Archive for the 'Local Market Conditions' Category
The Real Estate Glass is Half Full in Georgia and Alpharetta
categories: Alpharetta Real Estate, Johns Creek Real Estate, Local Market Conditions, Milton Real Estate, Roswell Real Estate
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I’ve said on this blog before that you can lie with statistics - or at least mislead by not telling the whole story. I find this often with the current housing crisis.
The headline of the most recent Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) report, referenced on the front page of the USA Today today, reads: "House Price Weaken Further in Most Recent Quarter, First Quarterly Price Decline in U.S. since 1994." That sounds scary, doesn’t it?
While this is technically correct, if you looked at the report in more detail, you would probably not be so scared.
I’m not saying the housing market is a bowl of cherries, but it is certainly not all gloom and doom as most media outlets would have you believe. Frankly, I’m growing a bit weary of hearing about how bad the market is. I hear it from other agents, usually the ones who aren’t selling anything, and I hear it from frustrated sellers who can’t sell their homes because they are overpriced, and I hear it every day on the news.
Personally, I prefer to look at it this way: Atlanta is a growing metro area with steady job creation; Alpharetta and North Fulton have some of the best public and private schools around; people want to live in the South because of the weather, jobs and because it is cheaper to live here than other regions; people want to live in Alpharetta and the surrounding cities and they appreciate the informed, professional real estate services that we provide them. My business is up over last year. Can the market be that bad?
Housing Crisis Centered in Four States, Not Georgia
If you dig into the actual report, which no one ever does because it is 89 pages long, you’ll see that the housing crisis, in terms of negative appreciation, is isolated to California, Florida, Michigan and Nevada, with Massachusetts and Rhode Island, playing a small role. There are still twenty states that have experienced 5% or better appreciation from Q3 2006 through Q3 2007.
Yes, that is a drop from the double digit appreciation of 2004 and 2005, but do home owners expect the market to continue like that for ever? To me, it has sounded like some homeowners thought they were in some way entitled to double digit home appreciation and now when they are trying to sell they say, "Well, I’m not gong to give the house away." If I had a nickel every time I’ve heard that in the last six months ;->
If you zero in on the Southeast, home appreciation has been respectable in the last year given the overall economic climate: Tennessee 6%, North Carolina 6.5%, South Carolina and Mississippi 5.1%, Alabama 5.3%. Georgia is the low man on the totem pole at 3.5%.
Atlanta’s Housing Appreciation is Average for the Country
If you look at just Atlanta, it ranks 139th out of 287 metropolitan statistical areas. Atlanta has had 2.61% growth over the past year but a -.56% drop in the last quarter. Over the past 5 years, Atlanta real estate has appreciated 20.18%.
Looking at other cities in the U.S., seventeen of the twenty cities leading the the DEpreciation were in Florida and California. The other three were in Michigan. Surprise there! My reading of the OFHEO report is that while certainly appreciation has come down across the board, that this problem is mostly concentrated in a very few states.
Alpharetta Real Estate Continues to Appreciate
Even within Atlanta, there are pockets of variance in the real estate market. While the city as a whole may be relatively flat price wise, I wrote on this blog back in September that average sales prices have continued to increase in North Fulton (Alpharetta, Milton, Roswell and Johns Creek) on both sides of GA-400 by $30,000 over last year. People want to live in North Fulton, that is obvious - and we are here to help them accomplish that goal!
It is a great time to buy real estate in Alpharetta. Sellers who have remained on the market are truly motivated to sell. But buyers, don’t think that Alpharetta is a fire sale. Yes, it is a good time to buy. Yes, you can find a lot of house for the money. But good houses still sell quickly, so my advice to buyers is not to get too high on the hog.
I don’t know about you, but my glass is half full and I don’t subscribe to gloom and doom in Alpharetta. Looking at the details of the housing data tells the more complete story.
Posted by Kevin Warmath | Currently No Comments »
Market Conditions and Zero Down Payment Home Purchases in Alpharetta and North Fulton
categories: Alpharetta Real Estate, Buyers, Local Market Conditions, Sellers
Hello, Buyers: There are 1,004 homes for sales in North Fulton (Alpharetta, Roswell, Johns Creek and Milton) between $225,000 and $500,000. If I were personally looking to buy, I’d be in the market.
It’s a buyers market yet people tell me every day that they don’t think they can buy a house. Some buyers are scared by the recent mortgage industry trouble and don’t think they can get approved. Other buyers think that they should wait longer because prices will continue to fall. Let’s examine that thinking.
