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Lawrenceville, GA Market Report, September 2011

Friday, 21 October 2011 08:00
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Market stats for Lawrenceville, GA, September, 2011, indicate that there were 1412 properties on the market. Overall, there was about a 5.5 month supply of properties. In 2010, sales for September were at 163, so 243 sales was a pretty good increase, year over year. Coupled with the solid decrease in inventory, things are looking great. Normally they start weakening in September, but we are rolling right along… slightly less than last month… but just slightly.

For Lawrenceville, GA, Homes Under $200k, there are 1194 listings, with about an 5.0 month supply of homes. Sales were way up from September 2010 (228 v 151). This segment is easily the lion’s share of sales for the area.  With the 5.02 month A/R, it is solidly in Seller’s Market territory.  The big drop in Absorption Rate (AR) is due to strong sales, coupled with slightly lower inventories.  I got one strong follow up… if we can keep it up for October, I will be a happy guy.

Between $200k and $400k, there are 188 listings for sale, and about 12.8 months of supply. Oddly, this was one of the weaker segments in the county, again. With an strong at the segment down was, this one was weak, again.  The 11 sales for September, 2011 were down from the 12 from last year. Sales should have been closer to 25 units for September.  We are still solidly in Buyer’s Market territory here.

From $400k to $600k, there are 24 homes on the market. The absorption rate is around 9 months. However, with the level of sales in this segment, a couple of sales added or subtracted can have a HUGE impact.  July saw 5 sales and August saw none, so even though there were 3 sales for September, the Absorption Rate has dropped from 78 months in June.  There were 0 sales in September, 2010.

In the $600k to $800k arena, there are 5 listings, with about 7.5 months of supply.  As with the next lower priced segment, a couple of sales makes a big difference and there were only 2 sales in the last three months.  The only saving grace is low inventory. 

Between $800k and $1M, and Above $1M there is 1 home 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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Wayback Wednesday… To Finish or Not to Finish, That is the Question.

Wednesday, 19 October 2011 08:00
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Map of Georgia highlighting Gwinnett County

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It is STILL one of the questions I get the most from both sellers and people that are enjoying their homes (not selling).

Will finishing my basement increase the value of my home?

While the answer isn’t quite this simple, it is basically, no.  There is obviously a lot more to it, and there can be mitigating circumstances.  One of the biggest is figuring out if you have the capability to do the work yourself, or if you need to hire a contractor.  And when I say “you do the work yourself”, PLEASE remember that “good enough” usually isn’t.  The work needs to be AT LEAST as good as should be expected from a contractor.  And NEVER skip getting any required permits.

There are a lot more details on the original post (link).  And that post was actually a follow-up to an opinion post (link) I wrote in January of 2009.  The older post was based on my impressions from buyers.  The later post was based on data from REDataCenter’s Gwinnett County Market Data and some articles publish by the NAR regarding appraisal guidelines for upgrades to homes.

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Lilburn, GA Market Report, September 2011

Monday, 17 October 2011 08:00
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Market stats for Lilburn, GA, September, 2011, indicates that there were 427 properties on the market (as of September 30th). Overall, there was about an 8.7 month supply of properties and 44 properties that closed (sold) in September.  It was an increase from last year’s sales (35) and a decrease from August, 2011 (48 sales).  The Absorption Rate notched up slightly, again.  Unfortunately, Lilburn is among the weakest of Gwinnett County, GA, cities I track.  But, at 8.66 months of inventory, it isn’t nearly as bad as it had been just a few months ago (14.35 months of inventory in Feb, 2011, for example).

In the sub-$200k arena, there were 309 listings, with about an 7.7 month supply with 35 sales.  This represents most of the sales in the market area.  Sales decreased slightly from last month (37), and were up  slightly from last year (32).  We are sitting almost exactly where we were last year at this time.  That isn’t a terribly bad thing, although this segment needs to play catch up a little with some other areas of Gwinnett County.

Between $200k and $400k, there are 108 listings for sale, and about 12.5 months of supply.  This segment had been quite weak for months, and has stalled a little.  There were 9 sales compared to just 2 last year.  While it isn’t strong compared to some other areas, it is WAY better than last year at this time.  This segment really needs to get back into single digits… but, Lilburn has never been seen as a luxury market.

