The Forest Is Now in Sight

Two articles were posted today on the Atlanta Business Chronicle website – one indicating we are close to the bottom of the market, the other article states Atlanta will be among one of the first cities to rebound. Is this big news? I think it’s really good news – and something we really need to hear. I have had a number of calls from investors looking to pick up properties while the pricing is low. It’s a good sign as far as I’m concerned because investors always wait until the last minute to purchase.

If you read my post “Missing the Forest When Staring at the Trees,” I indicated we were getting real close to the bottom. I can see it each day when I am out showing property. Sales centers are busy showing potential buyers what’s available, but are people actually purchasing? Yes. Things are picking up according to many agents.

A number of beautiful condos have recently come on the market – a sign that many big listing agents think now is a great time for their clients to sell. One condo at Park Avenue is being quietly listed for $17,000,000. (I’ve been trying to get in touch with the agent to get the information.) It’s a full floor 10,000 square foot condo with a huge wine cellar and all the bells and whistles you would expect at that price.

Here are some highlights from the articles I was speaking about. Read on. 

Lower home inventory levels indicate bottom is near
Atlanta Business Chronicle – by Lori Johnston / Contributing Writer 

• Fence-sitting house hunters swayed by proclamations that now is the time to buy will discover thousands of fewer homes on the market compared with last year.
• The lower inventory levels in metro Atlanta — down about 30,000 from a high of more than 111,000 in January 2008 — are a sign of an improving real estate market and that a price bottom might be near, say some leaders of the area’s largest residential real estate firms.
• As single-family home permits plummeted from the 60,000-range to about 12,000 last year, fewer people moved to the area, said Mike Alexander, research division chief for the Atlanta Regional Commission. The 70,200-person increase in the 10-county Atlanta region between April 2007 and April 2008 was the lowest since 2003 and down 16 percent from its annual average this decade, according to commission data.
• Metro Brokers’ data, which is updated on its billboards on Atlanta interstates, showed slightly more than 81,000 homes on the market in the 20-county Atlanta region in January. That’s compared with just over 111,000 in January 2008, according to First MLS and Georgia MLS data for single-family and multifamily homes. Levent doesn’t expect inventory levels to drop much further. Expect an uptick this spring, when people traditionally put homes on the market, he said.
• 30,000 new households were established last year in the metro area, though some chose to rent.

Atlanta market will be among first to rebound
Atlanta Business Chronicle – by Steve King 

• With home closings outpacing home starts for more than two years, unsold housing inventory has fallen by 31 percent year-over-year, and by 42 percent since December 2006. At the end of January, inventory actually stood comparable to the 2002 level at 23,084 units. This means that low prices on new homes won’t last indefinitely. And, in addition to price, buyers should focus on where they want to live and what type of house they want. Now is a historic time to buy a home if you are qualified and responsible — two absolute necessities.
• Our 10-county region remains one of the top annual draws for relocations in America — adding more than 80,000 new people each year, according to the Atlanta Regional Commission. This kind of growth will deplete our unsold housing inventory quickly, so when the economic rebound arrives, Atlanta’s home values and prices will be among the first in the nation to rise.