Not all areas in Metro Atlanta have suffered from such drastic deflation. Sub-markets inside the I-285 corridor, along with areas of North Fulton County have retained value far better than homes in the outlying areas.  With foreclosure and short-sale inventory at an excess in the suburbs, prices continue to fall, dragging averages  for the entire metro area down. 

On the bright side, inventory in the area is decreasing.  Currently, metro Atlanta’s home supply is at a 10-year low, with the number for new construction being the lowest it has been in 15 years.  In 2009, there were over 120,000 available units on the market.  This number has shrunk to under 50,000 units today.

More positive news arrived when the latest unemployment numbers were released.  The national unemployment rate is down to 8.3%, the lowest it has been in three years.  In Georgia, unemployment decreased for the third month in a row, to 9.7%, down from a high of 10.4% in December 2010.

More people entering the job market, coupled with low supply and record low prices and interest rates could spell relief for metro Atlanta home sales.  According to the National Association of Realtor’s Pending Home Sales Index, sales reached a 19-month high in November and the trend continues.

The Midtown Alliance, the organization guiding Midtown’s renaissance since the 1970’s, is spearheading a number of new projects, outlined in the link below: 

http://www.midtownalliance.org/Streetscape%20Update.pdf  

One example is the $4.1 million Juniper Street Streetscape project, slated to begin construction in early 2012.  Local planning, architecture, and landscape architecture firm Tunnell-Spangler-Walsh  was retained to design the scheme.  According to details on the firm’s website  “the plan…includes transit improvements, traffic calming, and traffic flow changes that will transform the street from one that repels and divides to one that attracts and connects.”

 (http://www.tunspan.com/cutsheets/urban_streetscapes/Juniper_Street.pdf )

Physical enhancements in connectivity improve resident quality of life, assist in local business attraction and retention, facilitate job creation, and ultimately, drive housing demand.

As a real estate professional, this is great information to share with prospective homebuyers, as investments in the future help us all to focus on the long-term vision, as opposed to short-term economic challenges. 

On another note, yesterday’s Atlanta Real Estate Summit, sponsored by the Atlanta Business Chronicle, The Atlanta Board of Realtors, and RealValuator,  covered lots of territory and at times encouraged and expressed divergent opinions about the state of the national and local housing market.   One thing no one disputed, however, was the continued decrease of in-town new construction housing inventory.  Real estate is not only local, but hyper-local.    

As real estate professionals, it’s our job to stay informed about the conditions in each of the sub-markets in which we operate.  In doing so, we facilitate an informed and confident decision making process for our customers and clients.

Marquis Williams has more than five years of real estate sales experience and residential and commercial broker designations.  He has training in foreclosures, short sales, property management and more.

Prince Goins brings not only four years of real estate experience to his new position, but also a background in financial advising.

Terry Clemons, a certified relocation agent, has experience with single-family, REO and land sales.  Prior to beginning her career in real estate, she owned an interior design business and was an interior design instructor at Mercer University and Clayton State University.

The internet already gives the buyer an idea of the overall interior and exterior look of a home, but customers still want to experience the house.

A side benefit for an agent to hold open a listing is the real estate agent might receive buyer leads just from being in the right place at the right time.

What does it take to hold an open house?

1) A presentable and  spotless home, priced correctly and located in a high traffic area

2) Advertise online

3) Map your open house signs

 - Attach strings of balloons to each open house sign.

 - Find the busiest intersection closest to your home and put an open house sign at that corner.  

4) Turn on every light in the house

5) Turn on soft music on each floor to help set a mood

 6) Have available four-color flyers filled with quality photos 

  7) Serve refreshments and snacks

Kidd brings an extensive sales and marketing background to his new role.  No stranger to the Coldwell Banker brand, Kidd has been a Realtor with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage for eight years, during which he earned both the Million Dollar Club and the Presidential Premier Gold Circle Club status.  He also held marketing and development roles with Xeko.com and HowStuffWorks.com, managing marketing initiatives, creating sales collateral, overseeing customer retention strategies, conducting media outreach and more.

