• There are 219 active listings
• 23 additional homes are under contract
• There have been 39 sales in the last 3 full months of data

Of the 39 sales, all but 2 had basements and almost all had 5 or more bedrooms.  The average age indicates a home built in 1987 but it isn’t a very good indication as some were homes in Historic Brookhaven (older homes) other significant properties in locations that have numerous older homes at or above this price that weren’t all built last year like in Alpharetta and the rest of North Atlanta. For these 39 homes, the average original list price was $1,019,043. Homes on average had to be reduced to $948,499 to receive an acceptable offer to finally sell at $858,364.

This is a List price to sales price of 90.5% which is about right historically. There always seems to have been more arbitrary room at this price point than at lower price points.

The absorption rate, or months of inventory of homes if they continue to sell at the current rate and no additional homes enter the market, is 18.6. This really isn’t that bad considering the overall market is at about 9 months of inventory.

During the same time period one year earlier, there were 35 sales sales and the year before that shows 43 sales. This slowdown from the last quarter of 2008 compared to the last quarter of 2007 and the most recent increase over the slowdown in 2008 may be indicative of a turnaround. In the 2007 fourth quarter, the average sales price was $910,768, the fourth quarter of 2008 was $901,714 and now $858,363.We are seeing the same trends at different price points, but, we are not in the clear. There is a lot of inventory but fewer and fewer exceptional deals for the larger and newer homes as new construction has had little to no new starts in the last 12 – 18 months. This means that there are fewer deals left and will ultimately create a scarcity. That would be the good news. The bad news is that we are still in an uncertain real estate market nationally and locally with an economy that has yet to pick its next direction.

Let Me Know if You Have any Questions

This isn’t a complete market analysis, but, instead one part of a larger analysis I am putting together for a client who has been relocated to Atlanta.

If you are in the market to buy or sell, it’s important to know the market direction so you can make a reasonable assessment of the anticipated value at some point in the future. If you are a buyer, you may want to minimize your risk by attempting to only buy if the price is below the perceived current market in the event that prices go down further (which I suspect they will a little bit, but not much). Conversely, if you are a seller, you need to know that this is the mentality for many of the buyers so you need to price according to the market to receive the highest price for your house. This means a lower initial list price instead of a longer list period since the longer your home is on the market, the less it will sell for in a declining market.

* Note: I did not use the last quarter of sales exactly. Instead, I used 10/15/year through 1/15/following year.

This is a magnificent home situated on 4 beautiful acres with a pool. An excquisite ranch with a full finished terrace level, 3 kitchens – all with granite, 4 car garge, complete in-law suite. Well, this one really does deserve a look. For now, click the link above to view the single poperty website and we will post more including multiple photos and a more complete descriptioon here soon.