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How Does the Market Look?

The regular market reports will resume on Friday, but for today I just wanted to expound on the general market a little.

Things have really changed in the last few months.  Just 4 or 5 months ago, I was constantly looking for “follow through” on strong numbers for almost every market segment.  There would be a good month or two, but then there would be a lousy one to cast doubt into the recovery process.

There were programs designed to “bring back the housing segment”, and while some of them did manage to move the market for a short time, for the most part, they only seemed to steal from future sales.  Sales that would have happened regardless were moved up in order to qualify for government subsidies or more favorable tax treatment.  But over the long run, they didn’t create many sales that wouldn’t have happened over the follow couple of months.

After all of that worked through the system, and consumers were more certain that there wouldn’t be future inducements, sales started picking up again… but the real boost to the sales numbers has been inventory reductions.  And while there are still rumors of a “tidal wave of foreclosed properties”, those same rumors have been around for 3+ years, always with the tidal wave 4-6 months away.  There could indeed be a wave of foreclosed properties poised to hit the market, I wouldn’t bank on it.  And the market does seem ready to absorb some more inventory, especially on the entry level end of the spectrum.

The bottom line is that the real estate market is getting back to normal.  In fact, under $200k in most of Gwinnett, it is well into Seller’s Market territory.  From $200k-$400k, it is mixed.  Above that, it is still pretty much a Buyer’s Market, but not to the extent it has been for the last few years.

It will be interesting to see what happens with the market when the general economic recovery starts in earnest.  I am still of the opinion that the best stimulus for the housing market is a recovery in the jobs market.  While the unemployment rate has gotten better, the labor force participation percentage rate hasn’t budged much.  The unemployment rate discounts workers that give up or time out on unemployment, while the labor force participation rate includes everyone that could be in the labor force.

I’m firmly of the belief that many buyers are reluctant to make a 30 year plan (buy a house and get a mortgage) when they are worried about the security of their job over the next year.

Stay tuned to see how it all shakes out…

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Norcross, GA, Market Report, May 2012

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Market stats for Norcross GA, May, 2012 indicate that there were 256 properties on the market.  Overall, there is about a 4.9 month supply of properties. The last year has been fairy strong… it hasn’t slowed much, if at all.  May saw 57 sales, over the 50 for April, and the 52 for May last year.

In the sub-$200k arena, there were 143 listings, with about 3.9 month supply.  Sales are well off from last month and from a year ago in this segment, which is the main driver of sales in this area (37 v 39 in May11 & 37 Apr12).  For the last eight months, the AR has been tilted in favor of sellers.  This still looks like one of the strongest price/area segment in Gwinnett County, GA. At just over a 3½ month A/R, this is VERY strong for sellers.

Between $200k and $400k, there were 83 listings for sale, and about 7.3 months of supply.  This segment had been weakening for the last few months. But, the 16 sales were pretty good compared to last year’s 7 sales, and last month’s 7 sales.  Even though it isn’t gangbusters, it is certainly better than the 28 months of inventory we had in December, 2010.  This is a world better than last month, though.

From $400k to $600k, there were 27 homes on the market. The Absorption Rate is around 7.4 months.  The AR had been fairly steady for months, then shot WAY up in January.  May’s 3 sales were down from the 5 last month and down from last year’s 5 sales.  This had actually been a pretty good area for homes in this price range to sell…  The good news is that it would only take a few sales to put it back in a balanced range.

In the $600k to $800k arena, there were 3 listings on the market. Inventories tripled compared to last year.  The Absorption Rate is at 9 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.  February had 1 sale. The were 0 sales for May12, 1 for Apr12 and 1 for Apr11.

The range from $800k to $1m, there was 0 homes listed on the market and 1 sale in May (0 sales for April). There were no sales last year. Unfortunately there isn’t enough data for a good A/R number.

Above $1m, there was 0 properties 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.

I have a page dedicated to Norcross Market Data.

Atlanta Metro Zillow Home Value Index

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Happy Independence Day

Exterior view of Independence Hall (circa 1770...

Exterior view of Independence Hall (circa 1770s). Creator: United States Commission of Fine Arts. (1910-) (most recent) ARC Identifier: 518208 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I wish you a safe and fun-filled 4th.  This is a marvelous day to celebrate our history and independence.  236 years ago, a bunch of guys signed a document that said they’d had enough and weren’t going to take any more.  They thought they could run a country better than a King and set about to prove it.

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Lawrenceville, GA Market Report, May 2012

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Market stats for Lawrenceville, GA, May, 2012, indicate that there were 1046 properties on the market.  Overall, there was about a 3.9 month supply of properties.  In 2011, sales for May were at 262, so 267 sales was a solid increase, year over year.  Last month’s sales were at 256.  Coupled with the decrease in inventory, things are looking pretty good.  Normally the market picks up from January through about June-August.  This month we are rocking, in fact, some are arguing that constrained inventories are holding back sales or we would be looking even better.

