Where have all the houses gone?

Great Blog!  Well I was going to get up this morning and write a fantastic piece about how there are not enough listings out there for existing homes in our area.  I had all the stats put together for North Fulton and environs.  The number of listings is down 9%, February sales are down 13%, February prices are up 11% over last February, and interest rates are going up!  Or maybe interest rates aren’t going up; they can’t seem to figure that one out.  What a great time to get in if you have a house to sell.  Sounds pretty good right?  And then I see all this is in an article on the front page of this morning’s newspaper.  Drat!  Can’t these guys find some original material?

It is a great time!  In spite of the fact that the AJC stole some of my thunder, I’m going to go ahead and continue my train of thought.  I have been wondering why there are not more homes for sale in my neighborhood than there are.  Atlanta home prices are back to 2002 levels, and within a couple of miles of my house they seem to be even better than that.  In fact, in the 12 months that ended in February the median price of a home sold in the Johns Creek H.S. district was $487,000 with an average selling price just under $540,000.  What’s also amazing is that the new construction homes, right up the street in both directions, are priced at $600-700,000 even $800,000.  

Talk about value!  I don’t about you, but if I was a home buyer who wanted to be in one of these great North Fulton school districts like Johns Creek H.S. a $487,000 house might seem like a pretty good value; especially compared to $800,000.  Think about a beautiful home in an established subdivision; a home on a large lot with big old trees and a lawn that doesn’t still look like a checkerboard of new sod.  It seems like a house like that and maybe a couple o’ hundred thousand bucks still in your pocket would help you sleep better at night.  You can really do some serious kitchen remodeling with that kind of money.

Go ahead and jump in.  I think there are a lot of folks like me in the area who own some of these valuable homes.  Our kids are up and out the house, hopefully for a good long time.  We’ve survived the last few years of the housing panic relatively unscathed and we are thinking about getting in the market and moving on.  I think if you have been waiting for the right time to make a move we may have found it.  Interest rates are still at near all-time lows.  Local housing prices are near all-time highs.  The projections are for only moderate price increases over the next couple of years. Housing inventory is in short supply and the good ones are selling quickly.  So why don’t you call somebody like me today.  Call a professional REALTOR® who knows your neighborhood and find out what’s going with your house, right now.  Today just might be the perfect time for you make your move.