I’m not bankable after the sub-prime meltdown
The troubles in the mortgage industry have given some people the unwarranted impression that they can’t get a mortgage, particularly as a first time home buyer. The facts are that the bulk of the sub-prime mortgage crisis was caused by “low doc”, “no doc” or “stated income” loans failing. Basically there were loans available where all the borrower had to do was verbally tell the bank what their income was. The interest rate wasn’t as good as “full doc” loans but, heck, it was a loan and it was often used by investors to purchase investment property.
The problem was that it was abused; people misrepresented their income and ultimately defaulted, particularly as interest rates inched up, as many of these loans were variable rate. Most, if not all, major lenders are not offering the “no doc” loans like there were.
However, there are still many zero down payment loans available. Wells Fargo, for instance, has six different zero down loans to chose from depending on your specific situation with purchase price of up to $417,000. In North Fulton, there are 811 homes to chose from between $225,000 and $417,000. Do you think we could find one that would work for you?
If you have an income (documenting it would be nice) you can get a loan, regardless if you have any money to put down.
The market is still going down; let’s wait some more
The market is definitely slower than a year ago, but mostly just in terms of the number of homes sold. The average sales price is holding pretty steady and in North Fulton the Sales Price to List Price ratio is only down one percentage point to 96%.
The slowness in this market is notable in fewer homes being sold and the average time on the market going up. The table below shows sales data from August 2006 versus August 2007. The data is only for homes listed with a realtor, so it doesn’t include private sales. It is also for resale homes only and does NOT include new construction.
Compared to 2006, $45M less real estate was sold in North Fulton in 2007 and 125 fewer properties were sold. Interestingly, though, the average sales price is UP over $30,000.
| Year | Sales | Volume | Avg Sales Price | Avg List Final Price | Avg Original List Price | Avg Days on Market |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 398 | $166.5M | $418,432 | $428,984 | $436,687 | 70.3 |
| 2007 | 272 | $120.9M | $444,675 | $462,977 | $474,917 | 94.3 |
My opinion is that the “good houses” are selling and they are still selling for a decent price. Houses that are not in top condition or “challenged” in some other way are either not selling or dropping off the market. If you are a seller, you need to be aware that you have more competition – 1,004 homes on the market between $225k and $500k this year versus 832 the same time last year. This is where the price pressure that sellers are feeling is coming from.
The difference between the east side and west side of GA-400
The numbers above are aggregate for North Fulton. When you look at just the east side, the average sales price has actually dropped about 2% from $431k to $422k in the past year, but the days on market hasn’t gone up as much as on the west side. The average sales price on the west side has gone up from $403k to $478k. I attribute this difference mostly to the affect that new construction on the west side is having on resale values: you can barely find new construction under $700k and the resales are taking advantage of this by bumping their price and daring buyers to find something cheaper – even in this market!
What does all this mean?
If you are considering buying, I think that now is a good time. Prices aren’t going to go that much lower - and on the west side they are actually still going up significantly. Interest rates are at or below 6% in many cases and there are loan programs to help you with down payment.
If you do the math, a $300k loan at 6% for 30 years is roughly $1,800 per month. Throw in a little for taxes an insurance and you are at $2000/month. Compare that to your rent and then give me a call!
Posted by Kevin Warmath | Currently 3 Comments »
The Definition of Flat: Home Sales Remain Flat in North Fulton County, Georgia
categories: Alpharetta Real Estate, Buyers, Local Market Conditions, Roswell Real Estate, Sellers
Warning: Statistics lie. Well, actually, people can lie with statistics. If you don’t believe me, check out this book.
With that disclaimer, I’ll tell you that the real estate market in North Fulton county is flat…and I’m not lying, really.
He is my definition of flat: In July 2006, 162 single family homes were sold in North Fulton (Roswell, Alpharetta and Milton), west of GA-400. In July 2007, 163 single family homes were sold in the same area.
Good, we’ve now debunked with one statistic the common misconception that the real estate sky is falling. I can see the headlines now in the Atlanta Journal Constitution: “Atlanta bucks nation trend. Real estate market holds firm.”
Heck, it was just last week when the national media couldn’t get enough of the announcement that for the first time the national average sales price actually declined. Yes, that made a good story; always lead with the blood. There is only one problem: I don’t really care about the national average. I mean, I do, but only because it is some sort of global indicator of the health of the economy. But in the end of the day, I care about the national sales average about as much as I care about the temperature of the oceans. I do care about the global environment but, damn it’s hot here and I want to know when it is going to rain next. Real estate is local, too, and the fact that the national average is down doesn’t help me in my market.
