Metro Atlanta housing market Archives - Page 2 of 2

Metro Atlanta Housing Market: Steady Improvement Expected

The Metro Atlanta housing market is finally showing signs of recovery, in large part because young adults are finding jobs, but some obstacles persist. Even with talk of the job market turning around, there are still over 9 million people unemployed. This leads to more young adults either struggling to find jobs, or taking part-time jobs with less pay. Either situation makes it much harder to save up for buying homes in the Metro Atlanta housing market. Mike Aubrey, host of the HGTV show “Power Broker” joined “CBS This Morning" recently to explain more…

The job market does continue to show signs of recovering and, hopefully, millennials will find more opportunities for buying homes and boosting the Metro Atlanta housing market.

Until it does, millennials who have goals of homeownership, should try and save whatever money they can. It's important for them to start building up credit by paying off loans and being on time with payments. Even if millennials continue to live at home for a while, this is a step in the right direction, and will help them be able to eventually buy homes.

Don't forget, we post daily tips on Facebook and Twitter. Often times our posts there are about the Metro Atlanta housing market, as well as news that affects the real estate market in general. Be sure to check us out there.

Metro Atlanta Housing Market: Will 3% Down Help?

Home ownership rates have hit the lowest level in 20 years as the Metro Atlanta housing market continues to struggle following the financial crisis.
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Bloomberg's Erik Schatzker examines a proposal from President Barack Obama to incentivize the Metro Atlanta housing market…

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Can Obama's 3% solution awaken enough first time homebuyers to revive the Metro Atlanta housing market, or will the low down payment plan backfire and cause another housing crisis like we've just emerged from? Time will tell, and we'll keep a sharp eye on the Metro Atlanta housing market for you right here at our site. Bookmark us now and come back often.
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Don't forget, we post daily news, tips, and links over on Twitter, and we publish daily on our Facebook Page as well.
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Metro Atlanta Housing Market: 3 Biggest Threats

A lot of housing experts and economists are expecting the Metro Atlanta housing market recovery to gain steam in the new year. But three big factors could still derail the whole ball of wax!

Biggest Threats to the Metro Atlanta Housing Market

1. Incomes Not Keeping Pace – Despite a much rosier outlook for jobs, incomes are still not keeping pace with Metro Atlanta housing market prices. And that could make it hard for buyers to afford homes in the areas they want to live in. Income is not rising fast enough and affordability is a growing obstacle to homeownership.

2. Lenders Too Skittish – Mark Zandi of Moody's Analytics says, the key risk to the Metro Atlanta housing market recovery is still the difficulty many potential homebuyers have getting mortgages.

Even though Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac recently eased lending standards, it doesn't mean lenders are going to take it easier on borrowers. In fact, many lenders may still be too nervous to lend to borrowers who don't have near perfect credit or large cash down payments.

In addition, former homeowners who lost their home to foreclosure may have to overcome damaged credit histories financial burdens brought on by the recession. Meanwhile, Millennials who might be looking to buy have short-lived credit histories and heavy debt loads from student loans to contend with.

3. Sharp Increase in Mortgage Rates – While Fannie Mae doesn't expect to see a sharp jump in mortgage rates, the Federal Reserve could surprise everyone and send its benchmark rate higher than it's projecting.

The Fed is uncharted territory, and if it pushes rates up, it could have a big impact on the market.

Stan Humphries, chief economist for Zillow, said if rates climbed to 6%, it would mean home buyers in some markets like the Metro Atlanta housing market would be spending more than half of their income for housing.

That would probably mean home prices would have to come down to more affordable levels or sales would slow to a crawl.

Other factors not even part of our 3 biggest threats to the Metro Atlanta housing market include foreign buyers and investors. What happens if they all stop buying, which is starting to happen in some parts of the country.

Stay tuned, we'll keep you updated on Metro Atlanta real estate throughout the coming year. Find more Metro Atlanta housing market news to your right under our Atlanta Real Estate Categories. And don't forget, we post daily tips on Facebook and Twitter. Be sure to check us out there as well.

Metro Atlanta Real Estate News – January 2015

In our Metro Atlanta Real Estate News for January 2015:

Metro Atlanta Housing – What to Expect in 2015

As we turn the calendar to 2015, it seems only fitting that we explore Metro Atlanta housing and some of the things to watch for in the new year.

