| Statistics (44 listings) | |||||
| Low | High | Average | Median | Total | |
| List Price | $27,900 | $670,000 | $198,602 | $145,200 | $8,738,484 |
| Selling Price | $23,000 | $610,000 | $187,530 | $141,250 | $8,251,337 |
| List/Sold(%) | 78.35% | 101.05% | 95.25% | 96.36% | -- |
| Price/SqFt ($) | $0.00 | $158.52 | $56.21 | $67.00 | -- |
| Days on Market | 19 | 576 | 149 | 96 | -- |
Small town areas can be both relaxing and comfortable places to live. They also can be great spots to operate a business. Using ZoomProspector.com, a business relocation specialist, in my research I found 7 Counties in the U.S. with fewer than 50,000 people, which have a favorable business environment, and a highly-educated labor force. ZoomProspector.com also takes into account the aesthetic appeal of the area, salary levels, and local dining and attractions.
In this study, in addition to population, I narrowed down cities in the U.S. based upon job growth rates (2000-2008), unemployment rates, and median age. In regards to labor force, I asked ZoomProspector.com to allow for counties with a labor force of at least 33% having a bachelor’s degree, 80% a high school diploma or higher, and 50% of the labor pool being considered “white collar.” Finally this list was narrowed down again for towns having Universities in the town or within 50 miles, commute time of less than 20 minutes, an airport in the city or within 50 miles, and finally travel time to the nearest interstate within 15 miles.
The following, according ZoomProspector.com, are the 7 U.S. counties that offer great places to work, operate a small business, and offer plenty of career opportunity beyond just being a great place to live;
1. Oconee, GA
2. Blaine, ID
3. Teller, CO
4. Summit, UT
5. Kendall, TX
6. Goochland, VA
7. Poquoson, VA
Oconee County Georgia had the youngest median age at 35.8 years. It had the most Universities in town, or within 50 miles (32), and Airports (17) in town or within 50 miles as compared to the other counties in search results. Oconee County also had the second highest job growth rate at 37.7%, and the third highest percentage of inhabitants who have at least a Bachelor’s degree showing a highly educated work force.
Search with confidence the Athens MLS through mlsfinder, the best IDX listing search solution in the real estate industry! Through this link you can set up your own “Search Saver” and “Favorites” user site to log into any time you feel like doing another search for that perfect “next” home purchase! You can also search by Map Tracks! This allows you to see where the listings are located on a map of the area, and not just have a line by line list of property listings to hunt and peck through!
If you have any questions or comments please let me know. My goal is to provide information, but also to assist in your real estate needs in the Greater Athens area! Feel free to also check out my Featured Property listings where I am marketing currently more than 30 properties for sale!
The GAR reports, “HB 261 was signed into law on May 11, 2009 by Governor Sonny Perdue! GAR applauds House Sponsor Ron Stephens (Savannah), House Ways and Means Chairman Larry O’Neal (Warner Robins) and Senate Chairman Chip Pearson (Dawsonville) for their tireless efforts in the passage of this important legislation. Unlike the federal tax credit, theGeorgia credit is not limited to first-time homebuyers, and there are no applicable income limits. The amount of the credit is 1.2% of the purchase price up to $1,800 spread over three years. The credit is only available to buyers of eligible single family residences who close between June 1 and November 30 of 2009.”
FAQ regard the Georgia Homebuyer Tax Credit.
If you are a buyer in our market, these are probably the best buying conditions in 30 years! If you would like to search the Athens MLS please take a look at listings in our “Classic City” today! On this web MLS search solution you can search every listing on the Georgia MLS for the Greater Athens area or in your Georgia town!
