Category Archives: buford

Buford, GA, Market Report, February 2011

Tuesday, 05 April 2011 08:56

Written by Lane Bailey

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Image by lane.bailey via Flickr

Market stats for Buford, GA, February, 2011 indicate that there were 600 properties on the market. Overall, there was about an 12.2 month supply of properties. February was up substantially, 60 v 38 sales in 2009. January was slightly below last year (25 v 28 for 2009). There were 83 sales in June and an Absorption Rate under 8.5 months.

In the sub-$200k arena, there were 352 listings, with a 10.6 month supply. Again, this is the largest price segment in this area, so strength here usually equals weakness across the market area. Sales were up substantially from last month (41 v 18), but pretty flat compared to last year (16 sales in Feb. 2010). Much of the county has been slowing slightly over the last month, but this is a strong outpost in that bleak land.

Between $200k and $400k, there were 196 listings for sale, and about 14.7 months of supply. As with many other local price segments, February was well above January (18 v 6 homes sold). February of last year (19 sales) had a similar bump… hopefully it holds out for a while this time.

From $400k to $600k, there were 31 homes on the market. The absorption rate is almost 18.6 Months. This shouldn’t be acting like a high-end luxury segment, but it is. There have been 5 sales in the last 3 months. When the market is rolling, there should be 5-7 sales a month during this part of the year. And despite the lower market segments getting better, this one weakened for February.

In the $600k to $800k arena, there were 2 listings. Absorption Rate is 6 months (averaging a sale every few 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 2 homes has made things look less slow… but there have been 3 sales in this segment last year… the last was this past November.

The range from $800k to $1m, there were 6 homes listed. And with only 1 sale in the last year (Feb 10) until last December (2 more), obviously trends are hardly definable. At least listings are down by more than compared to a few months ago (9 listings in June).

Above $1m, there were 13 properties listed. The last sale in the segment was in April… of 2009… still…

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.

Buford, GA, Market Report, January 2011 (lanebailey.com)
Buford, GA, Market Report, December 2010 (lanebailey.com)
Buford, GA, Market Report, November 2010 (lanebailey.com)
Buford, GA, Market Report, October 2010 (lanebailey.com)
Buford, GA, Market Report, September 2010 (lanebailey.com)

Buford, GA, Market Report, January 2011

Tuesday, 15 March 2011 08:41

Written by Lane Bailey

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Image by lane.bailey via Flickr

Market stats for Buford, GA, January, 2011 indicate that there were 601 properties on the market. Overall, there was about an 13.8 month supply of properties. December was slightly above last year (62 v 52 for 2009). But it was also a pretty substantial bump from November (44 sales). January was down slightly from a year earlier (25 v 28 sales). There were 83 sales in June and an Absorption Rate under 8.5 months.

In the sub-$200k arena, there were 346 listings, with a 11.8 month supply. Again, this is the largest price segment in this area, so weakness here equals weakness across the market area. Sales were down substantially from last month (18 v 41), but pretty flat compared to last year (19 sales in Jan. 2010). Let’s see what February does.

Between $200k and $400k, there were 202 listings for sale, and about 17.3 months of supply. As with many other segments, January was well below December. With just 6 sales this year, it was below December’s 16 as well as last January’s 9. Inventory dropped for February, let’s see if sales can get better.

From $400k to $600k, there were 29 homes on the market. The absorption rate is almost 17.4 Months. This shouldn’t be acting like a high-end luxury segment, but it is. There have been 5 sales in the last 3 months. When the market is rolling, there should be 5-7 sales a month during this part of the year.

In the $600k to $800k arena, there were 6 listings. Absorption Rate is 18 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 7 homes has made things look less slow… but there have been 3 sales in this segment last year… the last was this past November.

The range from $800k to $1m, there were 4 homes listed. And with only 1 sale in the last year (Feb 10) until last month (2 more), obviously trends are hardly definable. At least listings are down by more than 50% compared to a few months ago (9 listings in June).

Above $1m, there were 14 properties listed. The last sale in the segment was in April… of 2009… still…

I have a page dedicated to Buford Market Data.Related article

Buford, GA, Market Report, December 2010 (lanebailey.com)
Buford, GA, Market Report, November 2010 (lanebailey.com)
Buford, GA, Market Report, October 2010 (lanebailey.com)
Buford, GA, Market Report, September 2010 (lanebailey.com)

Is $1,000,000 Burning a Hole in Your Pocket?

Thursday, 17 February 2011 08:45

Written by Lane Bailey

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Image via Wikipedia

Let’s just assume for a minute that you are sitting there in your office or at home and you have $1,000,000 just dying to be invested in a new (to you) home. And then let’s assume for a few minutes that you’d love to do that here in Gwinnett County, GA. What can you get for a million bucks here in Gwinnett?

There are a few homes listed for around $1,000,000 in Gwinnett County, GA. I limited it to homes that were priced within $1,000 of the magic number. The six houses all came in between $999,000 and $999,900.

Three of the homes are located in Chateau Elan, in Braselton, GA. You can’t really get much further north in the county, but it is a truly magnificent area. Chateau Elan is built around the winery of the same name started by Donald Panoz. That would be the same Donald Panoz that owns Road Atlanta, just a little north of the winery, and the American Le Mans Series in sports car racing. There is also an Inn, event facility and several golf courses.

