Did You Know: Size of Home Purchased

By Jessica Lautz, Research Economist

• The American Institute of Architects recently released a study, AIA Home Design Trends Survey, showing there is a growing demand away from McMansions and towards homes that are smaller.
• From the survey only 4 percent of architects reported their clients wanted more square footage this year compared to 16 percent last year.
• The smaller home size could be a reflection of a number of factors including the affect of the recession on home owners and home buyers mind set. Smaller is better and less is more. It could also be a reflection of home owners moving towards a more energy efficient home to lower energy consumption costs.
• The 2008 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers showed the average home buyer purchased a home that was 1,825 square feet.
• Those who purchased new homes typically purchased home that were larger than those who purchased home that were previously owned.

Source: 2008 NAR Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers

Copyright National Association of REALTORS®, Reprinted with permission.

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!

Quarterly Housing Market Performance for Athens-Clarke

FHFA (Federal Housing Finance Agency) uses the revised Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) and Divisions as defined by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in 2008. These MSAs and Divisions are based on 2000 Census data. According to OMB, an MSA comprises the central county or counties containing the core, plus adjacent outlying counties having a high degree of social and economic integration with the central county as measured through commuting.

For information about the current MSAs, please visit:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/bulletins/fy2009/09-01.pdf

MSA HPI Comparisons

Four-Quarter Percent Change in FHFA MSA-Level House Price Indexes (All-Transactions Index, 2009Q2)

Year	Quarter	Athens-Clarke County, GA	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, GA
2009	2	-1.53	-3.49
2009	1	-0.90	-1.73
2008	4	1.43	-2.89
2008	3	-0.40	-2.05
2008	2	3.81	-0.58
2008	1	2.94	1.07
2007	4	2.28	1.42
2007	3	4.10	2.17
2007	2	4.50	3.70
2007	1	5.09	3.49
2006	4	5.76	3.47
2006	3	4.76	2.65

What we see is a relative strength in Athens-Clarke as compared to Atlanta since third quarter of 2003. Not surprising, but Athens has maintained a price level in the past four quarters of about 98.5 percent of where home price values were a year ago this time. In comparison, the Atlanta market is roughly 89.68 percent of where it was at the beginning of Q2 2008.

MSAs are defined by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). If specified criteria are met and an MSA contains a single core population greater than 2.5 million, the MSA is divided into Metropolitan Divisions. The following MSAs have been divided into Metropolitan Divisions: Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH; Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, IL-IN-WI; Dallas-Fort Worth- Arlington, TX; Detroit-Warren-Livonia, MI; Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA; Miami- Fort Lauderdale-Miami Beach, FL; New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA; Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD; San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA; Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA; and Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV. For these MSAs, FHFA reports data for each Division, rather than the MSA as a whole. FHFA requires that an MSA (or Metropolitan Division) must have at least 1,000 total transactions before it may be published. Additionally, an MSA or Division must have had at least 10 transactions in any given quarter for that quarterly value to be published. Blanks are displayed where this criterion is not met.

Athens Home Values and Prices; According to Zillow, Trends are Higher

Posted on May 22, 2009 by hankbailey | Edit

One of the biggest soapbox issues I have is that “real estate is local” not a national market. Information from Zillow.com shows the one year change on Athens, GA home prices is up a whopping 10.5%. Click the link for Athens Home Values on the Zillow badge below to view the Zillow Home Value Index for 1,5, and 10 years. On this line graph I think you will see that as a whole Athens has not only been resilient over the past year, but due to the University of Georgia, Athens real estate has been consistently positive for the long term.

		Athens	National
Zillow Home Value Index:		$151,974	$185,992
1-Yr. Change:		$14,379	-$28,614
Zestimate Per Sq. Ft.:		$144	$226
Flips (Sold Twice Within the Last Yr.):		0.0%	1.3%
Turnover (Sold Within Last Yr.):		3.0%	1.8%
Property Tax:		$1,837	$2,973
Median Condo Value:		$133,000	$193,500
Median Single Family Home Value:		$166,000	$208,500

Athens
Home Values

• Athens homes for sale
• 

Oconee County, GA Real Estate Trends and Market Stats

In this post I will be dealing with West Oconee, GA specifically. This area of the county includes Ashland, Bear Creek, Bogart, Cobblestone Park, Deerwood Estates, Lane Creek Plantation, Mallard Lakes, Oconee Crossing, Planter’s Ridge, Power Ridge, Rocky Branch Farms, The Georgia Club, and every other neighborhood that I didn’t mention in Bogart and Bishop, GA!