According to Zillow.com, the median priced home in Athens, GA
is at $154,661 as of May 29, 2009. The one year change in median home value in the Athens area is up 12.5%. If you are a buyer in our market, these are probably the best buying conditions in 30 years! If you would like to search the Athens MLS please take a look at listings in our “Classic City” today! On this web MLS search solution you can search every listing on the Georgia MLS for the Greater Athens area or in your Georgia town!Athens National
| Zillow Home Value Index: | $154,661 | $183,861 | |
| 1-Yr. Change: | $17,209 | -$30,290 | |
| Zestimate Per Sq. Ft.: | $144 | $226 | |
| Flips (Sold Twice Within the Last Yr.): | 0.7% | 1.3% | |
| Turnover (Sold Within Last Yr.): | 2.6% | 1.8% | |
| Property Tax: | $1,837 | $2,973 | |
| Median Condo Value: | $117,500 | $193,500 | |
| Median Single Family Home Value: | $166,500 | $208,500 |
According to Trulia.com, “The median sales price for homes in Winder GA for Mar 09 to May 09 was $121,000. This represents an increase of 0.7%, or $846, compared to the prior quarter and a decrease of 1.1% compared to the prior year. Sales prices have depreciated 5.4% over the last 5 years in Winder.
The average listing price for Winder homes for sale on Trulia was $161,729 for the week ending Jun 10, which represents an increase of 0.9%, or $1,447, compared to the prior week and an increase of 2.1%, or $3,289, compared to the week ending May 20. Average price per square foot for Winder GA was $70, a decrease of 12.5% compared to the same period last year.”
The positive that one can see from this is that sales were off “only” a fraction of what the media projections were for the past year across the nation. Also, the numbers of sales were up 20.8%. A correction in sales price (5.4% in last 5 years) and a sudden increase in numbers of sales bode well for the town and could be a call to a bottom in Winder.
Compare this to Athens, GA for example where we have maintained average and median sales prices but days on market have increased 10% and numbers of sales have decreased by another third looking at year over year homes sold in Athens-Clarke.
If you are a buyer in our market, these are probably the best buying conditions in 30 years! If you would like to search the Winder MLS with MapTracks please take a look at listings in Winder, GA today! On this web MLS search solution you can search every listing on the Georgia MLS for the Greater Athens area or in your Georgia town!
A general dissatisfaction regarding appraisals is seen across the landscape in America through the myriads of seething Real Estate agents, closing attorneys, and mortgage consultants. Minimal appraisals, often by a non-local appraiser, are killing contracts at the last moment.
Due to a rash of recent appraisals coming in lower than the contract price, real estate transactions are requiring either a renegotiation, thereby guaranteeing a delay to get to closing, or a backing-out on the deal. If the contract price does not match the appraisal, then the buyer has to come up with more cash to close the transaction to make up the amount that the lender will not fund.
According to the NAR, the problem has began to spike following the implementation of a new appraisal rule arising from the New York State Attorney General’s lawsuit against Federal Housing Finance Agency, the regulator of Fannie and Freddie. If lenders want to sell the newly originated loans to Fannie or Freddie, then the loan must abide by the new rule that favors using Appraisal Management Companies (AMC), many owned directly by large banks
Many of the properties that we see, once under contract and in the closing process, are being appraised against non-comparable property sales. Homes that are not “distressed sales” are being compared to “distressed homes,” and improvements and upgrades to the subject home are not being considered. This is due to a lack of good comparables that exists today due to a reduction in the number of homes sold in the past year.
The NAR says the appraisal problem is serious. “Lenders are using appraisers who may not be familiar with a neighborhood, or who compare traditional homes with distressed and discounted sales,” he says. “In the past month, stories of appraisal problems have been snow balling from across the country with many contracts falling through at the last moment. There is danger of a delayed housing market recovery and a further rise in foreclosures if the appraisal problems are not quickly corrected.”
NAR President Charles McMillan says appraisals are one of the key issues. “To maximize the potential for a housing recovery and subsequent economic recovery, we need realistic appraisals that are based on proper comparisons and done by a local specialist,” he said.
If you are a buyer in our market, these are probably the best buying conditions in 30 years! If you would like to search the Athens MLS with MapTracks please take a look at listings in our “Classic City” today! On this web MLS search solution you can search every listing on the Georgia MLS for the Greater Athens area or in your Georgia town!
