Blue Ridge, GA

I would like to introduce a very good friend of mine that I have known for quiet some time. Tracie Griffith, is a loan officer and branch manager of All Source Mortgage here in Blue Ridge, Ga. Tracie provides excellent customer service and she knows and values the the lending business. Tracie has taken such good care of my clients, and I too value her business and I am proud to have her as part of such an awesome team of professionals that provide first class services and products to my clients.

I have asked Tracie to provide some weekly tips that I hope you will find very helpful in your search not only your next North Georgia Mountain Home or Cabin, but any and all of your lending needs.

Here are the Interest Rates and Programs that are available to you for as of Friday February 22, 2008

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Knocking conventional wisdom on its ear, home prices in the North Georgia mountain real estate market during 2007--with the exception of Gilmer County--continue a trend upward, albeit not at the rate we saw in 2004 and 2005.

I did a year-to-year comparison of residential sales in 2006 and 2007. The results were interesting, to say the least. Despite an overall decline of nearly 28% in number of units sold--and an absorption rate averaging 21 months--prices held steady and, remarkably, in Fannin County prices leaped by 14% in 2007!

I analyzed sales data for the North Georgia market overall (Gilmer, Fannin, Union and Towns counties combined), as well as each county individually. In addition to number of sales, average price, and most expensive listing, I tried to put the numbers in perspective by giving you percentage change from 2006 to 2007, as well as an absorption rate analysis. The absorption rate is the number of months that the market would take to absorb (sell) the current inventory of homes for sale. A six-month supply of inventory is considered a fairly even balance, meaning that the number of homes for sale and the number of buyers is in sync. If the absorption rate exceeds 6 months, it indicates a buyer's market since the supply exceeds demand, and, of course, the reverse is true if the rate dips below six months; you then have a seller's market.

What is interesting to me about what the statistics show is that, while the absorption rate would indicate a strong buyer's market-in which you would expect to see a sharp decline in sale prices-that is not reflected in the average sale price, which-with exception of Gilmer County-is showing an upward trend. Here is what this says to me about the market: For buyers, it is a good time to buy, but sellers are not going to give their houses away; you still need to be prepared to come to the table with a reasonable offer. For sellers it means that if you can wait to sell your home, it might be a good idea to do just that. And, once the current uncertainty in the overall real estate market stabilizes-and it will-and the current inventory of homes is absorbed, prices will pick up at a faster rate.

The bottom line? Real estate in the North Georgia mountains remains a wise investment, and will continue to do so into the foreseeable future!

It is so hard for me to believe that another month has come and gone. I guess all that stuff I used to hear from my Mom about how time really flies by as you get older really is true. I want to say it is because I am always having fun!

With another month here, it is time for my monthly North Georgia Real Estate Market Report. I gather all of this information that is made available to me through our Northeast Georgia Board of Realtors MLS services. This information is compiled on the first day of each month from the data of the previous month. This information is deemed reliable, however it is not guaranteed.

Please be sure to look over the report, I think you will find it very informative. If however you find that I have left out any information, or you would like to make a suggestion, please contact me from the information found at the conclusion of this article.

The following graph shows exactly where we are with Active listings here in the North Georgia Mountains. There was not much variation from the number of listings we found in December of 2007.

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The Fed dropped the Federal funds rate today by 3/4 of a percent, from 4.25% to 3.5%. That's a huge drop. And there may be further/smaller drops to come.

I know it will take a couple of weeks for the mortgage industry to see the interest rate reductions, but I'm sure hoping that this will "nudge" those people that are sitting out there waiting for the "best" deal on the market. With prices and interest rates adjusting downward, I'm hoping they will get on the phone and get serious.

Kristy Petrillo

http://georgiamountains.com