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Suwanee, GA, Market Report, February, 2013

Monday, 25 March 2013 11:13

Written by Lane Bailey

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Market stats for Suwanee, GA, February, 2013 indicate that there were 315 properties on the market (down from 332 last month). Overall, there was about a 4.8 month supply of properties (up from 4.7 last month). February had 66 sales. Compared to February, 2012 (64), this year was up, but inventory was down compared to 2012 (433). There were 50 sales last month, so this month was up a good bit. There is generally a dip in January, so the bump in sales isn’t really a shocker.

In the Under $200k arena, there were 64 listings in Suwanee, GA, with about a 2.7 month supply (compared to 4.3 months supply last year). This February’s sales were 24 (30 last year, 15 last month). It used to be a county leader, though, for now it is moving back to one of the best price/locale segments again. The next level up is coming up fast, though. Sales were likely limited by constricted inventory. Last year at this time, there were 133 listings.

Between $200k and $400k, there were 167 listings for sale (201 last year, 148 last month), and 5.5 months of supply. Sales in February, 2013 were 32 (27 in January), compared with 27 for the same period in 2012. Sales have been consistent for the last few months, but have fallen off somewhat for the last five months. I’d like to see it get up to around 40 sales or so for the next couple of months. This shouldn’t be a “peaky” market/price segment. Unlike most of the county, this is the largest price segment in the area, and its direction plays a major part in how the area looks. Make no mistake, this is still pretty much in Seller’s Market territory.

From $400k to $600k, there were 44 homes on the market. The absorption rate was at 6.0 months (4.7 in January). There were 6 sales in February (5 last month)… flat from 5 last year at this time. Looking at the three month average, there were 22 sales this year and 15 for the same period last year. This segment has become dramatically stronger in the last couple of months.

In the $600k to $800k arena, there are 18 listings, with about a 5.4 month supply. Sales at this level are not consistent, but there was 4 sales this month (3 last month). Looking at one month makes the numbers jump around. For the last three months, sales were 10… For the same time last year, the sales were 3. With the huge decrease in listings over the last couple of months, I was looking for this to become one of the strongest $600k-$800k area in the county. It is fairly strong right now… we’ll have to see if it holds.

The range from $800k to $1m, there are 7 homes listed and 21 months of inventory on the market. There were only 4 sales at this price level in 2011. There were 7 in 2012. This is a tough segment to try to sell in right now, but if inventory stays low, it won’t be quite as rough. But there still needs to be some more sales activity. There was 1 sale each in March, July, August, September, October, November and December last year.

In Suwanee, GA, Above $1m, there are 15 properties listed. The current absorption rate indicated about 45 months of inventory, but because of the smaller numbers of sales, this could be significantly impacted by just a couple of sales. In this segment, we should be seeing reduced inventories… There were 24 homes listed in this segment at this time last year. There were 0 sales in February, but 1 in the Dec-Feb time frame, 3 the year before.

Suwanee, GA is a suburb of Atlanta in Gwinnett, Forsyth and (just a little bit) in Fulton Counties. The population is 2000 was 8,725, but that only included the area inside the city limits, and it had seen tremendous growth since that census. Money Magazine rated Suwanee in the “Top 10 Best Places to Live” in 2007, and it is one of the wealthiest parts of Georgia. Recently, the City of Suwanee has revamped their old town, adding a large park with a bandshell, condos, town homes and small businesses. It is also home to North Gwinnett High School, Peachtree Ridge and Collins Hill. I have a page dedicated to Suwanee Market Data.

Atlanta Metro Zillow Home Value Index

Atlanta Metro Home Values – Interactive chart

Home Price Appreciation by State

Friday, 22 March 2013 12:20

Written by Lane Bailey

1 Comment

Last week I posted an infographic from Active Rain saying that Real Estate is Back… Here is another one from 29doors that makes it look like in Georgia, it isn’t so much. But, looking at the market reports for Gwinnett, as well as Case-Schiller numbers for the Atlanta statistical area, prices look to be up year over year by more than 9%. That tells me that there are some places in Georgia that are still pretty slammed. What do you think?

Lilburn, GA Market Report, January 2013

Thursday, 21 March 2013 11:31

Written by Lane Bailey

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Market stats for Lilburn, GA, January, 2013, indicate that there were 193 properties on the market, down 24 from last month. Overall, there was about an 4.0 month supply of properties and 45 properties that closed (sold) in January. It was a slight decrease from last year’s sales (46) and a decrease from December (50 sales). The Absorption Rate notched down slightly. Lilburn had been among the weakest of Gwinnett County, GA, cities I track. But, at 3.97 months of inventory, it is strong now. Six months is considered balanced, lower is a seller’s market and higher is a buyer’s market. And it is one of a very few that got better in January.

In the sub-$200k arena, there were 128 listings, with about an 3.4 month supply with 36 sales. This represents most of the sales in the market area. Sales were down a little from last month (38), and down from last year (46). 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. At 3.43 months of inventory, with a few months of stats getting better, we’re there.

Between $200k and $400k, there are 56 listings for sale, and about 5.3 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 9 sales compared to 11 last month and 0 last year. Lilburn has never been seen as a luxury market. The decrease in listings has really helped. 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. July month was quite strong. April was strong… At least we are slightly in Seller’s Market territory.

From $400k to $600k, there are just 6 homes on the market. The absorption rate is 9.0 months. There were 0 sales in January. 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 Feb12). If we can keep up a sale each month on average, this one will be back. Right now, low listings numbers give the appearance of strong activity.