The Laws of Real Estate Market Analysis
Law number one is that real estate is local. Law number two is that, not only is it local, it also varies significantly by price point. Law number three is that new construction and resale homes are different markets.
So, while I can say with perfect certainly and a statistical fact to back me up that the real estate market in North Fulton is flat, if we care to look a little deeper we will see some interesting developments in the last year in this market.
1. If you include the other half of North Fulton (east of GA-400), sales were actually down from last year. Four hundred and four homes were sold in July 2006. A year later only 344 were tallied.
2. Average days on market is up from about 54 to about 63. Plus, the number of homes active in the market increased from 1,859 a year ago, to 2,440 this year. Sellers, you have a lot more competition than you did.
3. The good news is that the average sales price is up over last year, so beware bargain basement shoppers. The west side average price increased from $481k to $488k. On the east side, they had a whopping increase from $391k to $436k.
The Breakdown
But remember, statistics lie. What happens when we break down the market by price range and look at absorption rates, the rate that new homes on the market are absorbed by the buyers. Another way to look at it is the months of inventory on the market. Six months of inventory is considered neutral between a buyer and seller market.
The two tables below show reveal some interesting points about our current market, points that are anecdotally reinforced by my personal experience in the marketplace every day. (Totals don’t add because of omitted data at lower prices.)
Overall inventory is up from 5.2 months in July 2006 to 7 months in July 2007.
| 2006 | $200k to $250k |
$250k to $300k |
$300k to $500k |
$500k to $750k |
$750k to $1M |
$1M to $2M |
$2M | Total |
| Sold in July | 666 | 556 | 1348 | 536 | 127 | 58 | 9 | 3858 |
| Current Inventory | 155 | 183 | 522 | 308 | 148 | 126 | 47 | 1669 |
| Months of Inventory | 2.8 | 3.9 | 4.6 | 6.9 | 14.0 | 26.1 | 62.7 | 5.2 |
| Days on Market | 47 | 45 | 45 | 46 | 56 | 75 | 112 | 154 |
I don’t know that this is exactly earth shattering, but there are two different markets in North Fulton: the market below $750k and the one above $750. Actually, I think the demarcation line is a little lower, but there are definitely two distinct markets. This seems pretty logical. Not everyone has $750k to spend on a house but a lot of people still want to live here and have $400–$500k to spend. That part of the market is still hot…OK, warm, particularly west of GA-400.
| 2007 | $200k to $250k |
$250k to $300k |
$300k to $500k |
$500k to $750k |
$750k to $1M |
$1M to $2M |
$2M | Total |
| Sold in July | 602 | 509 | 1228 | 573 | 125 | 65 | 9 | 3442 |
| Current Inventory | 172 | 207 | 715 | 440 | 181 | 142 | 56 | 2014 |
| Months of Inventory | 3.4 | 4.9 | 7.0 | 9.2 | 17.4 | 26.2 | 74.7 | 7.0 |
| Days on Market | 48 | 52 | 55 | 54 | 66 | 90 | 103 | 131 |
There is one caveat, though. This year, there is more inventory, no doubt, so your home has to be in better condition and compare favorably to increased competition in order to sell. However, even though it is more competitive, good homes in these price ranges still sell relatively quickly (under 60 days) for around 97% of the list price. Operative word was “good”. The junk sits on the market.
New Homes
When it comes to new homes, the picture is a little more bleak. First of all, there is practically no new home inventory below $500k (only 43 homes in all of North Fulton.) When selling your $800k resale home in a market with 17 months of resale inventory, don’t forget that there are 120 new homes in inventory, too. This is where the market has really slowed down: In 2006 there was a 22 month inventory of new homes between $750k and $1 million. In 2007, there is a 45 month supply west of GA-400 and a 33 month supply east of GA-400. Buyers, this is where you can really drive a bargain. Builders are offering huge incentives and resellers are having to lower their prices if they truly want to sell.
Bottom Line
I’m a bottom line guy, so here goes. Markets go up; markets go down. That is reality. No one was bemoaning the poor buyers a few years ago when everything was selling. Now all I hear is woe is me from the media and from the sellers. If you want to sell you home, North Fulton is still a desirable place to live, people are still coming here and home prices are still increasing believe it or not. But if you want to sell, you need to be realistic about your price and the condition of your home. Best thing about this market is that if you are a buyer it is a great time to buy. When was the last time you heard a national media outlet say, “Great time to buy residential real estate in America.” Well, come to North Fulton.