At my link to the NewsVine I just posted a seed to a link from U.S. News and World Report entitled, Will the $8,000 First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit Expand to $15,000?. Johnny Isakson is at it again. Last February when the stimulus bill got stalled in Congress, Isakson took the opportunity to get his idea for a $15,000 break for every new home buyer passed through the Senate. The House wouldn’t have it and the resulting $8,000 credit that did get passed was to many first time home buyers that I have spoken with, not enough motivation to take the plunge into home ownership. So now that you thought you knew what was going on, the rules may be changing, again.
In addition to increasing the credit from $8,000 to $15,000, additional details are as follows;
If you are a buyer in our market, these are probably the best buying conditions in 30 years! If you would like to search the Athens MLS with MapTracks please take a look at listings in our “Classic City” today! On this web MLS search solution you can search every listing on the Georgia MLS for the Greater Athens area or in your Georgia town!
Report Generated For: 4/3/2009 – 7/3/2009
Athens MLS Area: 07:South Oconee Co., 08:Watkinsville/Oconee Co., 09:West Oconee Co.
Home Sales Price # Mkt Share Avg DOM
200,000 – 249,999 11 13% 217
250,000 – 299,999 6 7% 189
300,000 – 399,999 12 14% 236
400,000 – 499,999 12 14% 334
500,000 – 749,999 4 5% 423
The biggest battle we face, and you could call it that some days, is that of trying to keep the frustration level down for home sellers. The information, provided via the Athens MLS reveals that 47 percent of homes sold in Oconee County, where the average sales price was $287,000 during this time frame, was under $200,000!
How does this compare to Athens-Clarke?
Athens MLS Area: 01:West Athens/Clarke Co., 02:North Athens/Clarke Co., 03:East Athens/Clarke Co., 04:East Athens/Clarke Co., 05:West Athens/Clarke Co., 06:Five Points/University
Home Sales Price # Mkt Share Avg DOM
200,000 – 249,999 19 8% 301
250,000 – 299,999 12 5% 206
300,000 – 399,999 16 7% 310
400,000 – 499,999 3 2% 311
500,000 – 749,999 4 1% 91
In Athens-Clarke you see a noticeable drop in sales as we go above $200,000 over the past 90 days. What is telling is that 77 percent of all sales in the county are under $200,000! This tells me two things. One is that first time homebuyers are dominating the market. Secondly it confirms what the industry is seeing in that there are fewer of the desperately needed “step up” buyers this year than in past years. For 7 sellers out of 10, they had their homes on the market a skyrocketing 300+ days!
| Time on Market Analysis Athens-Clarke and Oconee | |||
| For Units Sold | |||
| Days | Residential | Other | Total |
| 0 – 30 | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| 31 – 60 | 40 | 0 | 40 |
| 61 – 90 | 51 | 1 | 52 |
| 91- 120 | 42 | 0 | 42 |
| 121+ | 177 | 2 | 179 |
If you are a buyer in our market, these are probably the best buying conditions in 30 years! If you would like to search the Athens MLS with MapTracks please take a look at listings in our “Classic City” today! On this web MLS search solution you can search every listing on the Georgia MLS for the Greater Athens area or in your Georgia town!
| Rank | Website | Visits | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 7.30% |  | |
| 2. | 5.89% | | |
| 3. | 5.22% | | |
| 4. | 4.27% | | |
| 5. | 4.16% | | |
| 6. | 3.35% | | |
| 7. | 3.19% | | |
| 8. | 2.00% | | |
| 9. | 1.83% | | |
| 10. | 1.68% | | |
| 11. | 1.56% | | |
| 12. | 1.52% | | |
| 13. | 1.51% | | |
| 14. | 1.00% | | |
| 15. | 1.00% | | |
| 16. | 0.96% | | |
| 17. | 0.95% | | |
| 18. | 0.94% | | |
| 19. | 0.92% | | |
| 20. | 0.91% | | |
If you are a buyer in our market, these are probably the best buying conditions in 30 years! If you would like to search the Athens MLS with MapTracks please take a look at listings in our “Classic City” today! On this web MLS search solution you can search every listing on the Georgia MLS for the Greater Athens area or in your Georgia town!