2015 Metro Atlanta housing forecast and what to expect in the new year.

Metro Atlanta Housing – Prices, Inventory and Sales

Let's start our look at Metro Atlanta housing with Prices, and what's expected to happen in 2015.

When all the figures are in, it appears Metro Atlanta housing prices – as measured by the national repeat sales index (Case-Shiller, CoreLogic) – will be up about 5% or so in 2014 (after increasing about 12% in 2013).

Some of the key factors in 2012 and 2013 were limited inventory, fewer foreclosures, investor buying in certain areas, and a change in psychology as buyers and sellers started believing house prices had bottomed. In some areas, there appeared to be a bounce off the bottom – but that bounce appears to have ended in 2014. The investor buying has slowed – as have distressed sales.

The consensus of housing analysts appears to be for price increases of around 3.5% to 4.0% in 2015.

Inventory – It appears housing inventory bottomed in early 2013. The question is, will inventory increase further in 2015, and, if so, by how much?

Inventory is not seasonally adjusted, and usually inventory decreases from the seasonal high in mid-summer to the seasonal lows in December and January as sellers take their homes off the market for the holidays.

The Metro Atlanta housing market is slowly moving back to normal, and real estate is very local, as we all know. But our best guess at this point is, available inventory will increase further in 2015. If this holds true, it will keep home price increases from going to high too fast, which is never a good thing for the Metro Atlanta housing market.

Sales – CoreLogic released its 2015 Housing Outlook that shows home sales will increase by 9 percent. The most important economic trend is that employment growth for millennials began to improve in 2014, with the 25- to 29-year-old segment experiencing a 3 percent improvement in employment growth — one percentage point higher than the overall employment growth rate. That's important because this age group is the key first-time homebuyer segment.

When it comes to the Metro Atlanta housing market, 2015 may be the year first-time home buyers make a comeback. With rents rising faster than incomes, many Millennials are expected to start looking to buy homes of their own.

Here are two more Metro Atlanta housing market trends economists and other industry experts expect to see in the year ahead, in additon to the price expectations and inventory projects we just covered.

Looser Lending Standards – In early December, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac put new lending guidelines in place and started offering 3% down payment mortgages that will make it easier for more first-time buyers to qualify for a mortgage.
Add to that a strengthening job market, and prospects look much brighter for young home buyers.

First time home buyers are important to the overall Metro Atlanta housing market because a spike in the number of first time home buyers should spark a chain reaction by enabling existing homeowners to sell their homes and buy more expensive ones.

Mortgage Rates – If there's any single market trend that real estate industry pros have gotten consistently wrong lately, it's the direction of mortgage rates. But most do expect rates to rise at some point in 2015.

In December, the Federal Reserve signaled that it would not raise the Federal Funds rate until the summer of 2015 or perhaps even later.

With the mortgage rate guessing game continuing as we start the new year, many experts believe rates will peak in 2015 at 4.75% for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage, and even if they hit 5.00%, that's still a very favorable rate, historically.

An increase to 4.5% from the current 4% adds about $60 a month to mortgage payments on a loan with a principal balance of $200,000. Not enough to keep buyers away, when rental rates are increasing much faster, comparitively speaking.

As the economy improves and salaries rise, Millennials are expected to become a bigger force in the Metro Atlanta housing market in the new year. Households headed by Millennials are expected to see significant growth in 2015, particularly as the economy continues to make gains.

Millennials are expected to drive two-thirds of household formations over the next five years, according to a report from the National Association of Realtors. The forecasted addition of 2.5 million jobs next year, as well as an increase in household formation, are the two factors that realtor.com® points to in driving more first time home buyers to the Metro Atlanta housing market.

As always, we'll continue to track all of these Metro Atlanta housing trends for you throughout the new year and keep you updated right here.

Next Metro Atlanta Housing Market Crisis Looming?

Many lenders in the Metro Atlanta housing market fear another ticking time bomb may be looming on the horizon as a result of homeowners with home equity lines of credit that will soon be changing how much they pay each month.

The Metro Atlanta housing market could be facing a new crisis with home equity lines of credit terms about to start increasing Some lenders see the problem as potentially triggering some of the same issues for borrowers that led to the housing bust in the 2000s, even though the years of scrutiny and regulatory efforts that followed that bust have made the financial system a lot safer.

