Steve Palm from Smart Numbers brings us the numbers….a breakdown of the home sales in Metro Atlanta including Marietta, Alpharetta Roswell etc.....
...There were 49,118 closings for all single family in 2010. This was 7.5% below 2009 and the last time we had fewer annual closings was 2000. …
But real good news..
The average price for all single family in 2010 was $191,398. This was up 0.4% over 2009, but still 25% below the 2007 all time annual high of $254,157. The average sale price for single family detached was $200,252 in 2010. This was an increase of 1.4% over 2009 and the first year-to-year annual increase in average sale price since 2006-2007.
Lower inventories have produced fewer expired and withdrawn listings. There were 53,751 expired listings for all single family in 2010. This was 8,600 fewer than 2009 and 32,000 fewer than the 2008 all time record. There were 19,612 withdrawn listings for all single family in 2010. This was 3,000 fewer than 2009 and 14,000 fewer than the 2007 all time record. Hopefully, a large percentage of the homes going under contract at the end of 2010 will close and we can start realizing year-to-year monthly gains for closings in 2011.
…..There is still large number of foreclosures occurring in our housing market. This is keeping home prices low, but combined with very low interest rates this could be a great spring buying season for your clients. However, if our economy starts improving and there is more demand for housing I expect interest rates to go up and quickly. Taking this into account, this may be a good time to take advantage of a good spring buying season…
Right now the inventory is lower than what I have been used to. Not sure if the the banks are getting better about holding back inventory to stabilize the market, or the whole foreclosure thing is beginning to ebb.....Steve and I may be getting optimistic about the spring.
Don't look for interest rates to be at the 4% mark, but nothing wrong 4.8% when you can still get a great deal on a home.