According to powerhouse Trulia.com, there are 2,086 homes in Athens for sale on Trulia. This includes 187 homes in the pre-foreclosure, auction, or bank-owned stages of the foreclosure process. Good news in the recent week is that distressed properties for sale as a percentage of total inventory fell to 8.9 percent. On inventory listed through Trulia, they report an average list price in Athens of $223,644 for the week ending Jul 01, unchanged from the previous week.
The Athens MLS shows for the past month that average and median sales prices are $155,576 and $140,500 respectively while the average DOM (days on market) was at 188 days which is up more than 10 percent as compared to June of 2008. Average and median sales prices in June of 2008 were $182,017 and $156,000 respectively. This does not mean that prices have fallen per se. It does mean that what’s selling are homes that are priced most attractively. Add to this the high volume of first time home buyers and the absence of “step up” buyers from this year’s market, and it is no wonder that homes in the $100k’s are moving. In June of 2008 roughly 33 percent of all homes sold in Athens were over $200,000. In June of this year, only 14 percent.
If you are a buyer in our market, these are probably the best buying conditions in 30 years! If you would like to search the Athens MLS with MapTracks please take a look at listings in our “Classic City” today! On this web MLS search solution you can search every listing on the Georgia MLS for the Greater Athens area or in your Georgia town!
Photo courtesy Athens Convention and Visitors Bureau.
The Federal Housing Administration has added another component to the temporary $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit. Qualified FHA buyers now have the option of monetizing the funds. Through short-term bridge loans, buyers can access the money immediately instead of amending their 2008 tax return or waiting to file in 2009.
These buyers then have the option of adding it to their FHA-required 3.5 percent down payment, covering closing costs or buying down their interest rate. Realtors® believe this will meaningfully impact home sales and values.
A Bird in the Hand…
Now that buyers can use the $8,000 tax credit immediately, the question many have had is whether we have had a pickup in buyer activity. Are consumers aware of the tax credit? Do they understand the term ‘first-time buyer’ applies to anyone who hasn’t owned a home in three years?
The answer to-date is that they are aware, but the $8,000 is not motivating. It is not enough, and the deadline to qualify is still too far off to have this be motivation to buy when there is still concern about housing prices and whether or not they will continue to correct or fall. Couple this with current discussions in the Congress about the expansion of this credit also have just begun to stagnate activity more as people wait and wonder what additional benefits they might receive by possible future changes.
In addition to increasing the credit from $8,000 to $15,000, additional details are as follows;
These changes, I am told by buyers and real estate professionals alike, can add true stimulus or motivation when it comes to not only first time home buyers, but also”step up” buyers that were mysteriously missing in May. It is too bad the Republican Senator from Georgia, Johnny Isakson, came up with this idea in February, the concept passed the Senate, and had the House kill it where it stood. Now the controlling party can take credit I suppose. We could have had this stimulus 6-8 months ago, but it like many other good ideas got squashed because of political reasons.
If you are a buyer in our market, these are probably the best buying conditions in 30 years! If you would like to search the Athens MLS with MapTracks please take a look at listings in our “Classic City” today! On this web MLS search solution you can search every listing on the Georgia MLS for the Greater Athens area or in your Georgia town!
| Top Search Terms for 7 days ending | |
| 2009-07-02 to Today | |
| Search | % |
| best cities to raise a family | 22% |
| first time home buyer tax credit co-borr | 8% |
| georgia first time home buyer credit | 6% |
| properties facebook | 6% |
| first time home borrower plan expansion | 5% |
| first time home buyer credit for co-buye | 5% |
| foreclosed homes in athens, ga | 5% |
| ga first time home buyer tax credit | 5% |
| lakes near athens ga | 5% |
| lane creek ga | 5% |
| first time home buyer tax credit georgia | 3% |
| top cities to raise a family | 3% |
| mortgage rate trends july 7, 2009 | 3% |
| lane creek golf club homes for sale | 3% |
| beechwood hills houses for sale in athen | 3% |
If you are a buyer in our market, these are probably the best buying conditions in 30 years! If you would like to search the Athens MLS with MapTracks please take a look at listings in our “Classic City” today! On this web MLS search solution you can search every listing on the Georgia MLS for the Greater Athens area or in your Georgia town!
