Suwanee, GA

We close the door on 2009 and from my perspective if you are still in the real estate business you deserve a HUGE pat on the back. It was tough out there, but houses were selling. It became a huge dose of reality that if you wanted to survive you had to learn a new way of working AND be diligent. Equally I think this business has proven, at least for me that you never know it all – no matter how long you’ve been a Realtor®.

If you were a Seller during 2009, the year was probably an eye opener for you as well. Foreclosures dominated our market throughout the year and prices did plummet. And if you were a Seller fortunate enough to have good equity in your house like we do, then the depressed market values probably did not have the same emotional impact on you as the Seller who HAD to move and had very little equity in their house. To say MANY Sellers sold their houses in 2009 for LESS than what they purchased them for would be an understatement. And if you listed your house AT MARKET, you probably were in the statistics for EXPIRED listings.

Now if you were a Buyer, what was not to like? You were the beneficiary of great interest rates, so many homes to choose from that you could walk away if Seller #1 didn’t accept your original offer - knowing you could move on to Seller #2…and, sometimes even Seller #3……. AND...benefit from the Georgia $1800 tax credit. Home pricing would have made any buyer giddy! And let’s not forget if you were a First Time Home Buyer you may have also been the recipient of the Fed’s $8000 tax credit. Another reality was many Buyers looked more for "the deal" than the Buyer who was emotionally attached to the home they chose to place an offer on. Quite different from years gone by.

Let's take a look at how December closed out our year for the Atlanta real estate market:

What’s ahead of us for 2010?

• Rumor has it that another round of foreclosures will be out this spring
• Short sales will become an even more “normal” way of doing business.
• And if you have enjoyed low interest rates you will still continue to enjoy the lower interest rates but not the rates that have been with us for the past couple years (or more).
• Predictions are that we will see interest rates tick up a couple percentage points.
• We will see changes in FHA loans this spring
• The end to the tax credits So let’s see how we closed out the year for 2009

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MySuwaneeHome.com

Market Reports for 2009

The good news for November was the increase of 27% in units closed. This follows October with a 13% increase. All good news. I don't think we can call this an upswing in our real estate market nor the beginning of good things to come. More to the truth would be the "anticipated" end to the First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit - indicated by the Average Sold Price.

I anticipate the numbers for December will be lower; but I do think we will see an early spring selling season. The extended $8000 First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit; and, the $6500 Seller Tax Credit in play until April 30, 2010 should surely encourage those buyers (and, some sellers) who have been sitting on the fence, to take the leap! Interest rates still are historically low. What's not to like!

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The whole year of 2009 was challenging in some segments. In other segments, it has shown surprising resilience and strength. Suwanee is one of the markets in Gwinnett County, GA, that has shown relative strength, even into the last quarter of 2009. And it started off fairly strong.

Looking back over the last couple of months for Suwanee, GA, the market has moved... The biggest thing has been the First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit. It has had a GIANT pull on the market, and when it "expired" (it was renewed and expanded before it actually expired, but the effect seemed to expire) it solidified the direction of the market... as it did when it was enacted.

Let's knock out a few numbers...

• There were 517 Listings as of 12/31/2009
• December currently reports with 48 sales
• The Absorption Rates for Lawrenceville break down as follows:
  • 12 month average - 7.94 months of inventory
  • 6 month average - 7.02 months of inventory
  • 3 month average - 7.25 months of inventory

The link above explains Absorption Rates more fully, but basically, it tells us how long it would take to sell all of the property on the market at the current rate.

Sales for Suwanee in December were down 36.8% compared to December 2008. This was after November was up 85.7% year over year. Days on Market also decreased by 8 days to 90 days. One thing to keep in mind though is that there may still be sales that are unreported.

By Segment...

The market is divided up into six segments.

Under $200k...

There were 96 listings and 14 sales in December. Looking back the 12mo/6mo/3mo Absorption Rates were 5.5/4.9/4.5 months. This is one of only a handful of locations/segments that has actually accelerated in sales in the third quarter. Remember that 6 months on inventory is considered balanced... we have remained under that level when averaged out over the last year, two quarters and one quarter. The Under $200k segment is the strongest.

$200k - $400k...

There were 256 listings and 19 sales in December. The 12mo/6mo/3mo Absorption Rates were 7.4/6.3/6.6 months. I also expected the First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit to have a little more impact on the 3mo rate, but sales remained steady. The $200k - $400k segment has been realtively strong in 2009.

$400k - $600k...

There were 79 listings and 7 sales in December. The 12mo/6mo/3mo Absorption Rates were 9.4/9.3/9.9 months. This segment shouldn't have been affected by the tax credit as lower priced homes. That said, I didn't expect a decelleration in sales in the last quarter. However, since this is a fairly affluent area, I shouldn't have been shocked by the overall strength.

$600k - $800k, $800k - $1m and Over $1m...

There were a total of 86 listings and 55 sales in the last 12 months. The Absorption Rates can be calculated, but they really aren't very meaningful. A couple of extra or missed sales make a big swing in the data. Also, these homes are not likely to be affected by the old tax credit or the newer expanded tax credit. Almost all of the Absorption Rates were over a year. The strongest was the 6 mo average for homes in the $600k - $800k segment. That slowed dramatically in the 4th Quarter.

There are still challenges in the market... and we'll have to see what January holds.

Click here to search Suwanee properties.

I've often talked about the City of Suwanee as being a live, work and play community. And in order to create this sense of community, the citizens of Suwanee have worked alongside the Suwanee City Council over the past several years to create everything from city parks to the re-establishment of Historic Suwanee, to the establishment of the Suwanee Town Center.

The Suwanee Town Center was envisioned as being the city's landmark while at the same time creating a gathering place for the community as well as visitors coming into Suwanee. And, as the finishing touches were being applied late this year to the new, picturesque Suwanee City Hall, Suwanee was the recipient of the 2009 Development of Excellence by the Atlanta Regional Comission (ARC).

The award is given in recognition of developments which demonstrate "how great design can create a positive framework for the future." (CrossRoads, December 2009, Pg 3). Recognition also went to the developers.

Once again Suwanee covets another award for their excellent work!!

CONGRATULATIONS SUWANEE GA!!!!

**Watch for the opening of the Suwanee Community Garden. Volunteers have
already started preparing the land for all you gardeners out there. Located off
Buford Hwy. between McGinnis Ferry Road and Lawrenceville-Suwanee Road.

Suwanee City Parks
Suwanee Town Center Shops and Restaurants

Come to My House:
MySuwaneeHome.com

As usual I am a bit behind the 8 ball on this report; but I always figure late is better than never.

Looking in the rear view mirror at October 2009 and a recap of the October, 2009 report by Steve Palm/Smart Numbers it would appear the month of October provided the strongest year-to-year percentage increase in Atlanta home sales closings since May, 2006.

And the bright, shining light? The Atlanta market housing inventory levels continue to drop giving indications of an improvement in the housing market; but it is my opinion that as long as unemployment stands at 10.2% a continued uptick in the Atlanta housing market may be difficult to sustain.

LET'S TAKE A LOOK AT THE ATLANTA MARKET FOR OCTOBER 2009

All Atlanta Market Reports

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