Ryan Ward's Blog: All Categories

The segment hardest hit by the overall slowdown in the real estate market here in Atlanta has to be the condo market. Prices continue to slide downward, inventories remain extremely high, sales low and new condos are still coming on the market. This chart shows exactly what has happened to Atlanta condo prices over the past seven years.

The purple dotted line reflects what has happened to prices during 2007. One of the reasons sales have remained sluggish all year has to do with prices (as if that is ever NOT the case). Finally, over the last couple of months we have seen a sharp decline in the average price for condos in Atlanta. Current average pricing show that the last time prices were this low was in 2005 and that should help to get buyers back in…

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Recently, I have posted some statistics on two adjacent cities in North Fulton county; Roswell and John's Creek. Literally, these two cities share a border, but, do not in any way have the same market conditions.

Here is a look at Roswell:

Average Sales Price $359,218 Sales Price/List Price 95.5% Average List Price $374,688 List Price/Original Price 98.2% Average Original Price $381,663 Average Days On Market 76 Active Listings 778 … Read Full Post

Alpharetta is definitely the premier Atlanta suburb of Atlanta and will continue to become more so as new projects in development reach completion. Alpharetta can boast to be the only place outside of Atlanta with a full gammet of cultural attractions on par or better than what can be found in Atlanta. When complete in summer of 2008, Encore Park will be home to summer concerts rivaling Chastain Park, Prospect Park will boast one of, if not the finest hotel accommodations anywhere in Metro Atlanta, the Stanbury and shopping will rival anything found in the southeast region if not the country. Combine that with superior public education and a local economy that hosts numerous Fortune 500 companies and you will see that Alpharetta can in fact stand alone…

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Sometimes it's difficult to really appreciate what's going on in a real estate market just reading statistics on paper. Fortunately for us here in Atlanta, the FMLS puts together some fantastic tools to help us understand the market so that we as REALTORS® can help you the consumer. Have a look at this chart as it shows Atlanta real estate values over the past several years in a very clear way:

 

Now, if you look at the purple line with the circles you will see this years home values. The values have tanked! It looks to me like our current average home value is right now just about the same as it was in the summer of 2004. Wow! This is terrible right? Well, in some ways yes, in other ways it's a sign of things to come - and an improving market. Total…

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Sandy Springs, for the most part, has been able to outlast the market slowdown as well as any other area of Atlanta. I say outlast because as we finish up 2007, there are a number of statistics than are trending toward the end of the buyers market. This does not however mean that good times are here at last again for sellers. It does mean that some of the mainstream media reports which have a considerate impact on perceptions of the market should begin to subside. This, as much as anything else will help to shape the market in 2008.

Homes for sale in Sandy Springs continue to out pace the market for similarly priced homes in Atlanta, but, there is still a large supply of new construction homes for sale over one million dollars that will continue to make…

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Many of you who have read my blog know that I keep up with statistics and try to post regularly so that you have an "in" source for your information that is much better than what you get from the local paper or news reports. While I recognize (as most do) that the market is not what it was a year ago, we still have much to be happy about - at least in Alpharetta. Homes still sell and the ones that aren't selling are really homes that are overpriced for their condition. At the end of the day, it's always about price. It's just a matter of whether a seller can afford to sell at the price required to make it happen. Wow! I have digressed and I'm sorry. Anyway, here are the statistics for the Alpharetta real estate market for October in 2007 compared with…

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This will effect how all real estate advertising is permitted on the internet.

The National Association of REALTORS® has amended the Code of Ethics that gives individual MLS companies the ability to prevent you from using the term "MLS" anywhere on your website for advertising to consumers because, at least so they say, it does not provide a "true picture" to consumers. Here is the amended code:

Section 4.4 – Use of the terms MLS and Multiple Listing Service No MLS participant, subscriber or licensee affiliated with any participant shall, through the name of their firm, their URLs, their e-mail addresses, their website addresses, or in any other way represent, suggest or imply that the individual or firm is an MLS, or that they operate an MLS.…

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Sandy Springs homes for sale, like many markets in North Fulton, have not suffered the slowdown of Metro Atlanta as a whole or the rest of the country for that matter. I am not trying to paint a perfect picture here, but, some of what we hear on television and the news does not necessarily apply to us here on a local level. Here is a snapshot of Sandy Springs homes for sale compared with all of Metro Atlanta.

• There are 501 Sandy Springs homes for sale.
• 42 homes in Sandy Springs are working on an offer.
• 91 homes sold in the last 3 months.
• The absorption rate to sell all Sandy Springs homes is 16 months.

Now these numbers may not sound like a hot market, but, you have to consider something very important when you look at market…

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