foreclosures has slowed.   RealValuator reports that short sales and foreclosures were over 60% of the transactions sold in 2010, 47% in 2011 and 37% in 2012.  Market sales (resales, new homes) are outpacing bank-owned sales. We can show you the specific conditions in your market so you can make the best real estate decisions.

Click on the link below to open the Excel spreadsheet that shows the details of the latest index:

Case-Shiller-Index-Atlanta-November-2012-Index-Reported-January-2013

We have now seen a series of positive results from the Case-Shiller Index but the last few months show the trend slowing or leveling off.  Over the next few months, we may start to see results that are flat or slightly negative.  We are moving back to a more normal seasonal pattern where the spring and summer months are the heaviest selling months. View the graph of the monthly Case-Shiller results from 2010, 2011 and 2012:

If you look back further at home values (see chart below), you can see that we had a bubble in homes values. As with many cyclical markets, we have over-corrected with values that are below the normal trend line. Over time, we expect this pattern to normalize and values will return to this predictable track. That makes now a great time to buy or invest in real estate for Metro Atlanta!

If you look at the average annual Case-Shiller index for each year, here is how homes purchased in recent years would compare to the current index:

Homes Bought in 2000 – Loss of 7.32%
Homes Bought in 2001 – Loss of 12.22%
Homes Bought in 2002 – Loss of 15.49%
Homes Bought in 2003 – Loss of 18.15%
Homes Bought in 2004 – Loss of 20.93%
Homes Bought in 2005 – Loss of 24.73%
Homes Bought in 2006 – Loss of 28.16%
Homes Bought in 2007 – Loss of 28.63%
Homes Bought in 2008 – Loss of 21.99%
Homes Bought in 2009 – Loss of 11.74%
Homes Bought in 2010 – Loss of 9.54%
Homes Bought in 2011 – Loss of 2.72%

Yes, we are slowly climbing our way out of this unprecedented housing crisis – but we are not quite there yet. So where will home values go from here? The key factors that will impact our home values include the following:

Demand from Buyers: SmartNumbers reports that we finished 2012 with over 75,000 homes sold – a 7% increase from 2011.  We are moving back toward a more more normal expectation of 80,000 to 85,000 homes sold per year.

Mortgage Rates/ Credit Availability: Average mortgage rates in the past 50 years were 8%. We expect to see historically low mortgage rates continue now that the Fed is still purchasing $85 billion of bonds and mortgage-backed securities each month.  But this stimulus to keep rates artificially low will not last forever. Freddie Mac and the Mortgage Bankers Association predict mortgage rates to rise to over 4% in 2013. In 3-5 years, we expect to see rates in the 6-8% range again.

Supply/ Inventory Levels: Most of our markets are showing inventory levels down well over 30% from the prior year levels. We see investors very active under $200,000 which will continue to shrink that inventory. New homes will continue to grow but not fast enough to have a significant impact on inventory levels. As values begin to rise, we expect “sideline sellers” to get back into the market. Overall, the “for sale” inventory will remain low compared to normal levels.

Competition from Short Sales/ Foreclosures: In 2011, RealValuator reports that short sales and foreclosures were over 60% of the transactions sold. In 2011, that dropped to 47% and in 37% in 2012.  We are now seeing resales and new homes outpace the sales of bank-owned properties.

It is clear that the housing market for the Greater Metro Atlanta area is improving.  Right now, we still have low prices and incredible mortgage rates.  You and your agent should be carefully watching the leading indicators.  There are some great opportunities to buy or invest.  But the low inventory may cause prices to start rising at an abnormally high rate.  In 5 or 10 years, many will look back and regret not buying their dream home when they had the chance! Check back for our next posts with the latest facts and insight that can make you money!

Lake Sidney Lanier Homes is the most comprehensive online source for information on Lake Lanier homes for sale and Lake Lanier area real estate. View the latest Lake Lanier home listings, foreclosures, lots, land, sales trends and real estate topics on Lake Lanier. Arthur Prescott is an Accredited Buyer's Representative and Certified Residential Specialist with over a decade of Lake Lanier real estate experience. If you would like to schedule a free buyer or seller consultation, please feel free to contact us directly at 678-513-2014 or email us at APrescott@PrudentialGeorgia.com.