Posted by Kevin Warmath | Currently 3 Comments »
Atlanta Builder Forum Reveals No Housing Bubble in Atlanta or Alpharetta
categories: Local Market Conditions
I know that you’re out there: people who understand the difference between the median and the average; people who live outside two standard deviations of the national understanding of statistics; people who know that statistics lie.
But trends don’t - or at least it is harder to trick you with trends. Trends are statistics put in context of each other: strength in numbers.
Last week I attended a forum sponsored by the Atlanta Home Builders Association on The State of the Atlanta Housing Economy. I went because I love the numbers, I love the analysis and I wanted to see if what the “experts” saw in the numbers jibed with what I saw in my experience. I was the only realtor there: Strange, I thought everyone would be interested in polishing up their bell curves.
The analogy used at the forum to characterize the Atlanta housing market was that we have been running at about 90 miles and hour for the last few years. Now we have slowed down to about sixty, but we are still moving ahead at a “normal” pace. This is a mere tap on the breaks on GA-400.
The numbers show that Atlanta has not experienced a housing bubble like other cities and therefore has not experience a bubble burst either. Homes in Atlanta have appreciated at about 3-5% over the past few years; annual appreciation in the US as a whole has been 8-14%.
In 2006, the annual appreciation in the US has gone from 13.3% down to 5.9%. In Georgia, it has gone from 6.4% to 5.6%. That is a big difference. No bubble here.
| Annualized Home Appreciation | ||
| State | Q4 2005 | Q4 2006 |
| California | 21.6% | 4.9% |
| Florida | 28.6% | 9.45% |
| N. Virginia | 19.9% | 7.46% |
| New Jersey | 15.97% | 5.8% |
| New York | 13.27% | 4.9% |
| Georgia | 6.35% | 5.58% |
| United States | 13.25% | 5.87% |
The bit of a slowdown that we have felt here can be partially explained by the poor housing market in Atlanta’s feeder markets. Atlanta attracts a lot of relocation from Florida, New York/New Jersey, Northern Virginia, California and the Midwest. People would like to move to Atlanta but they haven’t been able to sell their homes in those other states - and I’ve definitely seen this effect in my own business.
Home Builders (after all, this was a home builder forum) have reacted to the market by slowing their housing starts. There were 12% fewer housing starts in Q1 2007 in Atlanta than in Q1 2006 and closings were down 8% as well.
It might look like there is new construction going up everywhere, but to the trained eye, there is clearly a slowdown, particularly in the higher price ranges where it has become very competitive and inventory is much higher than in other price ranges. Some higher end projects have definitely be put on the slow track. My experience has been that many builders in the high end market are willing to deal and we have worked out some good concessions for our buyers.
However, in the $400-$500 projects are full steam ahead and the resale market is also healthy. If the home is at all in decent condition it will sell relatively quickly, sometimes too quickly. Last week we went to make offers on three houses in the Northview High School district in the $300k price range and they were all sold before we could present an offer.
The situation in North Fulton (Alpharetta, Roswell, Milton and Johns Creek) is that land is now so expensive that any new construction is $500+ and that is forcing people to search in South Forsyth for homes they can afford.
In the end, though, Atlanta’s and Alpharetta’s housing market is secure. Property continues to appreciate at a slow but steady pace driven by Atlanta’s lumbering economy. Job growth and job prospects are both positive and consumer confidence remains remarkably strong.
Of course, Atlanta is a BIG city and conditions vary from zip code to zip code. In North Fulton there is an overabundance of expensive property and in the last month or so, this is reflected in the sales
numbers (see chart). In 2007, May sales were less than half what they were a year ago. My hypothesis (and many struggling builders will readily agree) is that the high end homes aren’t selling quickly.
However, in the sweet spot ($400-$500k) houses are selling. If you have a house in that spot that isn’t then you need to ask yourself if you really have it priced correctly or if there is something about the condition of the property that is preventing its sale — because it isn’t the market.
Posted by Kevin Warmath | Currently No Comments »
Forsyth Getting “Avenues” Shopping to Complement New Housing
categories: Local Market Conditions, Stuff I like to talk about
Usually I write solely about North Fulton County here. In this case, though, I want to go just up GA-400 to Exit 13 in Forsyth County. Heck, the area between HWY 141 and GA-400 might as well be part of Fulton County.
