Smyrna Vinings Home Market Update - September
Smyrna Vinings Home Market Update
We’re back again for the latest update on the Smyrna Vinings home market? In the table above, we have shown by zip code for both single family homes and condos the amount of homes currently active and resulting months of inventory.
Inventories have actually decreased in the Smyrna Vinings market in homes, condos and townhomes, but don’t get too excited just yet. But first the good news, in the Smyrna Vinings single family homes, we look like we may have come off the summer peak and we have fewer homes on the market than last year at this time.
This past month in the Smyrna Vinings home market we saw a 7% decrease in the number of active listings compared to last month and an improvement in the months of inventory to 11.44 months. We have 710 active homes in Smyrna Vinings compared to 763 in August.
As noted previously, some areas are still heavily weighted due to so much new construction. Builders have struggled to sell off inventory in the Smyrna Vinings home market. We’re starting to see many of these builders reduce price and increase incentives as a result.
Incentives include anything from price reductions, to free upgrades, free cars, finished basement, etc. All as a way to motivate the buyers sitting on the fence and a little gun-shy to pull the trigger and buy their new Smyrna Vinings home. Of course the recent tanking of Wall Street, the demise of numerous investment banks and the uncertainty over financials have not helped recently.
New construction in the Smyrna Vinings area includes Cottage Garden, Walker Street Manor, Morris Commons, Sherwood Park, Brookside Park, The Cottages at Market Village, West Haven, Cottages at Lois Pointe, Woodbridge Crossing, Medlin Place, Vinings Estates, Stonehaven at Vinings, Stonecrest Manor, The Estates at Ellis Wade, Kensington Green, West Village, Spring Street Village, Rileys Walk, Walker Street Cottages, Collier Place, Concord Lake Village, Cottages at Parkview Village, Barnes Mill, Collins Lake Estate and Wakefield Estates.
After a 5% decrease in condo listings last month, there was an additional 5% decrease this month (that’s three months in a row with 5% drops in inventory). The Smyrna Vinings condo and townhome market, decreased by 22 units over last month, with a total of 402 units now on the market compared to 424 in August. Much like the home market, condo and townhome months of inventory has decreased to 14.80 months, which while an improvement, still has a ways to go to get back towards a healthier market.
But while inventories have dropped as well as months of inventory, sales have not increased markedly. What this means is that the first two statistics appear to indicate that the market has improved, but in reality the improvement in the first two statistics is actually due to significant number of homes leaving the market as expireds or withdrawns.
What to look for? We need to keep whittling away at the inventory levels (through sales preferably) and we also have to hope that mortgage rates stay somewhat benign and don’t continue to increase. Obviously a lot of people are looking to the crazy economic news, the bailout program and the insane gas situation, all of which cause some concern.
But with all that said. Homes are continuing to sell. However, now more than ever, it’s imperative that your home is positioned properly in the marketplace. If you have any questions on how best to do that, don’t hesitate to contact us.
What started out as a liquidity crunch and the demise of Atlanta’s own Homebanc a little over a year ago, seemed like a small tree falling over in the woods in retrospect. Now the giant Sequoias seem to be smashing to the ground with banks and investment firms disappearing or being gobbled up left and right. As I’ve continually mentioned since last year, don’t be surprised to see further deterioration.
Also expect to see the inventory amounts continue to decrease over the next few months as we head into the Fall and Winter (do we have Winter?) in Atlanta.
The H2 Realty Group is exclusively partnered with Keller Williams Realty, the fourth largest and fastest growing real estate company in North America (according to the August 2005 issue of REALTOR Magazine). The H2 Realty Group provides services to home buyers and home sellers in the north metro Atlanta area including Smyrna, Vinings, Buckhead, Midtown, Brookhaven, Marietta, Mableton, Kennesaw, Sandy Springs, Roswell, Alpharetta, Duluth and Norcross. All tools and resources can be accessed at www.H2realty.com.