It is never easy for kids to move… at least it isn’t after about the time they start walking… but we don’t have to make it tougher.
Of course, as with many things in life, there are two distinct schools of thought…
Author Archives: Lane Bailey
Best Time to Move With Kids
- Wednesday, 09 October 2013 10:10
- Written by Lane Bailey
- 0 Comments
Lilburn, GA Market Report, August, 2013
- Friday, 04 October 2013 09:29
- Written by Lane Bailey
- 0 Comments
Market stats for Lilburn, GA, August, 2013, indicate that there were 199 properties on the market, down 10 from last month. Overall, there was about an 3.5 month supply of properties and 59 properties that closed (sold) in August. It was a decrease from last year’s sales (64) and a huge drop compared to July’s (71 sales). The Absorption Rate notched down slightly. Lilburn had been among the weakest of Gwinnett County, GA, cities I track. But, at 3.45 months of inventory, it is fairly strong now. Six months is considered balanced, lower is a seller’s market and higher is a buyer’s market.
BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir Lilburn, Atlanta, America’s costliest Hindu Temple, made completely out of White marble. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
In the sub-$200k arena, there were 118 listings, with about an 3.0 month supply with 38 sales. This represents most of the sales in the market area. Sales were way down from last month (48), and down from last year (55). While the Absorption Rate isn’t as low as many other areas, sales are strong, and I’m think we are in a comeback for Lilburn.
Between $200k and $400k, there are 69 listings for sale, and about 4.4 months of supply. This segment had been quite weak for months, and had stalled a little, but came back with a vengeance… only to stall a bit again. There were 17 sales compared to 19 last month and 7 last year. Lilburn has never been seen as a luxury market. The decrease in listings had really helped, but they have started to rise again. I’m still not as confident about this portion of the Lilburn market coming back quite yet… It is strengthening, just not as consistently as I’d like… We are barely back in Seller’s Market territory.
From $400k to $600k, there are just 10 homes on the market. The absorption rate is 3.8 months. There was 4 sales in August. Poised for a comeback, but an increase in listings and weak sales don’t give the right ingredients for that to happen. To start with, we can’t have 7 month blank spots in sales (none from Aug11 through Mar12). If we can keep up a sale each month on average, this one will be back. We have a good start… and seeing the A/R drop from 3 YEARS to under 4 months in just two months is pretty nice.
From $600k to $800k, $800k to $1M and Above $1M, there is 2 listings (combined), but too few sales to have any sort of reliable number of months of inventory. The listing between $800k and $1M, and there is no market activity in the last 12 months for any of those ranges…
Lilburn is in Gwinnett County, GA, just outside of Atlanta. As of the 2000 Census, there were 11,307 people in Lilburn, but that is only including people in the city limits, and there has been a lot of growth since 2000 in Gwinnett County. It was incorporated in 1910. Lilburn is home to Parkview High School, and also has students in the Brookwood, Berkmar and Meadowcreek clusters. It is also home to Killian Hill Christian School, Providence Chrisian Academy, St. John Neumann Catholic School and Parkview Christian School. Possibly the most famous resident of Lilburn is General Beauregard Lee, a groundhog with a better winter prediction record that Puxatawnee Phil up in PA. Dominique Wilkins, formerly of the Atlanta Hawks also lives in Lilburn.
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Norcross, GA, Market Report, August 2013
- Monday, 30 September 2013 08:49
- Written by Lane Bailey
- 0 Comments
Market stats for Norcross GA, August, 2013 indicate that there were 131 properties on the market, down 28 from last month. Overall, there is about a 3.0 month supply of properties. 
The last year has been fairly strong… it hasn’t slowed much, if at all. August saw 44 sales, up from the 38 last month and compared to the 55 for July last year.
In the sub-$200k arena, there were 65 listings, with about 3.1 month supply. Sales are up from last month (14) and way down from a year ago in this segment, which is the main driver of sales in this area (25 v 41 – Aug13 v Aug12). For the last two years, the AR has been tilted in favor of sellers.
Between $200k and $400k, there were 52 listings for sale, and about 2.9 months of supply. This segment had been weakening for the last few months, but got radically stronger this month. The 15 sales were up from last year’s 14 sales, and down from last month’s 19 sales. Even though it isn’t as gangbusters as some of the other areas, it is certainly better than the 28 months of inventory we had in December, 2010. I think this is starting to look like a pretty settled market here…
From $400k to $600k, there were 12 homes on the market. The Absorption Rate is around 3.3 months. The AR last year had been fairly steady all summer, then shot WAY up in September/October. August’s 3 sales were down from the 5 last month and from last year’s 0 sales. This has actually been a pretty good area for homes in this price range to sell… for the last few months.
- In the $600k to $800k arena, there was 1 listing on the market. The Absorption Rate is at 3 months of inventory… but with only 4 sales in 2010 and 4 sales in 2011, obviously it is easy to bump one way or the other. One reason for the strong looking Absorption Rate last month was that there were so few listings. The was 0 sales for Aug13, 0 for Jul13 and 0 for Aug12.
The range from $800k to $1m, there were 0 homes listed on the market and 1 sale in Aug. There were no sales last year. Unfortunately there isn’t enough data for a good A/R number.
