America’s Most Distressed Housing Markets, Where Does Atlanta Real Estate Stack Up???

August 29, 2008

America’s Most Distressed Housing Markets, Where Does Atlanta Real Estate Stack Up???

According to a recent report on America’s Most Distressed Housing Markets in Forbes.com, the “hardest-hit” home markets include Las Vegas, Sacramento, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Phoenix and Detroit, amongst others.  In the article, Stan Humphries, vice president of data and analytics at Zillow.com, an online aggregator of real estate listings and public sales records states “Nationally, one-third of homes are underwater, and 20% of transactions happening across the country are foreclosures. That’s what drives up the number of home sales for a loss.”

It’s no secret that the dreaded “adjustable-rate mortgage” is responsible for a large part of the foreclosures on the market, but other factors such as job-loss,  inflation, and people who should have never probably been funded in the first place, have to be factored in as well.

Fool me once, shame on me; fool me twice, Shame on You!
Shame on you America!!

The days of where you could fog a mirror and get a loan approved are long gone and thank goodness for that. We want our economy to be stabilized and fruitful, not filled with empty promises.
The most promising thing for me in reading this report was Atlanta not being included as one of “America’s Worst Housing Markets.” As a matter of fact, the only mention of Atlanta real estate or the Atlanta home market at all was by the author Matt Woolsey who states “For markets like Phoenix or Atlanta, where prices spiked by double digits annually from 2002 to 2006, selling for a loss can be a positive sign that housing markets are actively correcting and that come-lately speculators are being flushed out.”

Hmmm….Doesn’t seem so doom and gloom to me, as a matter a fact, it looks like relief might be on the way for Atlanta’s housing market. Yes, while there are a good number of Atlanta Short Sales and Atlanta Foreclosures still available, more and more investors are picking those properties up. For example, I had two REO deals that I submitted offers on last week that were already under contract by the time I got there. And, although I was disappointed for my clients, it shows an improvement to what is happening with Atlanta Real Estate.

Fact is Atlanta is the sixth-largest city in the Southeastern region, and known for its great weather, opportunity, nightlife, and overall robust flavor. As Atlanta has undergone a transition from a city of regional commerce to a city of international influence, it has been among the fastest growing cities in the developed world for over a decade.

So, what will happen with the Atlanta’s housing market?? Well only time will tell…..With all of the global technology companies and international corporate headquarters such as UPS, Delta, Coca-Cola, CNN, TBS, the Center for Disease Control, or the historical recognition such as Gone With the Wind, the Braves, the 1996 Olympic Games, over 32 “Peachtree”-named streets, home of the world’s largest aquarium, and good ol’ sweet tea, Atlanta is constantly reinventing itself.  With over 5.3 million residents, there will always be a need for “home.” Whether you are looking for your next home or investment, there has NEVER BEEN A BETTER TIME TO BUY!!!

With a steady increase in expansion each year, Atlanta’s growth is expected to continue. With all these attributes, it’s only a matter of time until demand again exceeds supply and these prices are much higher. And, luckily if we can count on history to repeat itself, we will all look back in 10 years from now and wish we bought every home, lot and condominium we could possibly afford.  So, stop procrastinating and START capitalizing on one of the greatest discount sales events Atlanta real estate has EVER seen!!

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