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As is my custom - I was listening to Good Morning America as I let the dogs out, make the coffee and get started on waking up. But this morning - I was delightfully jolted out of my early morning haze by Liz Ann Sonders, Chief Investment Strategist at Charles Schwabb, who proclaimed that the recession had ended. What is even better is that she was agreeing with Barry Knapp, of Barclay's Capital, who recently announced that the recession may have ended last month in April. Knapp actually said the economy appears "to be in the sweet spot of a recovery".
One of the indicators pointing to a recovery is unemployment. Unemployment is a lagging indicator of the economy - meaning unemployment may not improve for several months and you can expect that unemployment will peak by year end. Historically employment figures don't seem recover until six months after the end of a recession. However, Sonders indicated that layoffs are slowing down and the unemployment claims are starting to edge lower.
Another indicator pointing to a economic recovery is the housing market. One of the leading indicators of how the housing marketing is faring is the inventory level - the number of homes on the market. According to Pat Lashinsky of Zip Realty, "Inventory levels are actually declining and median home prices of homes available for sale have actually gone up." When the number of homes on the market goes down - prices rise and the market improves. "The fact that inventory is declining is suggesting that soon we may see home prices begin to stabilize. In some markets, it may begin to turn upward. But the downturn in the housing that we've had for the last three years may be coming to an end," said Lawrence Yun, the chief economist for the National Association of Realtors. "Buyers are a lot more engaged," Yun said. "There's an excitement and a passion that hasn't been seen in the last 18 months right now."
These statistics are for the national markets and it will be interesting to see what our metro Atlanta numbers will be. It will be a week or two before our April numbers our out but even our
March numbers showed improvement. NAR's numbers for the national market showed improvement in march as well -
here they are.
The 7th Annual Kirkwood Spring Fling and Tour of Homes is weekend. The open air artist market is located at Bessie Branham Park on Delano. There will be bands, food and a children's area. The festival is open Sat & Sunday from 10 am until 7pm. The tour of homes will be both days - 12 pm to 6pm.
For details click here.
2009 Modern Atlanta Home Tour has some great homes on the tour this year. This event is perfect for fans of contemporary architecture and design. The tour is only 2 days - May 16th & 17th. Tickets are $35. For more information on the tour --
click here. Enjoy!
This Saturday & Sunday is the Atlanta Botanical Gardens'
Gardens for Connoisseurs Tour. The Tour features great design and planting ideas from Atlanta's most talented gardeners and landscape architects, and these beautiful private gardens are open to the public only for this event. Tour hours are 10 to 5pm each day. Admission is $20 in advance and $30 day Sat & Sun. You also receive admission to the rest of the Atlanta Botanical Gardens.
For details click here.
There is also a Mother's Day Tea on Sunday the 1oth. Choose one of three seatings: 11 a.m., 1 p.m. or 3 p.m - RESERVATIONS REQUIRED. Catered by Sun in My Belly: pots of tea are accompanied by scones, crumpets, tea sandwiches and all the flourishes of a hearty High Tea. For pricing and details on reservations -
click here.
Interest rates remain low! As of today - conforming loans (under $417k) remain at 4.375%. FHA rates remain at 4.5%. And jumbo rates for qualified buyers remain as low as 5.5% with equity and excellent credit.
I ran some numbers to see what kind of savings you would have with these low rates. WOW - over the life of the loan you can save tens of thousands of dollars. On a loan amount of $200,000 - the monthly mortgage payments on a 30 year fixed (does not include taxes, insurance) are:
| Interest Rate |
|
Monthly Payment |
|
Monthly Savings compared to $998.57 |
| 4.375% |
|
$998.57 |
|
not applicable |
| 5.375% |
|
$1,119.84 |
|
$121.27 |
| 6.375% |
|
$1,247.75 |
|
$249.18 |
Aside from the monthly savings - an interest rate of 4.375% vs. 5.375% could save you $43,693.91 over the life of the loan. And an interest rate of 4.375% vs. 6.375% could save you $89,700.94. WOW.
According to the latest report by National Association of Realtors®, pending homes sales rose based on contracts signed in March 2009. NAR's
Pending Home Sales Index showed March 2009 contracts rose 3.2% from February's level of 82. This index is a forward-looking index based on contracts signed not closed sales and is based on the national market. Additionally March 2009's 84.6% was 1% increased from a year ago's March 2008 index of 83.7%.
