The housing price downturn has hit Atlanta fairly hard even though it didn’t have the same boom as other cities.

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Georgia’s property tax system imploded with last year’s historic real estate collapse. Across metro Atlanta, home values fell tens of thousands of dollars — sometimes hundreds of thousands — but tax appraisals did not follow them down.

In an unprecedented comparison of actual sales values vs. county tax appraisals, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution examined every residential property sale and every change in tax value in Cobb, Clayton, DeKalb, Fulton and Gwinnett counties in 2009 — about 550,000 records. The newspaper found that, for the first time, county appraisals are higher — sometimes much higher — than property is now worth, which means that tens of thousands of homeowners are being unfairly taxed ?on value their property no longer holds.  » Learn More

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The decline in national home prices should hit a bottom next year, but many markets could still experience huge volatility as the housing industry seeks to emerge from its worst downturn since the Great Depression, according to economists appearing last week at the NAHB Fall Construction Forecast Conference.

Consensus expectations from the Wall Street Journal Economic Forecasting Survey are for home prices to reach their trough by mid-2010, said Richard Brown, chief economist at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

Citing data from the S&P/Case-Shiller Composite 10-City Index and its Futures Prices Index, Brown said home prices have declined 31.6% from their peak and are expected to fall another 4.1% through May 2011 followed by a price rebound of 7.8% over the next two years. (continued)

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Following four months of solid gains, sales of newly built, single-family homes edged up by less than one percent in August as the window for an important buyer incentive began to close, according to data released by the U.S. Commerce Department today. Sales posted a meager 0.7 percent gain to a seasonally adjusted, annual rate of 429,000 units for the month.
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There is an Atlanta real estate market graph on my Facebook page.

Today I noticed a slight uptick in the median price for Atlanta homes.

Have we reached bottom in the Atlanta real estate market?

Each week we take a snapshot of the Atlanta real estate market.

I quit posting updates in November. The market was flat.

Today, I decided to update the reports — primarily to  answer a question for someone.

• 30004 – Alpharetta
• 30005 – Alpharetta
• 30022 – Alpharetta
• 30097 – Duluth
• 30062 – Marietta
• 30066 – Marietta
• 30068 – Marietta
• 30075 – Roswell

Bottom line? It’s a great time to buy property if you don’t have to sell first.

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The President’s strategy for economic recovery is a stool with several legs, as he’s said, and one of them is solving the foreclosure crisis.

“We must stem the spread of foreclosures and falling home values for all Americans, and do everything we can to help responsible homeowners stay in their homes,” Obama said as he signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act into law.

We’re sure you have a lot of questions, like, Am I eligible for assistance? Might I be able to modify my loan? When do I apply? We’ve put together an example sheet that will show you what options might be available to you, depending on the circumstances of your mortgage, as well as answers to some common questions.

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The following market report for real estate in Atlanta represents year-end data gathered from 36 areas in the First Multiple Listing Service (FMLS).  The data reflects Single Family Detached Residences primarily with a few statistics representing the Condo/Townhouse market.

The areas include most of the following counties: Cherokee, Forsyth, East Cobb, N. Fulton, Gwinnett, Paulding, West Cobb, Inside Perimeter, Dekalb and Douglas.

