PERSONAL NOTES... JANUARY 2, 2012...Difficult year ahead:
1. There are fewer 'move-up' buyers because sellers have less equity in their home, with many owe more than their home can be sold for.
2. There are fewer first time home buyers as they have to pay much more down now as well as more for 'staples.'
3. Lenders are requiring larger down payments, like 20% down, and buyers do not have it.
They have not adjusted their mind set from the interest only, nothing down programs.
4. Many foreclosures are on the market, which not only are forcing prices down, but they
require work after purchase. Buyers don't have the money or the know-how to do repairs as well.
Homes sale prices are down 8.6% from last April. They are reported to be down 31% to 36% total. That means that if you had a house at $250,000, it is now worth $160,000. This is really sad! The prices have declined consecutively for the last 8 months back to 1997-1998 prices.

Despite the bad news, the interest rates are still in the 4%'s and buyers have as many choices as they are going to get. The condition of many of the homes may be questionable, however, so I am ready and willing to help you find that really good buy! If you are interested in Short Sales, HUD homes or Foreclosures, you must contact me immediately!

Prices have dropped 31% from the high's in 2003-2004. January, 2011 prices dropped to new recession lows and February and March remain down at 1997-1998 levels. We are reaching new bottoms in our housing downturn. The average price is at least 10% lower than this same time last year. We need the economy and jobs to improve. If the concern is long term, a doiuble dip recession would happen.

The worse part, is our unemployment rate is at 9.1%, while the national rate is at 8.3%. We need to be on our state government to do all that can be done to bring jobs into Atlanta. We have 15.6% of homes are foreclosures, with 11% of these homes being vacant. This is caused by loss of jobs, and the fact that the banks have been holding back foreclosures until now and have saturated the market with this inventory.

Despite the bad news, the interest rates are still in the 3%'s and buyers have as many choices as they are going to get. The condition of many of the homes may be questionable, however, so I am ready and willing to help you find that really good buy! If you are interested in Short Sales, HUD homes or Foreclosures, you must contact me immediately!