Atlanta Real Estate Blog

The Federal Reserve’s decision to forgo a planned tapering off of bond-buying caught most by surprise yesterday. That included the Dow and the S&P. After the announcement made by Treasury Chair Ben Bernanke, both rocketed to record highs.

Most analysts had expected the Fed to implement a slow withdrawal of its bond-buying program … a program that presently sees about $85 BILLION worth of bonds being purchased each month.

If yesterday’s Fed move was meant to counteract a slowdown and re-stimulate the housing market … it worked.  Interest rates reacted quickly and moved downwards.

Pair this Fed announcement along with the report released by the Census Bureau showing new building permits and housing starts a bit lower than had been projected … and you understand why the Fed’s decision is seen as such good news by housing professionals … and those hoping to buy or refinance a home.

The rising interest rates seen over the last month or so (a direct result of the prediction that the Fed would taper its bond-buying soon) has definitely taken a toll. Besides the obvious negatives that directly affect hopeful new home buyers, homebuilders, and real estate professionals … there’s the fact that fewer housing starts stagnates the economy through the lack of job growth and spending power.

Meanwhile, local Atlanta homebuilders are still expressing confidence at levels not seen for several years. But concerns were definitely being raised over what was being seen and heard from the Treasury over the last few weeks.

The fact that the Fed recognized that their stimulus was still needed and changed course on actions to curtail bond buying (at least in the short-term) is a huge positive.

My suggestion to anyone that is sitting on the fence regarding an Atlanta home purchase … pick-up the phone and contact me – 678-585-9691. I can refer you to three of the best lenders in Atlanta – so you can take advantage of some of the best mortgage rates in history.

Home prices in East Cobb and North Fulton have increased month over month for the last four months in a row! Data through April 2013 presented by S&P   Dow Jones Indices for its S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price   Indices showed average home prices increased 11.6 percent and 12.1   percent for the 10- and 20-City Composites in the 12 months   ending in April 2013.  The   cities of Atlanta, Dallas, Detroit and Minneapolis posted their highest  annual gains since the start of their respective indices.   Atlanta, Las Vegas,   Phoenix and San Francisco posted year-over-year gains of over 20   percent in April. Mortgage rates are trending up as   well. The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) rose from 3.93 percent   last week to 4.46 percent this week; the highest it has been since the week   of July 28, 2011. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 3.66   percent. This represents the largest weekly increase for the 30-year FRM   since the week ending April 17, 1987. Despite recent gains in mortgage rates,   homebuyer affordability remains which should help fuel the ongoing   housing recovery.

If you’re planning to buy a home and have not yet taken advantage of the outstanding home prices and low interest rates you should read this. Things could get a little tougher with regard to downpayment requirements in the next few months. Hopefully regulators like the CFPB won’t go overboard because that will do nothing but harm the economy and hurt the housing recovery which is already nicely underway.

>Housing Industry Awaits Mortgage Rule On Down Payment Size.

Need a referral to a great lender?  Give me a call.

Robert Whitfield
Broker/Owner
Advantage Realtors
678-585-9691

2012 will probably be considered the year that the housing market finally hit bottom and began an upward trend back to normalcy. Home prices, home sales and new home construction all increased while at the same time inventory continued to shrink, and record-low mortgage rates continued. Let’s hope the trend continues!

These are some of the major factors affecting 2012 residential real estate, which many in the industry myself included, feel will carry over into 2013:

Stellar Mortgage Rates

Nationwide Mortgage interest rates continued a downward slide in 2012, reaching historic lows week after week. Record low rates helped  the recovery along by attracting more buyers into the housing market and spurring millions to refinance. The question is when will rates start to increase?

Declining Home Inventory

The market continued to clear its oversupply of homes, which had swelled during the housing boom. The drop in inventory is a major reason home prices began to rise: Buyers bid up prices because they had fewer homes to choose from. October’s inventory of existing homes represented a 5.4-month supply, according to the National Association of Realtors. That was 21.9 percent lower than in October 2011 and a six-year low.

Year of the Short Sale

Short sales were the word in 2012, as lenders continued to embrace that approach to liquidation as less costly than foreclosure. A short sale allows a homeowner to sell his home for less than his mortgage (in other words to sell his home “short” of the actual payoff amount).

Short sales of homes in foreclosure are currently on pace to outnumber sales of bank-owned properties. Daren Blomquist, vice-president of online foreclosure marketplace RealtyTrac, said that short sales of properties not in foreclosure also accelerated, accounting for about 22 percent of total sales in the third quarter of 2012.

Threat of Shadow Inventory Recedes

Worries about “shadow inventory” — the supply of distressed properties held back and not released to the market — has loomed over the housing market ever since the financial crisis began. But in 2012, estimates of the size of that inventory continued to shrink, falling to 2.3 million in the second quarter of 2012 from a peak of nearly 3 million in 2010, according to analytics firm CoreLogic. Experts now think that the shadow inventory is probably not going to hinder a recovery, as banks continue to release these properties in a controlled manner over time.

Investors Continued to Snap Up Foreclosures

Investors had to endure bidding wars in 2012 to win homes selling at bargain-basement prices and convert them into rental properties. Investors purchased 20 percent of homes sold in October 2012, according to the National Association of Realtors. In Atlanta, getting twenty offers on an REO property has become the norm, and distressed property prices have been on the rise since 2009. It has become harder and hard to find (and win) really good deals, especially in the under $60K price range due to the competition at that price point.

“Low vacancy rates and rising rental rates, along with statements by Warren Buffet, helped attract both individual and institutional investors to the single family rental market,” ReatyTrac’s Blomquist said.

New Home Construction Comes Back

In most major markets, Atlanta included, new home construction all but disappeared after the market crisis of 2007, as excess inventory made building more homes pointless. But new home construction soared in 2012, and in October reached its highest level since July 2008, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. In East Cobb alone, at least a dozen new home developments sprang up starting in early 2011, ranging in size from 10 to 20 home enclaves of higher end homes priced over $700K,  to larger 50 and 60 home communities in $500’s.

Builder confidence is way up too, suggesting that builders will continue to break ground on more homes in 2013. Experts say that declining home inventory amid rising demand from buyers is spurring the spike in construction.

“Builders across the country are reporting some of the best sales conditions they’ve seen in more than five years, with more serious buyers coming forward and a shrinking number of vacant and foreclosed properties on the market,” said National Association of Home Builders Chairman Barry Rutenberg.

Most experts believe 2013 will see the real estate market continue to improve, and prices continue to increase, but caution that a full housing recovery will depend on the employment situation improving, which is likely to take several more years.