Lawrence Yun, NAR'S chief economist, stated "This increase could be the leading edge of first-time buyers responding to very favorable affordability conditions and an $8,000 tax credit, which increases buying power even more in areas where special programs allow buyers to use it as a down payment," he says. "We need several months of sustained growth to demonstrate a recovery in housing, which is necessary for the overall economy to turn around."
Here is a breakdown of pending home sales by region:
- South: rose 8.5 percent to 93.2 in March and is 7.7 percent above a year ago.
- West: increased 3.9 percent to 93.1 and is 1.7 percent higher than March 2008.
- Northeast: fell 5.7 percent to 59.5 in March and is 24.1 percent below a year ago.
- Midwest: slipped 1 percent to 82.3 but is 8.2 percent higher than March 2008.
I stumbled upon this site -
The Green Glass Company - months ago. The company is in Wisconsin and recycles bottles into glassware. There process is environmentally friendly. I LOVE THESE!
Since finding the site I have been dreaming of owning a few of these bar ware collections. The colors of the
collections are fabulous ranging from the deep blue seen on this site to a pale blue/green color. I am particularly fond of the deep green collection as well. It would be difficult for me to make a decision!
Star Provisions on Howell Mill carries the line of glasses. Of course you can order on line as well. AND their shipping materials are also recycled materials.
This Saturday the Zoo Atlanta is hosting a plant sale. Zoo Horticulture experts will be on hand to offer advice and answer questions. Native plant varieties will be offered for sale. Sale is this Saturday, May 2nd from 8 am to 2pm.
Click here for more information. The sale benefit's the Zoo's Green Team whose goal is to maintain a sustainable workplace at the Zoo. Thus far they achieved some amazing accomplishments - click here for details on the
Zoo's Green Team.
FMLS Stats for the Month of March 2009.
Per Steve Palm who provides the Smart Numbers from FMLS, sees a "moderate trend for a number of single family housing statistics that still point to positive results for June or July (2009)." He also states that "while March 2009 numbers were down from the previous year - March 2008, March 2009 is up over February 2009 by the greatest percentage since Feb - March 2006." It is important to realize this increase is not based on number of units sold but percentages.
This news is great for the single Family market but we will probably wait a bit longer for the good news about the condo market in most markets. However there was an increase in number of units sold - 64 in Feb 2009 and 99 in March 2009. We also see an increase in the number of units sold in single family houses in areas 21,23 & 24 - 65 sold in Feb 2009 and 88 sold in March 2009. Key to FMLS areas is
here. February 2009 numbers are
here.
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 |
30 |
$24,370,360 |
$ 816,345 |
$ 923,287 |
91.1% |
97.4 |
| 23 |
27 |
$10,545,500 |
$ 390,574 |
$ 410,309 |
95.5% |
66.2 |
| 24 |
31 |
$5,805,575 |
$ 187,277 |
$ 196,164 |
95.5% |
51.3 |
| 31 |
142 |
$6,767,951 |
$ 47,662 |
$ 67,282 |
90.7% |
105.5 |
| 32 |
77 |
$8,255,772 |
$ 107,218 |
$ 128,196 |
92.1% |
87.7 |
| 52 |
106 |
$24,418,719 |
$ 230,365 |
$ 544,356 |
92.6% |
97 |
| TOTALS |
413 |
$80,163,877 |
|
|
|
|
Note - in Area 52 - the average original list price of $544,356 looks like a typo to me or an error in the list price when the property was first listed.
Areas 31 & 32 are areas with high numbers of foreclosures rates - particular area 31. It is great to see the foreclosures being absorbed.
| 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 |
56 |
$ 14,010,638 |
$ 250,190 |
$ 286,601 |
91.7% |
122.2 |
| 23 |
40 |
$ 7,601,054 |
$ 190,026 |
$ 225,689 |
88.2% |
113.8 |
| 24 |
3 |
$ 714,900 |
$ 238,300 |
$ 259,900 |
97.3% |
109.7 |
| TOTALS |
99 |
$ 22,326,592 |
|
|
|
|
Single Family Homes
Electronic recycling this weekend ~ April 25th & 26th from 10 am to 4pm. It is located at the IKEA parking lot - East Lot.
Shout out to Jeffrey Wisard for the information!
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