Above $1m, there was 1 property listed. But because of the smaller numbers of sales, the absorption rate could be significantly impacted by just a couple of sales. There is simply not enough activity for an A/R figure. The last sale was January 2011.
Norcross, GA is a suburb of Atlanta in Gwinnett County. The population is 2000 was 8,410 but that only included the area inside the city limits, and it has seen tremendous growth since that census. The City of Norcross revamped their old town a long time ago, and it has served as a model for other towns in the area. It is also home to Meadow Creek and Norcross High Schools. One of the things that Norcross is known for locally is the beautiful older homes in the downtown area. They have maintained their historic flair quite successfully.
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Lawrenceville, GA Market Report, August 2013
- Friday, 27 September 2013 08:30
- Written by Lane Bailey
- 1 Comment
Market stats for Lawrenceville, GA, August, 2013, indicate that there were 665 properties on the market, up 21 from last month. Overall, there was about a 3.2 month supply of properties. 
In 2012, sales for August were at 308, so 207 sales was a big decrease, year over year. Last month’s sales were at 212. But, coupled with the decrease in inventory, things are still looking reasonably good. Normally the market picks up from January-February through about June-August. This month we are OK, but some are arguing that constrained inventories are still holding back sales or we could be looking even better.
English: Gwinnett County Historic Courthouse, Lawrenceville GA (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
For Lawrenceville, GA, Homes Under $200k, there are 449 listings, with about a 2.7 month supply of homes. Sales were down from August, 2012 (171 v 275), although sales may very well be off because of constrained inventories. Last year in this segment, there were over 700 listings v under 450 now. This segment is easily the lion’s share of sales for the area. With the 2.67 month A/R, it is solidly in Seller’s Market territory. The low Absorption Rate (AR) is due to very strong sales, coupled with dramatically lower listing inventories. Month over month sales were up from 165 last month.
Between $200k and $400k, there are 183 listings for sale, and about 4.8 months of supply. Oddly, this had one of the mid-pack segments in the county, now it’s on the weak side. The 33 sales for August, 2013 was well under the 42 from last month, but a bit better than the 29 sales last year. We are barely into Buyer’s Market territory here… again. Month to month there is a lot of volatility, but over the longer term, it is WAY better than it had been.
From $400k to $600k, there are 23 homes on the market. The absorption rate is around 6.9 months. However, with the level of sales in this segment, a couple of sales added or subtracted can have a HUGE impact. There were 3 sales for August, the Absorption Rate has dropped from 78 months June11, through good, but sporadic sales. This is acting like a luxury market and the A/R is jumping all over the place… with just a few sales (A/R was 25.5 four months ago). While the long term trend was looking a little better, now it is still pretty choppy.
- In the $600k to $800k arena, there are 7 listings, with about 21 months of supply. As with the next lower priced segment, a couple of sales makes a big difference and there were 0 sales in August. There were only 6 sales at this level in all of 2011. There were 4 sales in 2012. May and July booked the only previous sales so far in 2013.
Between $800k and $1M, and Above $1M there are 3 homes listed (combined) and not enough sales data to give an accurate absorption rate. Until this month, there had only been one sale in this range in the last 3 years (Aug, 2010), according to FMLS. But, there was 1 sale in July 12. It was over $1M, if that makes a difference…
English: A view of the Aurora Theatre from Pike Street in Lawrenceville Georgia. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Lawrenceville is in Gwinnett County, GA, just outside of Atlanta. As of the 2000 Census, there were 22,937 people in Lawrenceville, but that is only including people in the city limits, and there has been a lot of growth since 2000 in Gwinnett County (2008 estimates from the Census Bureau peg population around 29,000). It was incorporated in 1821. Lawrenceville is home to Central Gwinnett High School, and also has students that the Mountain View and Archer clusters. It is also home to Gwinnett Technical College and Georgia Gwinnett College. Another recent addition to Lawrenceville is that it is home to the Gwinnett Braves, playing at the Gwinnett Stadium on GA20 between I-85 and GA316. Possibly the most famous resident of Lawrenceville was Oliver Hardy. As a small boy he lived in Lawrenceville with his parents for a short time. Lawrenceville was also home to Junior Samples. Some of its other residents included Jeff Francouer, Brian McCann and Jennifer Ferrin.
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Motivation…
- Wednesday, 25 September 2013 09:38
- Written by Lane Bailey
- 0 Comments
A while back I was at a real estate seminar for agents. I ended up being quite disappointed before walking out… because the ethics of the business model were lacking, in my opinion.
Sign coconut (Photo credit: @Doug88888)
The basics of the seminar revolved around acquiring more and more listings, which isn’t a bad thing… however, the problem was that the “leader” of this particular seminar was advocating agents ignoring the needs and desires of the sellers they are supposedly “representing” by using the listings to their own advantage, even if that means misrepresenting their purposes.
I have dealt with sellers for whom selling the property was desirable, but not necessary or imperative. Others NEED to sell and expect their agent to do everything in their power to make that happen. While a seller that is on the market looking for a specific price may be fine with their agent using their property as a promotional location (high traffic for the rel estate sign, etc.), a seller that has to sell is much less likely to feel the same way.
And the problem is when an agent uses the property of a “must sell” seller as a personal promotion, all of the while telling that seller what they want to hear… that they are doing everything in their power to get it sold. That is exactly what this seminar advocated.
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