The whole year of 2009 was challenging in some segments.  In other segments, it has shown surprising resilience and strength.  Sugar Hill is one of the markets in Gwinnett County, GA, that has shown relative strength, even into the last quarter of 2009.  And it started off quite strong.

Looking back over the last couple of months for Sugar Hill, GA, the market has been pretty consistent.  The biggest thing has been the First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit.  It has had a GIANT pull on the market, and when it “expired” (it was renewed and expanded before it actually expired, but the effect seemed to expire) it altered the direction of the market… as it did when it was enacted.  In Sugar Hill, the effect either wasn’t as strong, or it lasted all year.

Let’s knock out a few numbers…

• There were 155 Listings as of 12/31/2009
• December currently reports with 20 sales
• The Absorption Rates for Lawrenceville break down as follows:
  • 12 month average – 6.33 months of inventory
  • 6 month average – 5.89 months of inventory
  • 3 month average – 6.08 months of inventory

The link above explains Absorption Rates more fully, but basically, it tells us how long it would take to sell all of the property on the market at the current rate.

Sales for Sugar Hill in December were up 17.6% compared to December 2008.  This was after November was up 78.6% year over year.  Days on Market also decreased by 39 days to 46 days.  One thing to keep in mind though is that there may still be sales that are unreported.

By Segment…

The market is divided up into six segments.  There is very little data on the highest three price segments, so I don’t break them out as much.

Under $200k…

There were 87 listings and 8 sales in December.  Looking back the 12mo/6mo/3mo Absorption Rates were 5.5/5.5/5.3 months.  I was a little surprised by the consistency.  And since 6 months of inventory is considered a balanced market, these are pretty good numbers.  The Under $200k segment is the strongest.  And that is good company because each of the bottom three segments has some mojo.

$200k – $400k…

There were 59 listings and 11 sales in December.  The 12mo/6mo/3mo Absorption Rates were 7.4/6.6/6.6 months.  I also expected the First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit to have a little more impact on the 3mo rate, but sales remained steady.  The $200k – $400k segment has been reasonable all year.  Looking back at our historical numbers for the last couple of years, these are great numbers.

$400k – $600k…

There were 6 listings and 1 sale in December.  The 12mo/6mo/3mo Absorption Rates were 8.0/9.0/6.0 months.  This segment shouldn’t have been affected by the tax credit as lower priced homes. I was a little surprised at the way the sales picked up in the last quarter.  But when it all boils down, it was because there was one sale in each month of the last quarter.

$600k – $800k, $800k – $1m and Over $1m…

There were a total of 3 listings and no sales in the last 12 months.  The Absorption Rates can’t be calculated.  An extra or missed sales make a giant swing in the data.  Also, these homes are not likely to be affected by the old tax credit or the newer expanded tax credit.

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• Suwanee Market Report, December 2009 (gwinnettgarageguy.com)
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• Lawrenceville Market Report for December 2009 (lanebailey.com)