In many cases, homeowners got mortgages with low introductory teaser repayment rates, allowing them to qualify for larger loans because of their lower upfront payments. However, many of these mortgages had provisions that called for sizable increases in monthly payments within a few years.

When the Metro Atlanta Housing Market Collapsed

As long as the Metro Atlanta housing market remained hot and prices kept rising, homeowners had the option of selling their home and reaping a sizable capital gain in the process. But when Metro Atlanta home prices fell and the Metro Atlanta housing market was flooded with homes, those who had taken those mortgages found themselves underwater, with no way to sell, and frequently no way to handle their loan payments.

Regulators have, since that time, targeted negative-amortization and interest-only mortgages. Lenders now must require borrowers to demonstrate their ability to repay those loans even after reset-provisions take effect and boost monthly payments.

With many home-equity lines of credit approaching that 10-year milestone, banks now worry about the impact of those much-higher monthly payments on borrowers.

Many lenders have moved most of their customers toward home-equity lines of credit that require early repayments of principal. The hope is that customers will get used to relatively flat payments based on the amounts they have outstanding, rather than facing the sticker shock that an abrupt change in repayment terms during the course of the home-equity line of credit can cause.

Even if home-equity lines require principal repayment, only those who've already maxed out their lines will have to figure out how to get money from elsewhere to make the resulting higher monthly payments.

Despite all the new regulations aimed at the mortgage market, in the end, it will take responsible money management from borrowers to ensure that home-equity lines of credit don't create the same trap for the unwary that ordinary mortgages did in the run-up to the Metro Atlanta housing market collapse.

Check out our other articles and news affecting the Metro Atlanta housing market and the mortgages that support the market by clicking on the Atlanta Mortgage Info link to your right under Atlanta Real Estate Categories.

Metro Atlanta Housing Market Newbies Beware

The Metro Atlanta housing market has seen a tremendous bounce in pricing over the past two years, but so far, 2014 is not looking like it will break records from 2012 and 2013. Almost half (around 42%) of all residential home sales in the first quarter were all cash deals. The same is happening all across the country.

The Metro Atlanta housing market continues to post strong sales, only stymied by the same old story — not enough houses on the market to meet the demand.

Get complete Metro Atlanta housing market news and home sales information by clicking the Atlanta Real Estate News link to your right under Atlanta Real Estate Categories.

Future of the Metro Atlanta Housing Market: Online Auctions?

Is the future of the Metro Atlanta housing market going to see online auctions become the norm? The growing popularity of these online marketplaces could potentially transform the way real estate is bought and sold.

Much like their offline counterparts, these auctions often involve selling foreclosed homes. However, the number of auction sites offering to buy and sell non-distressed properties is growing as well. Unlike traditional foreclosure auctions, the entire bidding process is done online rather than at a courthouse or hotel ballroom.

Online Auction Process for the Metro Atlanta Housing Market

The future of the Metro Atlanta housing market may be turning to online auctions for distressed properties. The online auction process may vary depending on the specific site, but the general process will be the same. The first step in the auction process is to register for the auction site on which you will be bidding, which is usually free.

Most auction sites will provide for a pre-auction bidding period. During this period it is possible to place a (usually limited) number of bids before the auction begins. If a pre-auction bid is sufficient and meets the seller's expectations, you can purchase the property before it ever reaches auction.

After the pre-auction period ends, the online auction begins. Online auctions are similar to traditional auctions except the bidding is done from the convenience of your own home or office. Most auctions include minimum bid increments and have set ending dates which can be slightly extended in the case of aggressive last-minute bidding.

If you are the winning bidder, most sites will send you a confirmation email that is shortly followed up by a phone call from a site representative. Unlike traditional auctions where the winner may have to produce the required funds within hours of winning, online auction sites typically only require a deposit upfront.

The potential for online real estate auctions as the future of the Metro Atlanta housing market lies in their transparency, their level playing field and their convenience. The ability to bid from the comfort of home coupled with the flexibility of payment options upfront makes buying or selling real estate online an attractive option for prospective buyers and sellers.