Image by lane.bailey via Flickr

The other three homes are a little more spread out around the county, but all are near the I-85 corridor. They are in Buford, Duluth and Suwanee. This particular Buford home isn’t in a subdivision, but could have easily been a home on Lake Lanier. The homes in Buford that are on the lake are on what is called “South Lake”, which is the biggest area of the lake. There are some exceptional homes in this area. Duluth is home to the Sugarloaf Country Club, where many of Atlanta’s sports stars and celebrities live. The home that is currently in that narrow price range is in another neighborhood called Sweet Bottom Plantation. Sweet Bottom Plantation is nestled on the banks of the Chattahoochee River, with many homes having styling reminiscent of New Orleans, LA, or Charleston, SC. Our Suwanee home is located in Belmore Estates. Suwanee is also home to The River Club and Bear’s Best Estates. It also bleeds over into Forsyth County and a little bit in Fulton County.

Here in Gwinnett County, GA, homes priced at $1,000,000 are pretty cool. That buys a LOT of house; 6,000 to 9,000 square feet. They have terrace level rooms, finished to very high standards. Three car garages are a minimum, with 4+ being more common. Most of the homes have 5 or 6 bedrooms, but every once in a while, a 4 bedroom home will sneak in. Most of the homes have swimming pools on the property, as well. Only the home not in a subdivision had a significant amount of land, 14 acres. The others were all generally under one acre. Hardwood floors, central vacs, stone and brick, updated kitchens and high end cabinetry and appliances are pretty standard.

Right now, in Gwinnett County, the luxury market is pretty much buyer driven, too. We do see some foreclosures and short sales, but a larger percentage of buyers at this level paid cash than at lower price points. That doesn’t mean that there aren’t deals, though. Homes that are selling in this price range are often homes that would have sold for upwards of $1.5M just a few years ago.

Buford, GA, Market Report, December 2010 (lanebailey.com)
Duluth, GA, Market Report, December 2010 (lanebailey.com)
Suwanee, GA, Market Report, December 2010 (lanebailey.com)
Gwinnett County GA Overall Market Report… November, 2010 (lanebailey.com)
Interesting Homes Around Lilburn GA (lanebailey.com)

Local? Hyper-Local? National? What IS the Market?

Thursday, 10 February 2011 08:20

Written by Lane Bailey

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old photo of peachtree street, atlanta, GA

Image via Wikipedia

I love watching the news… but when they talk about the real estate market, I cringe. I like to hear the national numbers, but I also know that they are just a framework for a smaller discussion. Yep… a smaller discussion.

It matters what the overall market is doing, but it’s not nearly as important as what is happening in your neighborhood. It matters what is happening in Georgia, and the Atlanta Metro market, but not nearly as much as what is happening in your specific city. Real estate prices and demand react to specific local issues much more than to national trends. In fact, the national trend is just a compilation of local and hyper-local trends. What the national market does is create a headwind or a tailwind. That’s about it.

Here locally, we look at things like…

changing employment statistics
companies relocating into or out of the area
school performance and trends
tax burdens
quality of local governmental services
proximity to recreation and entertainment
ease of movement (commuting, shopping, etc)

As we see these things change, we see the market move in one direction or another. A prime example at the moment is the City of Atlanta schools issue. It is possible that the Atlanta City Schools could lose their accreditation. If that were to happen, it would drive down the price of most of the homes served by those schools. The price would be driven down because there would be a lack of demand on the part of buyers, combined with an increase in supply as sellers seek to move to districts without the same problems.

Gwinnett County has one of the lowest unemployment rates in Georgia, below the national average. But there is also a tremendous overhead of foreclosure action. We also have one of the highest performance school systems in the region… and reasonably low tax rates.

The market in Miami or Las Vegas doesn’t have an effect on what is happening in Georiga, much less what is going on with real estate in Gwinnett County.

Gwinnett Homestretch Program

Thursday, 03 February 2011 08:05

Written by Lane Bailey

1 Comment

Ken Cook and I are working with Gwinnett Homstretch Down Payment Assistance. As a buyer, you need to have $1000 going into the purchase, but Gwinnett Homestretch may contribute up to $7,500, if you qualify. There are a few things to keep in mind:

It is paid as a 0% loan, which will be forgiven after 5 years of using the property as your principal residence. In effect, that makes it a grant… there are no payments due during the 5 years.
You will be required to complete an 8-hour counseling class from a HUD approved Housing Counseling Agency.
Total household income must not exceed HUD lmits, based on household size. Households range from 1-8 people.
- 2 people – HUD max is $46,000
- 4 people – HUD max is $57,450
- There are different income maximums for other household sizes.
Investors are NOT eligible for this program.
The home MUST pass an inspection by Gwinnett County PRIOR to closing.
Purchase Price may NOT exceed $200,000.

There are other requirements, such as being able to qualify for a mortgage. Contact Ken and I for details.

We’d love to help you buy a home. There are great deals on the market right now, and interest rates are exceptional.

For more info, click here. There are other Down Payment Assistance programs available around the Metro Atlanta area.

Gwinnett County GA Overall Market Report… November, 2010 (lanebailey.com)
Gwinnett County Schools Get $1M Scholarship (gwinnettgarageguy.com)

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Category Archives: buford

Buford, GA, Market Report, February 2011

Buford, GA, Market Report, January 2011

Is $1,000,000 Burning a Hole in Your Pocket?

Local? Hyper-Local? National? What IS the Market?

Gwinnett Homestretch Program

What's YOUR Home Worth?

Custom Listings

Browse Listings

Follow Me on Pinterest

Category Archives: buford

Buford, GA, Market Report, February 2011

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Buford, GA, Market Report, January 2011

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Is $1,000,000 Burning a Hole in Your Pocket?

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Local? Hyper-Local? National? What IS the Market?

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Gwinnett Homestretch Program

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