From $600k to $800k, $800k to $1M and Above $1M, there are 3 listings (combined), but too few sales to have any sort of reliable number of months of inventory. March posted the first sale since August, 2010. It was in the $600-$800k range. One of the listings is above $1M and one between $800k and $1M, and there is no market activity in the last 12 months for 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.

Atlanta Metro Zillow Home Value Index

Atlanta Metro Home Values – Interactive chart

I have a page dedicated to Lilburn Market Data.

Norcross, GA, Market Report, January 2013

Wednesday, 20 March 2013 10:37

Written by Lane Bailey

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Market stats for Norcross GA, January, 2013 indicate that there were 138 properties on the market, up 8 from last month. Overall, there is about a 3.3 month supply of properties. The last year has been fairy strong… it hasn’t slowed much, if at all. January saw 36 sales, on par compared to the 36 for December, and down a little compared to the 40 for January last year.

In the sub-$200k arena, there were 76 listings, with about 2.6 month supply. Sales are up from last month and down from a year ago in this segment, which is the main driver of sales in this area (28 v 22 in Dec12 & 33 Jan12). For the last twenty-two 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 well under a 3 month A/R, this is VERY strong for sellers.

Between $200k and $400k, there were 41 listings for sale, and about 3.6 months of supply. This segment had been weakening for the last few months. But, the 8 sales was up from last year’s 6 sales, but was a little below last month’s 11 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’m was waiting for this segment to stop bouncing around so much. It does seem to be closer to finding its feet, though.

From $400k to $600k, there were 19 homes on the market. The Absorption Rate is around 9.5 months. The AR had been fairly steady all summer, then shot WAY up in September/October. January’s 0 sales were flat from the 3 last month and from last year’s 1 sale. This had actually been a pretty good area for homes in this price range to sell… The good news is that it only takes a few sales to put it back in a balanced range long term. In June we were at just 5.1 months of inventory and three months ago it was 42 months…

In the $600k to $800k arena, there was 1 listings on the market. The Absorption Rate is at 6.0 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 Jan13, 0 for Dec12 and 0 for Jan12.

The range from $800k to $1m, there was 0 home listed on the market and 0 sales in December. 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.

I have a page dedicated to Norcross Market Data.

Norcross, GA, Market Report, February 2012 (lanebailey.com)

Atlanta Metro Zillow Home Value Index

Atlanta Metro Home Values – Interactive chart

Duluth, GA, Market Report, January 2013

Tuesday, 19 March 2013 09:07

Written by Lane Bailey

1 Comment

This map shows the incorporated and unincorpor...

Image via Wikipedia

Market stats for Duluth, January, 2013 indicated that there were 272 properties on the market, down 4 from last month. Overall, there was about a 5.0 month supply of properties. Sales in January were 45, up from 30 a year earlier. Sales were down compared to the prior month (58). Duluth had been slightly leading Gwinnett County as a whole, but not so much over the last few months.

In the Under $200k arena, there were 82 listings in Duluth, GA, with about a 3.0 month supply. The Absorption Rate for last January, was 7.1. Sales were well up this year v last year (20 v 13), but down compared to last month (28). The Absorption Rate (A/R) is quite a bit better than most of the county…

Between $200k and $400k, there are 82 listings for sale, and about 5.0 months of supply. Absorption rates have similarly risen, dropped and then risen again. Sales were up compared to January, 2012 (16 v 10) but down compared to last month (17). Duluth is a market that favors luxury, but this segment is not doing as well as I would have expected… but it might be constrained somewhat due to low inventories. It is still a slight Seller’s Market.

From $400k to $600k, there were 31 homes on the market. The Absorption Rate was around 4.9 months. January brought in 4 sales. There were 4 last year and 9 last month. Unlike many of the market areas, Duluth is a luxury centric market, and it is doing better than the rest of Gwinnett County, GA, especially at this price level. Usually we see the A/R soften as we move up in price, but that isn’t happening here. We are slightly to the Seller’s Market side.

In the $600k to $800k arena, there were 27 listings, with about 11.6 months of supply. Sales were 3 for January… 3 for last year. And month to month sales were up (3 v 2). I would like to see three consecutive months with strong sales, and haven’t seen that for a while. Since Duluth does favor luxury sales, it has been looking better than the much of the rest of the County at this price level. But not the last few months…

In Duluth, GA, from $800k to $1m, there were 14 homes listed and approximately 42 months of inventory on the market. The 1 sale for January was better than the 0 last year, and the 0 last month. Sales haven’t been moving much for the last couple of months, but 1 sale for the last 3 months was the same as the same 3 months from last year (1 sale). And a year ago the A/R was 69 months.

Above $1m, there were 36 properties listed. The current absorption rate indicated about 27 months of inventory. A couple of sales at this level could have a large impact on the Absorption Rates. There were 4 sales in the Nov-Jan period this year, and 2 for the same time last year. We should be posting four sales a month here regularly… and we fell short last month but barely had a start with it this month with 1 sale. There were 0 sales last year there were 2 for December.

Duluth, GA is a suburb of Atlanta, in the heart of Gwinnett County. It actually straddles the county line and has unincorporated portions in South Forsyth County. The population of Duluth is estimated as about 26,000 people as of 2008, but this doesn’t include unincorporated areas outside the city limits, but with a Duluth mailing address. It is also home to Sugarloaf Country Club, a PGA stop until recently. Forbes Magazine rated Duluth 26th in their nationwide survey of the best places to move, and it is one of the wealthiest parts of Georgia. It is also home to the Arena at Gwinnett Center (Home of the ECHL Gwinnett Gladiators) and the former Atlanta Thrashers practice facility (the Duluth Ice Forum). There is a LONG list of celebrities and athletes that call Duluth home, largely because of the country clubs and proximity to Atlanta.