“Okay, Okay, Athens, GA Housing is Low Risk, according to the Realtor.” I have had this said of my optimism quite frequently in the past year. I sell Real Estate, even capitalize the words like they are some deity, so I am biased. Well here comes PMI to the rescue. You know PMI. You might even pay them each month for the security and benefit of your mortgage company.
PMI (private mortgage insurance) combines their risk management expertise and financial strength to serve as support of the mortgage finance system. This support protects lenders in the event of borrower default. Theoretically speaking, through protecting mortgage lenders from credit losses, PMI helps to ensure mortgages are available to all qualified homebuyers.
For those of you getting ready to buy your first home, in many cases when you cannot put down 20 percent on a home, lenders may permit a smaller down payment and purchase mortgage insurance, which you as the borrower in turn pay as part of your monthly payment. Special rules and conditions may apply for first time home buyers not to have this additional cost during this period of recession in order to stimulate the housing sector. Ask your lender if this applies to you.
What I want to focus on in this column however is how PMI applies research, analytics, risk management, and loss mitigation to assist lenders faced with potential foreclosures.
In Athens, GA on the most recent report, PMI Proprietary Market Research shows on page three that the Athens market is LOW per the index rank. The study shows that based upon where you buy a home, the pricing for that PMI premium you pay each month is dependent on how risky they feel your market is at the present. For example, Athens had an index value as of Q1 ‘09 of 27.8. Other cities around the state of Georgia were Macon, GA at 57.6, Gainesville 63.2, Atlanta 80.7, Savannah 83.3, and Dalton 97.2.
Dalton was the highest Georgia city in terms of the risk of borrower default. Any cities over 70 were HIGH risk. 99.9 was the highest rating a city could obtain.
This report shows not only risk ratings, but appreciation in recent quarters, affordability, and unemployment. For example, Atlanta had an unemployment rate in the 12.3 percent as compared to Athens at 6.9 percent. The affordability index for Savannah is at 114.8 as compared to Athens at 121.37. This means that Athens is comparatively more affordable a market than Savannah as of Q1 ‘09.
This is a great tool and should offer encouragement and direction for homeowners in the Greater Athens area, but also to people looking to relocate to Georgia.
If you are a buyer in our market, these are probably the best buying conditions in 30 years! If you would like to search the Athens MLS with MapTracks please take a look at listings in our “Classic City” today! On this web MLS search solution you can search every listing on the Georgia MLS for the Greater Athens area or in your Georgia town!
Okay Athens, GA, do you have Staging Savvy? Here is a 10 question quiz to give you an idea of whether or not you can make the grade!
Remember that when you are staging to sell;
References;
“Honey, stop the car!” The importance of curb appeal
14 ways to make the most of your curb appeal
Preparing your home for sale: steps to spruce up your property
De-clutter, pre-pack and reflow
Appealing to eyes and ears of buyers
Make homes welcoming: Ten low-cost ideas to increase salability
For the record, I got 10 out of 10!
If you are a buyer in our market, these are probably the best buying conditions in 30 years! If you would like to search the Athens MLS with MapTracks please take a look at listings in our “Classic City” today! On this web MLS search solution you can search every listing on the Georgia MLS for the Greater Athens area or in your Georgia town!
| Non-Foreclosure Sales Statistics (565 listings) – 10-Jul-08 to 10-Jul-09 Athens GA | |||||
| Low | High | Average | Median | Total | |
| List Price | $0 | $949,000 | $198,234 | $162,000 | $112,002,260 |
| Selling Price | $18,000 | $920,000 | $189,124 | $157,500 | $106,854,904 |
| List/Sold(%) | 68.42% | 122.18% | 95.27% | 96.22% | – |
| Foreclosure Sales Statistics (93 Listings) 10-Jul-08 to 10-Jul-09 Athens GA | |||||
| Low | High | Average | Median | Total | |
| List Price | $11,900 | $395,000 | $112,861 | $99,900 | $10,496,050 |
| Selling Price | $9,200 | $330,000 | $104,376 | $97,000 | $9,706,922 |
| List/Sold(%) | 60.26% | 116.67% | 92.84% | 94.09% | – |
It is truly amazing to me how just because a listing is branded with the words FORECLOSURE and BANK OWNED, that the media has painted, successfully too I might add, this pictures that everyone buying a bank owned home is getting a steal.
