July 2009

New Homes Sales Rise

In a report released this week by the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development sales of newly built single family homes rose 11% in the month of June.  Peter Morici, economics professor at University of Maryland said,  ”That is really good news.  With all the foreclosure activity sending down home prices, for new homes to jump like that is a good indicator that the economy is bottoming out.”    Excess inventory still exists in some key markets such as California, Arizona, Las Vegas & Florida.

Economic recovery is still a few months away, say economists surveyed by USA Today, but two-thirds of them think existing-home sales have bottomed out.    Bill Cheney, chief economist at MFC Global Investment states that both the housing and automotive markets “have the potential to generate some quite large percentage increases.”
 

Overall, economists say unemployment won’t peak until the first half of next year and credit markets will remain tight.

~Sorce: USA Today & Realtor Magazine

The Numbers – June 2009

The FMLS has finally published the June 2009 numbers!   And there is continued good news in the numbers.  Across all of FMLS areas (36 total) average closed prices are continuing to head back up.  We are seeing lower inventories and the large number of months supply of houses on the market is starting to moderate as inventories continue to decline.  If this trend continues we can expect prices to continue to increase.

Below are the monthly charts for 5 in-town areas of the FMLS – just a portion of the 36 total areas in FMLS.

FOR CONDOS/TOWNHOMES:

Area	# of Sales	Total Sales Volume	Avg Sale Price	Average Original List Price	Sales Price to Final List Price	Average Total Days on the Market
21	72	$ 21,803,417	$     302,825	$       435,664	74.1%	146.2
23	75	$ 14,983,000	$     199,773	$       218,380	96.0%	107.6
24	5	$      868,900	$     173,780	$       188,560	96.2%	49.6
52	46	$   7,643,805	$     166,170	$       186,434	94.4%	120.1
TOTALS	198	$ 45,299,122

 

HOUSES:

Area	# of Sales	Total Sales Volume	Avg Sale Price	Average Original List Price	Sales Price to Final List Price	Average Total Days on the Market
21	65	$61,106,623	$       940,102	$     ,138,312	87.8%	115.5
23	40	$19,032,273	$       475,807	$      550,100	94.7%	132.5
24	63	$14,952,700	$       237,344	$      262,342	96.2%	91.8
31	119	$5,230,423	$         43,953	$        57,414	92.8%	79.6
32	73	$8,631,929	$       118,246	$      135,225	95.6%	79.8
52	160	$35,186,598	$       219,916	$      247,542	93.7%	90.2
TOTALS	520	$144,140,546

Click here for FMLS Area – key codes.    

In these in-town markets – the total sales volume for Condos/Town homes was $21,804,580 for May compared to June’s sales volume of $45,299,122.  Sales volume of single family homes in these 5 areas jumped to $144,140,546 in sales volume compared to May’s sales volume of $99,337,550.   Here are breakdowns of past months: May 2009, April 2009 & March 2009.

It is a great time to buy!

Sales Tax Holiday – July 30 – August 2, 2009

Today starts a 4 day sales tax holiday!  If you are in need of a personal computer or it’s time for back to school clothing ($100 per item maximum) or school supplies ($20 per item maximum) – now is the time to buy!

In addition to being able to purchase a laptop or desktop PC – other computing items may be eligible for the tax exempt status – software, docking stations, disks, memory, keyboards, printers, printer cartridges, zip drives, scanners, storage devices, etc. 

For details on what is included & excluded click here.

Recycling Carts – City of Atlanta

Recycling occurs every other week now in the City of Atlanta.   If you are having trouble fitting all of your recyclables into the small bins – here is some good news:   you can purchase a 95 gallons rolling recycle cart from the City of Atlanta for $70.   The advantage to buying the recycle cart from the City is that it meets the specs to fit on their mechanical lift on the trucks.  The smaller version (50 gallons) at Home Depot is the same price.    

Looking for more information?  Click here  to visit the city’s website.   Instructions on buying the bin are on web site!

The Numbers – May 2009

May 2009 Numbers:

Condos/Townhomes:

Area	# of Sales	Total Sales Volume	Avg Sale Price	Average Original List Price	Sales Price to Final List Price	Average Total Days on the Market
21	51	$              9,505,160	$             186,370	$             199,370	93.5%	97.1
23	39	$              6,659,470	$             168,488	$             174,322	96.6%	98.9
24	5	$              1,171,500	$             234,300	$             236,380	99.1%	142.2
52	23	$              4,468,450	$             194,280	$             205,466	94.6%	163.6
TOTALS	118	$           21,804,580

 

Homes:

Area	# of Sales	Total Sales Volume	Avg Sale Price	Average Original List Price	Sales Price to Final List Price	Average Total Days on the Market
21	41	$31,948,960	$             779,243	$             855,875	91.0%	161.3
23	32	$16,852,438	$             526,639	$             573,433	91.8%	103.2
24	43	$10,013,330	$             232,868	$             245,127	95.0%	92.5
31	148	$7,345,715	$               49,633	$               53,536	92.7%	106.6
32	55	$5,260,975	$               95,654	$             101,802	94.0%	71
52	135	$27,916,132	$             206,786	$             220,757	93.7%	88.7
TOTALS	454	$99,337,550

The area key is here.

Pending Homes Sales Record Fourth Straight Monthly Gain

The NAR – National Association of Realtors – announced the pending home sales show an uptrend for the past four consecutive months.  They attribute favorable housing affordability and 1st time buyer tax credits as boosting the latest survey.  The June Pending Homes Sales Index increased 0.1% to 90.7%.   The last time there were four consecutive monthly gains was in October 2004.    Closed existing-home sales are improving but they are coming in lower than expected because of delayed closings or falling through due to financing qualifications or road blocks with the new appraisal rules in place.   According to Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, “Rises in contract activity show buyers are becoming more active even as they face much more stringent loan underwriting standards.  Speedy clarification of the appraisal rules could smooth a housing market recovery and support the overall economy”.