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Market Update For Alpharetta - Waiting Seems to be the Order of the Day
By Ryan Ward | April 16, 2008
In the last market update for Alpharetta that I did the second week of February there were 1,372 homes for sale. Here we are about 2 months later there are 1,384. Essentially the same number of homes for sale. Another key statistic as we look forward to the summer as an indicator of future sales are the number of pending and contingent homes. 2 months ago there were 194, now there are 214. Again, substantially the same.
Quite honestly, the number of currently pending sales is a bit more troubling than the inventory. By now we should have begun to see an uptick in pending sales and we have not. It’s still early - a little too early for people waiting for school to be finished to make their purchases so it should begin to go up soon, but, right now we look to be quite stagnant. Not a good sign moving forward and into the peak buying season.
In my last update, I also spoke about a general upswing in activity. At this point it doesn’t appear that it amounted to much more than tire kicking so again we will need to wait. Waiting seems to be the order of the day whether it’s to see where the market is heading, waiting to buy or waiting to sell. I still think at some point soon, we should begin to see the market move and quite frankly, the lateral shift we have seen over the last couple of months could be the leveling off at the bottom - again, too early to tell…more waiting.
We Do Know This…
We know for certain that prices have leveled off and if you have been in your home for under 2 years, now is probably a hard time to sell unless you have done significant improvements to your home and even then it’s tough. If you are grouped in as one of the people who have been in your home for less than 2 years without making improvements, waiting is probably the order of the day for you too - unless you have to sell. We also know that your home will not sell unless you make absolutely certain that it looks better, smells better and is overall better condition than other homes similar to yours. You should also know that you might do best to price your home lower than the competition as well. If you don’t, your chances of selling your home diminish dramatically.
We Also Know This…
Homes are selling. What? Yes. They are - lots of them! In the last 30 day period we have complete statistics on, 110 have sold. That means we have about a 14 month supply of homes in Alpharetta. About the same as 2 months ago. You need more and better marketing than in years past if you want to be one of the next 110 and that means you need more and better marketing than in the past. You need marketing like I talked about in this post. You can’t just get run-of-the-mill marketing that is typical for agents to provide and expect that it will be enough in a market crowded with homes and fewer buyers.
Economic Outlook Still Better in North Fulton Than Elsewhere
An article in this weeks Alpharetta Neighborstill shows Extremely low unemployment numbers for Alpharetta and Roswell at 3.4 and 3.5 percent respectively while Fulton county as a whole sits at 5.3 percent, much closer to mirroring the national average. We are fortunate in all parts of North Fulton; from Sandy Springs through Roswell, Alpharetta, John’s Creek and Milton. All of the areas around Alpharetta have strong local economies. This continues to help keep the Alpharetta real estate market stronger than many other areas.
As Always…
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Category: Alpharetta Real Estate |
Hello and welcome to my Atlanta real estate blog. My name is Ryan Ward and I run The Ryan Ward Group at Keller Williams Realty Consultants. Stay informed with information on neighborhoods, market statistics, homes and editorials on local, regional and national news that affects all of us here in Atlanta and elsewhere. If you have any questions about what you read or would like additional information, please fill in the form below or give me a call at 404.630.3187.