Also, the way auctions level the playing field by providing the average person the same opportunity to bid for a property as a large institution has added to their popularity. If these online real estate marketplaces continue to grow and develop, there is a strong possibility that they could truly be the future of how real estate is bought and sold in the Metro Atlanta housing market. We'll keep you posted as this trend either develops, or dies.

If you're in the market to start looking at the Metro Atlanta housing market, let us be your guide and advocate. Now more than ever, you need to have a broker on your side when looking for Metro Atlanta homes or condos.

For more on the Metro Atlanta housing market, check out our other articles and information at the Atlanta Real Estate link to your right under Atlanta Real Estate Categories.

Metro Atlanta Housing Market Cool Down Could Be Good

A cool down in the Metro Atlanta housing market could actually be a good thing. It could actually save us from another inflated housing bubble because things got out of hand too rapidly for the market to sustain the growth.

The fact that the Metro Atlanta housing market is starting to slow down a little means the recovery is sustainable. The appreciation in Metro Atlanta home values has not been uniform everywhere throughout the area, and certainly not across the entire country. Some areas did phenomenally better than others.

What's important to remember is that some markets that shot up so quickly fell the furthest so they had a lot further to go on the way back up. These markets are starting to find their own footing, some going way up and some not so much.

In 2014, many analysts are predicting a slower rate of home value appreciation, more in the 3 percent range, as opposed to the 5 to 7 percent many markets experienced in 2013.

Interest Rates Affecting the Metro Atlanta Housing Market

One driving factor in slowing down the Metro Atlanta housing market is interest rates moving higher in recent weeks.

The increased rates signal that the days of affordable loans may be over. Mortgage rates have been at historic lows in recent years, triggering a home-buying phenomenon and accelerating the recovery process in the industry. But, since May 2013, mortgage rates have shot up a full percentage point. The hike was triggered after the market received signals from the Federal Reserve that it would slow its bond purchases.

The effect of rising rates is still up for debate. Over the past two months, existing home sales slowed down. But, sales of new homes accelerated in October after three months of weaker performance.

Inventory is still constrained. There were a lot of buyers that were sitting on the sideline waiting for the media to tell people that home values have bottomed. We've now declared that, and buyers are trying to act, only to still find that inventory of homes for sale in the Metro Atlanta housing market are not exactly bubbling over.

How all of this will affect the Metro Atlanta housing market in 2014 is anyone's guess. We'll keep a sharp eye on things for you and pass along anything that may significantly affect mortgage rates and the overall Metro Atlanta housing market.

Get more Metro Atlanta housing market information, along with other Metro Atlanta real estate news and information by clicking the Atlanta Real Estate News link to your right under Atlanta Real Estate Categories.

Metro Atlanta Housing Market: Homeowners and Renters Optimistic

It's no surprise that things have been looking up for the Metro Atlanta housing market for several months now. But solid statistics now show that people are just as optimistic about mortgage rates as they are the Metro Atlanta housing market.

An analysis of Fannie Mae's monthly telephone survey of just over 1,000 homeowners and renters shows that views on the Metro Atlanta housing market stayed almost the same from February to March, which is good because they're optimistic.

Fannie Mae conducts its telephone survey each month to assess the attitudes of Americans toward owning and renting a home, home and rental price changes, homeowner distress, the economy, and household finances. Both homeowners and renters are contacted for the survey which includes more than 100 questions.

71% of individuals surveyed believe that now is the time to buy a new home, while 26% believe it's a good time to sell; this is nearly double the percentage from this point last year.

Growing Skepticism Towards the Metro Atlanta Housing Market

There seems to be a growing skepticism towards the Metro Atlanta housing market staying this good for a while. There was a slight bump in the percentage of those surveyed who believe that home prices will increase over the next 12 months, and while those who think prices will go down hasn't adjusted much, those who believe prices will stay the same has decreased five percent in the past three months.

The survey shows a string of 17 positive one-year-ahead home price expectations through March, the average expected gains have remained below 3 percent. By comparison, main measures of national home prices in early 2013 posted year-over-year gains of at least double or triple that figure.

Based on this survey, it seems people are aware the Metro Atlanta housing market is getting better but are also concerned with it not staying this good for the rest of the year. People are speculating that the Metro Atlanta housing market may get more competitive by the end of the year.