 “In any economy, accurate and timely market information and insightful analysis are vital to making informed real estate decisions,” said Brad Horner, president of Coldwell Banker NRT Development Advisors.  “As director of Market Intelligence, Judson Kidd will play a critical role in the development sales and marketing process, bringing a unique perspective due to his background in real estate sales, consumer marketing and data analysis.”

Market Intelligence blends NRT Development Advisors’ in-house professional expertise with comprehensive statistics, demographics, buyer preference data and analytical tools.  Its findings and analysis help to inform clients about consumer trends, pricing structure, real-time market changes, project/product feasibility, market repositioning, broker price opinions and more.   

 Coldwell Banker NRT Development Advisors (NRTDA) is pleased to announce that according to Trendgrahix, the company has been recognized as the number one ranked office in listing volume for residential attached sales in Atlanta in 2011. 

“It is clear from the condominium and townhome sales activity last year that consumer confidence continues to improve and that buyers are increasingly returning from the sidelines and taking advantage of the extraordinary opportunities available in today’s market,” says Brad Horner, president, Coldwell Banker NRT Development Advisors.

Two condos marketed by NRTDA, 1010 Midtown, a 35 story architectural wonder with 425 units in the heart of Midtown Atlanta, and Gallery Residences, a luxury building offering 27 stories of spacious, magnificently appointed residences, were two of the top four selling condo communities in Atlanta in 2011 based on sales volume, according to SmartNumbers. For such high-end properties, the company utilizes the expertise and experience of the Coldwell Banker Previews International marketing platform to create tailored messaging and positioning campaigns. 

Horner says, “Coldwell Banker continues to lead the market with our innovative tech tools like apps for the iPad® and iPhone®, an iAd for the iPad and our dedicated On Location^SM YouTube™ channel, which is why our company was ranked as the nation’s top real estate brokerage for both sales volume and closed transaction sides for the 14^th consecutive year by Real Trends 500.”

He continues, “In 2011, we formed new partnerships designed to expose our properties to a combined worldwide audience of over 15 million global buyers every day on 550+ high-traffic, real estate-related websites, making it even easier for homebuyers to find the perfect home, and home sellers to showcase their properties to buyers all over the world.”      Also in 2011, Coldwell Banker began an exclusive partnership with 1^st Dibbs, an affluent online marketplace for art, antiques, jewelry and clothing and now real estate. Previews properties priced at $1 million-plus with approved photography will be featured in the new real estate section of this affluent online marketplace for art, antiques, jewelry and clothing.

In response to the overwhelming trend of  urbanization in Atlanta,  NRTDA expanded their Urbanliving sales team  in 2011, welcoming 19 sales associates.  According to Horner, “ We believe the trend of people living in the urban core of Atlanta will continue and our Urbanliving sales team  is poised to take advantage of the needs of these buyers and sellers.”

Happy Holidays

From the Coldwell Banker
NRT Development Advisors
family to yours

As the holiday season begins, we’d like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their continued partnership. 

In 2011 NRT Development Advisors achieved sales milestones, received high acclaims for unique marketing tactics and increased its team of sales professionals, and we have  – our clients and partners – to thank for our continued success.

May everyone’s holiday season and the New Year be filled with much joy and happiness.  We look forward to working with you in the coming year and continuing a successful business relationship.

1) Tax Savings. Closing by December 31 allows you to deduct mortgage interest, property taxes and points on your loan.

2) Homestead Exemption. The home of each resident that is actually occupied and used as the primary residence by the owner may be granted a monetary exemption from state, county and school taxes except for school taxes levied by municipalities.

3) Year End Incentives. There is a good chance that the selling is willing to negotiate more and add additional incentives to close by year end.

4) A place to call home.  homeownership is still the American dream.