As part of my job I try and keep up with market trends for the area. One way that I feel I can accurately achieve this is through not only looking at a 12-month glimpse of residential home sales, but also looking at a month to month comparison of these sales taking into account a “rolling” 12-month perspective. What we see in our current West Oconee market is the following;

		West Oconee
Yr Ending	DOM	Average		Median		# sold
1-Jun-08	216	275,841		246,000		146
1-Jul-08	215	273,702		239,400		150
1-Aug-08	219	272,041		236,750		153
1-Sep-08	228	269,728		236,750		147
1-Oct-08	228	274,053		246,000		139
1-Nov-08	231	269,791		237,450		128
1-Dec-08	228	273,065		242,450		128
1-Jan-09	240	271,790		237,450		127
1-Feb-09	238	269,326		237,425		134
1-Mar-09	230	263,368		234,750		133
1-Apr-09	235	265,010		234,088		134
1-May-09	245	260,463		231,675		119
1-Jun-09	262	270,819		238,175		114

What this chart shows is that in each of the last 12 “twelve-month” periods (1-Jun-07 thru 1-Jun-08 and so on) we have had an increase in DOM (Days on Market) from 216 days to 262 days for the year ending June 1, 2009 and decreases in the “number” of homes sold by 22 percent.

Contrary however to the media’s press on the fabled “national real estate market,” in West Oconee, GA the average and median prices on homes sold has only dropped slightly less than 2 percent from year end 1-Jun-08 to 1-Jun-09. Again, this is not “just” a glimpse into the past year, but also a view into each successive 12-month period going back over a year. Home prices actually seem to be going “up” since the year ending March 1, 2009.

What we see however in West Oconee is “similar” to Watkinsville and Oconee overall, but better. Watkinsville has seen an increase in Days on Market from 184 days to 191. Numbers of residential home sales has decreased however by 42 percent. Prices also seem to be slightly up since the year end June 2008, but down since the year ending February 2009. Oconee County on the whole has seen a 10 percent increase in Days on Market and a 30 percent decrease in the numbers of homes sold. This mirrors Athens-Clarke pretty well.

Overall this defies the economics we learned in school. High inventory, high Days on Market, and reduced numbers of units sold should bring prices down. I guess this is something in which we can be thankful.

Finally, in the Greater Athens area foreclosures and pre-foreclosures, according to Trulia.com, make up “only” 8-10% of listings for sale. Compare this to 42% of Atlanta listings are distressed sales. This is in my belief why we don’t see such a drastic drop in prices in the Greater Athens area as opposed to Atlanta and other larger metro areas.

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!

Winder, GA Real Estate Market Trends

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.

Winder Recently Sold Homes

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!

Jackson County, GA Real Estate Market and Trends

Posted on June 10, 2009 by hankbailey

		Jackson County, GA
Yr Ending	DOM	Average		Median		# sold
1-Jun-08	161	$191,061.00		$167,000.00		213
1-Jul-08	158	$181,038.00		$162,823.00		198
1-Aug-08	159	$178,993.00		$160,000.00		194
1-Sep-08	156	$169,507.00		$158,000.00		187
1-Oct-08	157	$170,857.00		$157,000.00		183
1-Nov-08	158	$173,608.00		$158,525.00		178
1-Dec-08	156	$172,137.00		$157,500.00		173
1-Jan-09	149	$168,344.00		$155,900.00		177
1-Feb-09	154	$168,473.00		$154,950.00		182
1-Mar-09	157	$166,297.00		$153,400.00		188
1-Apr-09	155	$165,522.00		$155,900.00		187
1-May-09	150	$159,864.00		$152,000.00		189
1-Jun-09	146	$149,725.00		$147,500.00		173

Today I want to break down real estate market trends for Jackson County, GA. What we find in the Athens Area MLS in Jackson County as compared to the predominate view of the rest of our service area is that in Jackson County, which includes Jefferson, GA, we see a decrease in DOM (Days on Market) coupled quite naturally with a decrease in prices both average and median for the area.

As opposed to Athens or Oconee where prices have inched up slightly but DOM have increased by between 10-20 percent in the past year, Jackson County has had the least reduction in the number of homes sold (18 percent) in any segment of our service area which includes not only Athens and Oconee, but also Madison, Oglethorpe, Jackson, and Barrow.

Average sales prices have adjusted in Jackson County comparable to national averages as well. From year-end 1-Jun-08 through year-end 1-Jun-09 prices have corrected 22 percent on the average sales price, but the median sales price is only off 12 percent by comparison.

Can we call a “bottom” to the Jackson County, GA real estate market? I think we can say that due to a price correction, decreased days on market by almost 10 percent and increases in numbers of residential homes sold in four out of the last six periods through year-end 1-Jun-09 that this market is appearing to be quite healthy at this time. In comparison, Oconee has had only two periods in the last six with an increase in the numbers of home sold. Madison County and Oglethorpe three in six, but the overall plus to Jackson County is that Days on Market are down and prices are down. In Athens for example prices are actually up about 1 percent in the past year even though DOM has increased.

This trend will continue to stagnate the Athens market or any market for that matter in terms of “numbers’ of homes sold. Only through the increase in the numbers of homes sold will inventory levels be pushed back down to a “balanced market” between buyers and sellers and prices will start heading back north again.

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!