From $400k to $600k, there are just 4 homes on the market. The absorption rate is 6.0 months. There were no sales in this segment from December through February, but there were 2 in March, which really turned the segment around, followed by 1 sale for April.  May posted 2 sales, 1 sale in June, 2 in July and none in August or September.

From $600k to $800k, $800k to $1M and Above $1M, there are 6 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 that 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

I have a page dedicated to Lilburn Market Data.

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The Case For Home Ownership

Friday, 14 October 2011 08:00
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I believe in an ownership society.  And while I will easily concede that owning a home isn’t for everyone, I would argue that home ownership SHOULD be encouraged… and is a cornerstone of America’s society.

There are a few things in particular that make home ownership valuable…

  • Personal Stability
  • Community Stability
  • Long-Term Financial Planning

There are a variety of ways that home ownership fosters Personal Responsibility.  To begin with, it is easier to put down roots in a community when you know that the lease isn’t coming up in a year or two, leading to a possible move.  Part of putting down those roots may include making friends with the neighbors, volunteering at school, getting involved with a local church or other community organization.

That leads directly into how home ownership increases Community Stability.  The very essence of community stability is personal involvement.  The community will naturally be more stable if the people that live there volunteer for local organizations and get to know each other.  Neighbors looking out for each other and helping each other are a community. And people that have decided to stay in a community for the long term worry about things like school quality, taxes and parks… quality of life issues.

A side benefit is Long-Term Financial Planning.  I won’t get into things like comparative tax benefits… those could change… but one thing that is less likely to change is the payment.  With a fixed rate loan, the payments are almost set for the duration.  There will be minor changes due to fluctuations in tax rates or insurance, but the larger portion of the payment, the principle and interest, won’t change over the duration.

 

The downside of owning a home is liquidity…  If job or life changes require a move, it may be difficult to quickly react during some phases of the market.  And there have been a LOT of people that experienced that during the recent (and possibly continuing) housing bust.

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Wayback Wednesday… How ’bout Those Housing Starts

Wednesday, 12 October 2011 08:00
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Three years ago I published a little article about how housing starts were at their lowest level since 1991…  There were 820,000 starts in September of 2008.  And to me, that was a good thing.  If there is too much inventory, making more inventory isn’t the best idea.

Well… that was three years ago.  In August of 2011 (the last month with available numbers that I could find) there were 571,000 starts.  And furthermore, aside from a couple of bumps, starts have been bouncing along under 600,000 starts since December of 2008.  And I STILL say that it is a good thing.

Inventory is WAY more balanced than it was, even compared to just a year ago.  However, values are still well below where they should be. And there are still the persistent rumors that “the banks” are going to release millions of foreclosed homes that are “in the pipeline”.  Personally, I have been discounting those rumors for a few years… because the same rumors have been around for several years.  For a couple of years now, there have been rumors alluding to “shadow inventory” that was 3-6 months from the market.

So, if inventory is balancing, and starts have been down for years, how could I think that they need to stay low longer?  Well, it comes down to a few factors…

  • Pricing…  It still doesn’t pay for builders to put up houses in many markets.  Basically, pricing almost has to be below the cost of materials plus land in order to get the house sold.
  • Vacant Inventory…  Even in the depths of the crash, I didn’t see as many vacant homes as I do now.  I don’t have stats to back it up, but it seems like vacant inventory is surging.  (BTW, I think that is actually a sign of a recovery forming…)
  • Buyer Fear…  Despite incredibly low interest rates on mortgages and very low prices on homes (even Clark Howard is saying it might be time to move back into real estate), most buyers are still nervous.

Oddly, if you look over my market reports, I specifically refer to a couple of segments as being WELL into Seller’s Market territory.  And it is hard to square these two points…. that there is an active Seller’s Markets (in some segments) AND that starts need to stay low because the market is still weak.  But it comes down to averages…  One city might be rocking the sales, while just up the road everything is stagnant.

Location…

 

Housing Start Source.

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