For Lawrenceville, GA, Homes Under $200k, there are 870 listings, with about a 3.6 month supply of homes.  Sales were well down from May, 2011 (235 v 246), although sales may very well be down because of constrained inventories.  Last year in this segment, there were 1340 listings v the 870 now.  This segment is easily the lion’s share of sales for the area.  With the 3.57 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 down, though, from 237 in April.

Between $200k and $400k, there are 148 listings for sale, and about 7.1 months of supply.  Oddly, this had one of the weaker segments in the county, now it’s mid-pack.  The 31 sales for May, 2012 were WAY up from the 16 from last year.  They were also well up from the 18 sales last month.  But, we are still slightly in Buyer’s Market territory here.

From $400k to $600k, there are 23 homes on the market (big jump from the 16 last month).  The absorption rate is around 34.5 months (also a big jump from the 12 last month).  However, with the level of sales in this segment, a couple of sales added or subtracted can have a HUGE impact.  There were 0 sales for May, the Absorption Rate has dropped from 78 months last June, through good, but sporadic sales.  There were 0 sales in May, 2011.  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 7.1 five 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 3 listings, with about 9.0 months of supply. As with the next lower priced segment, a couple of sales makes a big difference and there was 1 sale in May. There were only 6 sales at this level in all of 2011, 2 of them were last January. There was 1 sale in January 2012.

Between $800k and $1M, and Above $1M there are 2 homes listed (combined) and not enough sales data to give an accurate absorption rate. There has only been one sale in this range in the last 3 years (Aug, 2010), according to FMLS.

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.

Atlanta Metro Zillow Home Value Index

I have a page dedicated to Lawrenceville Market Data.

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Buford, GA, Market Report, May 2012

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Image via Wikipedia

Market stats for Buford, GA, May, 2012 indicate that there were 388 properties on the market.  Overall, there was about an 4.5 month supply of properties (Absorption Rate or A/R).  There were 86 sales for May, flat from 86 last month and up from the 75 sales last May (2011).  It isn’t the strongest market in Gwinnett, but the A/R is nothing to sneeze at.  It is solidly in Seller’s Market territory.

In the sub-$200k arena, there were 217 listings, with a 3.7 month supply.  This is the largest price segment in this market area, so strength here usually equals strength across the whole local market area.  Sales were down from last month 54 (v 61 last month), but flat compared to last year (54 sales in May, 2011).  But, the A/R is WAY under the 6 months that would be considered fairly balanced… pointing towards a solid seller’s market.

Between $200k and $400k, there were 130 listings for sale, and about 6.2 months of supply.  The 25 sales recorded were up from the 19 from last month and from the 17 sales last year for May.  This had been one of the weaker segments in the county, but has improved dramatically and at current A/Rs, it is one of the stronger $200k-$400k segments in the county (aside from Suwanee).

From $400k to $600k, there were 20 homes on the market.  The absorption rate is 3.8 Months.  There have been 16 sales in the last 3 months (3 for March, 6 for April and 7 for May).  When the market is rolling, there should be 6-8 sales a month during this part of the year.  Just for comparison, there were 2 sales in the Mar.-May period in 2011.  This segment has been bouncing all over the place… but it is VERY strong right now.

In the $600k to $800k arena, there were 5 listings.  Absorption Rate is 5 months… but it jumps around a lot.  Sales in this range are pretty sporadic, but steady when looking at the long-term.  The drop in inventory over the last few months from 14 homes to 6 has made things look less slow… but there were 4 sales in this segment last year… and 3 sales in March, but none since.  But the low inventory is what is driving the incredible A/R.

The range from $800k to $1m, there were 5 homes listed. But, with no sales this year or last year (2011), obviously trends are hardly definable. Listings are down, but sales aren’t following through.

Above $1m, there were 11 properties listed. The last sale in the segment was in April… of 2009…and then there was May, 2011… and 2 sales in June, 2011. So, we have 66 months of inventory. I hope, but am not expecting, sales to be more consistent.

Buford, GA is a suburb of Atlanta in Gwinnett and Hall Counties. The population is 2000 was 10,668, but that only included the area inside the city limits, and it had seen tremendous growth since that census. Buford is home to Lake Lanier, one of Georgia’s premiere recreational areas, and Lake Lanier Islands. Recently, the City of Buford has revamped their old town. It is also home to Buford (Buford City Schools aren’t a part of Gwinnett County Schools), Mill Creek, Mountain View and Lanier High School (Lanier will open for the 2010-11 school year).

I have a page dedicated to Buford Market Data.

Atlanta Metro Zillow Home Value Index

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