English: Change of the Case-Shiller Home Price Index relative to its peak values in 1989 and 2006. Series starting in 1989 is in blue. Series starting in 2006 is in red. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
One of the comments I hear the most is “but the news said…”. There are always stories on the news about the NAR (National Association of REALTORS®) market stats, Case-Shiller or others. Most of the statistics are based on national numbers. Case Shiller is a little more local, in that it is based on the local area… if you can call the Atlanta region “local”.
One thing I would note is that the Atlanta region DOES tend to track pretty close to national averages. But being pretty close isn’t the same as being the same. And even if it were, there is a huge difference between the Atlanta Metro area and Gwinnett County… much less Suwanee, or the Morningview subdivision.
And that is the problem…
We can’t listen to the news and have a clear picture of what it means for our house or our neighborhood. It would be the same as looking at the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) and deciding whether a specific stock was going to go up or down.
But that is exactly what people do… They see a report on the network news and then decide that houses are over-priced, under-priced or whatever. When the real fact is that some market segments are rocking bargains right now… there is too much inventory and not enough buyers. Other segments have scarce inventory and homes are selling as fast as they are listed (if they are priced appropriately). But the national news… or even the local news… can’t be that exact in their reporting.
Unlike a lot of real estate professionals, I don’t begrudge the news for reporting the “big picture” story on the real estate market. We DO need to know what is happening on a national basis. But we also need to remember that there are vast differences between neighborhoods, price ranges, ZIP codes, school areas, etc.
The best bet is to talk with a local agent… I have monthly market reports on 7 cities in Gwinnett County, GA. If this is your area, you can get a much better idea of what is going on around you. If you really want to know what is happening, let me know and we’ll talk about YOUR house.
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