You hear of these urban legends that someone told you about how “Uncle Billy” bought a house for 50% of its’ value! To begin with, these fishing stories are all wrong. The premise, whether or not the particulars of the transaction are conveyed correctly, that “Uncle Billy” bought a home for less than full value cannot happen. Value or worth is what a party agrees to pay for a home. Not what the tax appraisal or a real estate agent says the house is worth.
If you paid $500,000 for your home, just because it has a tax appraisal of $900,000, doesn’t mean you could turn around and sell it for that much tomorrow. A home, your comic book collection, etc…is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it today. The reason there is perceived value in foreclosures is that idea that it “was worth” “X” amount more than I paid for it. Again, this thought goes back to “list price” or some phantom appraisal that was created for another party’s benefit.
Now with all of this said, please let the madness stop!! Regular homeowners just like you are trying to sell property too. They would love to have someone look at their homes. I have wondered recently if I put a sign rider on top of my real estate company sign that said FORECLOSURE RESALE, BANK OWNED, COME BEAT US UP, BLOOD IN THE WATER if a particular home would get shown more.
I am thinking so……
What the facts are however is that when you look at homes sold in Athens during the past twelve months that were non-foreclosure sales and you look at what Sellers got for their homes versus List Price the average Athens home seller walked away on an average and median basis with 95.27% and 96.22% respectively. How about bank owned foreclosures sales? They brought the bank an average and median price of 92.84% and 94.09% respectively off List Price. Banks aren’t giving away houses on the whole! Not in our market.
Now sure, bank owned foreclosure sales are providing a “little” bonus to buyers from these figures, but not the perceived 20%-50% that most people think they are getting in a foreclosure purchase. Does this 2 percent discount for buying a foreclosure make up for buying a home with no Seller Disclosure, no Warranties, and a home that is sold to you in an As-Is condition? I would contend no. The risk is too great for what small discounts are actually obtained in our market on the average.
The purpose of this post is to point out the frustration when I see a listing that is priced right for an owner, we will call him “Bob,” and in “Bob’s” area last month roughly 85% of homes sold or under contract were bank owned foreclosures. That is stiff competition! The sad thing is that of the homes that sold in his area (price range) which were bank owned sales, one was a multiple offer home that got bid up to 120% of List Price while on the other the buyer paid roughly 95% of List.
These homes in our area are not the bargains they are in FL, CA, NV, and other areas of the nation so the next time you go house hunting, put yourself in that seller’s shoes and consider a home that might be owned by a “Bob” and not a Bank. “Bob” might appreciate it and who knows, you might need a considerate buyer, like yourself, one day when you resale!
If you are a buyer in our market, these are probably the best buying conditions in 30 years! If you would like to search the Athens MLS with MapTracks please take a look at listings in our “Classic City” today! On this web MLS search solution you can search every listing on the Georgia MLS for the Greater Athens area or in your Georgia town!
all photos courtesy of the Athens Convention and Visitor’s Bureau
This Blog, whose posts come from www.AthensGaProperties.com, has been published as far away as the Chicago Sun Times and as local as The Oconee Leader, is full of pertinent information for the Athens Georgia Area housing market to help you understand how to buy, sell, and own your home with confidence. I am an Associate Broker with Prudential Georgia Realty and a passionate real estate blogger. I hope you will check out my blog roll which has links to my website and more! Follow me on Twitter!
Feel free to email me at hankbailey@prudentialgeorgia.com. I look forward to hearing from you! If you are interested in finding out more about Athens Georgia or doing an MLS Search of the Greater Athens area please feel free to search my website at AthensGaHomesForSale.com.
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