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With the huge increase in homes sales (+27% YTD) people ask me why their homes value aren't moving up with the increase in sales.  It’s because prices always lag behind sales.  David Stiff - Chief economist said home prices will stabilize by the end of this summer 2012 and then should rise at an annualized rate of 3.9 percent over the next 5 years. The precipitous drop in home prices was an immediate cause of the last recession and the ... (Read more)

Regent Partners and Pope & Land Enterprises Inc. are about six weeks away from launching the first stages of their Buckhead mixed-use project, including a new financial services and trading center for TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. on Peachtree Street.

Over the past couple of decades, Smyrna, Georgia has grown into an affluent, metro-Atlanta area prized for its real estate options, as well as its efforts to revitalize the community. Living in Smyrna is something to be proud of, and people continue to flock to this area of the city for several reasons. The Smyrna Community In the 1990s, in an effort to bring vitality and growth back to a decaying community, Smyrna embarked on several neighborhood enrichment campaigns. Market Village, for ... (Read more)

Roswell, Georgia has made its way onto several “Best Places to Live” lists, and among the metro-Atlanta enclaves, Roswell is definitely one of the most loved. It has great schools, great civic services, well-maintained parks and tons of opportunities to shop, dine and play. History in Roswell Roswell is one of the most historically rich communities around Atlanta, its origin dating back to the early years of the 1800s when Roswell King prospected the perfect site for a cotton mill along Vickery ... (Read more)

Single family residential sales in Metro Atlanta totaled 2,680 in February 2012. This is an increase of 15% compared to the 2,487 total sales for the month of February 2011 and a 6.9% increase in sales compared to 2,676 in January 2012. Atlanta home sale in the last three quarter's are showing an upward trend.  Warren Buffet recently said, there has never been a better time to leverage the low cost of housing and rock bottom interest rates for huge financial gains.  

Buyers can now purchase a home price protection policy from several resources.  These policies provide a homeowner peace of mind knowing that the equity in their home is safe. These policies pay you directly upon the sale of your home if the equity declines below the local house price index (FHFA) from the time of purchase.  Naturally all these policies have fine print and terms. The terms and condition's of these polices vary, but most protect for at least fifteen years ... (Read more)

Here's the reason why? Since 1966, the median price of an existing single family home in the  U.S. has varied between 150% and 251% of personal income per household.  However, roughly three-quarters of the time it has been in a relatively narrow band between 185% and 230%. In September 2011, the ratio was just 153%, implying that to get back to an average price to income ratio, home prices would have to rise by about 27%.” During the week of October 7, Freddie Mac reported ... (Read more)

Appraisals have been a problem for homeowners for quite some time.  All traditional lenders have changed the guidelines in regards to the comps that can be used several times over the last few years. As of September 1st 2011 there will be yet another huge change. Appraisers will now follow something called UAD – Uniform Appraisal Dataset.  Appraisers will now be required to collect a  lot more information about a home’s features and upgrades for all new appraisals.  Appraisers will also need the date ... (Read more)

Low mortgage rates are terrific — if you can get them. One week after posting its lowest mortgage rate in 50 years, Freddie Mac reports that the 30-year fixed rate mortgage rose by an average of 7 basis points nationwide this week to 4.22%. To get the rate, you’ll pay an average of 0.7 “points”. This week’s rise in the 30-year fixed rate mortgage pulled rates off their all-time lows so either you locked last week’s rock-bottom rates, or you ... (Read more)

Even though we’re in tough times, Smyrna’s Mayor Max Bacon announced at the “State of the City” meeting that Smyrna still has a AA+ bond rating, a balanced budget and has kept the property tax millage rate the same since 2007. Max and the city council have achieved all of this without any furloughs, tax increases or city facilities closing. Keep in mind Smyrna’s had a 25 percent increase in population in the past 10 years. Without proper planning ... (Read more)