The North Fulton Blog

It's been a while since I last posted info here.  I have 7 new listings, one of which is under contract now and 1 that will come on the market shortly.  Some of these are foreclosure sales, but 3 of them are not.  That tells me that homeowners are beginning to feel like the market is turning around.  That's been my feeling, too.  Even though we'll continue to see foreclosures for the new year or two, I don't think we're going to see the continual downward spiral on home values.  As a matter of fact, we've even seen some appreciation in home values.  As we enter the fall, I'm optimistic about the future of the real estate market.  Provided we don't enter a period of high inflation and continued recession, I think 2010 will be a nice year for real estate.  I'm going to share with you several tidbits of info I've come across that I thought were worthy of mention:

• Mortgage rates fell to their lowest level in three months.  The 30 year fixed rate mortgage averaged 5.12% with an average 0.7 point for the week ending Aug 20.
• Nationwide housing affordability during the second quarter of 2009 continued to hover near its highest level in 18 years. 
• National housing prices fell 7.8% in June 2009 compared to June 2008. That's the smallest year-over-year decline in 2009.  The seasonal improvement in home prices is a positive sign, but it's important to note that a decline in distressed sales was responsible for the lower decline value.  If the decline in distressed sales is sustainable and not simply a result of recent foreclosure moratoriums, this could be a first step towards recovery, which will then be followed by outright price increases that will result in continued upward price trends.
• Despite all of the bad news in the media about homeownership and mortgages, most Americans (92%) still believe buying a home is a great investment.
• American homeowners are much more realistic about their own home's values than they were a year ago, but are more optimistic about the future than at any other time in the past year.  More than 60% believe that their own home lost value in the past 12 months.  But homeowners are much more optimistic about the future values of their homes with 81% believing their homes' values will not decline in the next six months.  This survey also indicated that many homeowners could be waiting on the sidelines to sell.  (If this is truly the case, the future could be a lot better than we think)

It appears to me that we're seeing the first signs of an improving real estate market.  All of these signs, from different sectors and surveys, are saying the same thing:  it seems like the market is improving!  I believe there is ample reason for "cautious optimism".  Gosh, I sure hope so!