1. Median sales price for re-sales declined more than new construction prices.
2. Median days on market 3 times longer when sellers overprice and have to reduce price to sell.
3. Sellers who had to reduce prices averaged 87% of listing price vs. 96.5% of listing price with no price reduction.
4. Median sales price in 4th Qtr 2008 lower than any period since 2003.  Median price is $170,000.
5. Gap in List Price to Sales Price in 4th Qtr 2008 vs. 2007 greatest under $200,000 (17.8%) and above $750,000 (9.4%).
6. Percentage of transactions requiring price reduction in 2008 grew to 50%.
7. Months supply of listing inventory slightly decreased monthly in 2008 since July. Inventory in July was 13 months;  December declined to 10 months of inventory.
8. Foreclosed property sales in 2008 represented 23.6%  of total sales.  In the <$100K price range, 42.8% of sales were foreclosures.  This range is where most of the foreclosures are.
9. Percentage of properties requiring price reductions in 2008 greatest in the $100K – $299K range (54.9%) and the $500K – $749K price range (51.3%).
10. Condo/Townhouse sales in 2008 down 29% vs. 2007.
11. Median number of days on market (DOM) for Condo/Townhouse increased every quarter of 2008 except the 4th Qtr where DOM decreased compared to 2007.  Ninety-Four DOM average in 2008 – 20% down in the 4th Qtr.
12. Condo/Townhouse Sales Price as % of List Price increased in the $750K+ price range.
13. New Construction sales down 3.4%. Re-sales down 12.4%.
14. National Association of Realtors reports 41% of sales across the country were first time home buyers.
15. Residential 2008 Sales in 36 FMLS areas: 33,856 -  down 22% from 2007.  Condo/Townhome 2008 Sales is 7,056 — down 29% from 2007.
16. Georgia Real Estate Commission reports 2008 vs. 2007 – Agent License Renewal down by 8,080. Firm Renewals down 1,460 2008 vs. 2007.  New License issued in 2007 – 10,290.  New Licenses issued in 2008 – 5,655.

The data was compiled by Chuck Carr of Chartmaster Services, LLC.  It is believed to be accurate but not warranted.

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Warren Buffet says, “A simple rule dictates my buying: Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful.”

While Mr. Buffet was writing about buying stocks, the same can be said for housing today. Housing issues have permeated the economy both locally and nationally. This week, one index that tracks housing prices, S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, indicated home values fell the most since 1968, declining 18.5% in December from the year before. Looked at from a different perspective, this means home prices have fallen to levels not seen in six to twelve years, depending on individual markets.

Following the Case-Schiller report was the report from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) recently. The NAR reported that home prices for the month of January fell by 14.8%. The bright spot though in contrast was that the number of homes sold in December increased.

Home buyers from coast-to-coast have been buying distressed properties at the rate of 45% of total sales. Recognizing that now is the time to buy, everyone – from those looking to purchase their first home to seasoned real estate investors – is buying homes today.

Bruce Norris, the head of an investment group in Southern California, expects to buy at least 100 homes this year as, “This is the buying opportunity of our lifetime.”

Fundamentals Point to Strength

The basic fundamentals of the housing market point to higher prices ahead. Almost half of the properties being sold today are existing homes that are either owned by banks or homes on which banks are accepting short sales, allowing them to be sold for less than what is owed. New homes or homes under construction are near all-time lows. The country’s demographics point to more potential buyers coming into the housing market than projected inventory in coming years. This all points to higher prices on the horizon as demand will be greater than supply. This is supported by the fact that the inventory of unsold homes fell 2.7% in January.

Why Buy Now?

Three very important reasons to buy now are:

• Interest rates are near all time lows;
• Home prices have declined to levels not seen in years; and
• Qualified first-time home buyers are now eligible for up to an $8,000 tax credit.

Lower Prices Don’t Always Equate to Lower Payments

One final point to consider. Even if you believe that home prices will continue to decline, it’s very difficult to believe that interest rates will remain at these low levels. Did you know that even if home prices were to decline 10% but also during that time, interest rates available for home loans were to increase by 1.00%, your monthly principal and interest payment would actually be higher? It’s true. So, if you or your clients are thinking of buying, get busy and get in the game. To quote Mr. Buffet again, “If you wait for the robins, spring will be over.”

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Jonathan Jarvis continues to quickly supply the essence of the complex credit crisis to those unfamiliar and uninitiated in “The Crisis of Credit Visualized -- Part 2.

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Jonathan Jarvis has given form to a complex situation like the credit crisis as part of his thesis work in the Media Design Program, a graduate studio at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California.

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