In fact, you can find some housing options there that you can’t find in Fulton County, namely new construction with a basement from around $500k.
But the reason I want to drive up to Exit 13 today is to shop. Actually, now that I think about it, I don’t shop - or at least when I do, it is usually over the Internet. Yes, I’m embarrassed to say that some of the clothes in my closet are older than my third grader. I can still wear at least the shirts …
For those of you who still like the experience of shopping in a retail store, The Avenue of Forsyth, developed by Cousins Properties, has just broken ground at GA-400 and Exit 13 (HWY 141). Residents of South Forsyth and North Fulton will no longer have to drive to The Avenue East Cobb, the closest of the other four “The Avenue” open-air shopping centers, which offer higher-end, up-scale shopping.
This not only means less driving to shop for local residents, but more convenience in Georgia’s fasting growing community. It is an acknowledgement by corporate retailers and developers that Forsyth county is no longer home to only mobile homes and Lake Lanier. In the past, a big shopping outing was a trip to the GA-400 outlet malls. With The Avenue, Forsyth County will be on the retail map.
For home owners in the area, more amenities means higher home values. So do more schools: Forsyth County has opened three new schools in 2006 and four in 2007. HWY 141 is being widened to four lanes from the Forsyth-Fulton county line all the way to GA-400. Home Depot and Target have already set up shop on HWY 141. GA-400 was just widened to six lanes to McFarland Road (Exit 12), which is the first Forsyth exit.
Certainly there are issues to manage with growth and Forsyth County currently has a moratorium on residential rezoning in an effort to take a breath from all the development activity.
But for those communities already under way, sales are good. For instance, Peachtree Residential has twenty-three communities in progress in the Metro Area and their 200-lot Provence development in South Forsyth will account for 25% of sales in 2007. South Forsyth is conveniently located to Alpharetta, where most of the jobs are, and the taxes are a bit less. Plus there are more new construction options and now there will be some shopping to go with that new house.
I’ll take two, please. See you at The Avenues when I finally outgrow those shirts still in my closet!
Posted by Kevin Warmath | Currently No Comments »
Buckhead has the Restaurants; North Fulton has the Grocery Stores
categories: Local Market Conditions, Stuff I like to talk about
Living in Alpharetta is nice because you’re close enough to the good restaurants in Buckhead for nice meals on special occasions but also near a growing collection of really great grocery stores.
I’m not talking about Kroger and or even the new Publix at Birmingham Crossroads, of course. It’s much better than that. To the West, North Fulton is host to
the newest Trader Joe’s on HWY 92 at King Road. To the East is a monster Whole Foods on State Bridge Road at Medlock Bridge. In between is a Fresh Market in Newtown and Harry’s Farmers Market off HWY 9.
The other day, my family ventured into the new Whole Foods. I don’t know whether to call it a grocery store or a restaurant because they have some many “food stations” where you can eat, not to mention the salad bar and hot bar. We all wound up having dinner there.
When I first graduated college, I lived in Palo Alto for a time and Whole Foods had just opened its first store in California there. I used to ride my bike there and buy fish for stir fry - heck, everyone road their bike, it was California! The store, back then, was nice enough, but it was small and quaint. The
store in Alpharetta is the Taj Mahal of grocery stores.
Harry’s Farmers Market was purchased by Whole Foods a couple of years ago, and while the store underwent a facelift and reorganization, it retained a lot of its original market warehouse feel. It still has a huge fish counter, blue crabs in the box during season and reindeer in the parking lot for Christmas.
Harry’s (and its brother store the DeKalb Farmers Market) were founded as international food markets and my European father-in-law who now lives state-side disappears for long periods of time to Harry’s on every trip to Alpharetta. He always returns with great selections of wine, cheese, pate, breads, honey, jam and, of course, chocolate. Anyone addicted to the Truffled Walnuts like I am?
From a housing perspective, if you want to live somewhere where you can get good eats, North Fulton is the place. I had a client once tell me that the way she picked where she wanted to live is by studying where Jersey Mike’s and Fresh Market opened new stores. She said those companies had a stated plan of looking for high-end demographics and she used them as her leading indicator.
It is certainly not a scientific method, but relying on the research of large corporate chains can’t be all wrong because they are selecting North Fulton over and over again to locate their stores. And in the end, even if the grocery chains get it wrong - which they haven’t - at least we will eat well and that is really want matters!
Posted by Kevin Warmath | Currently No Comments »
Martha is Coming; Martha is Coming!
categories: Local Market Conditions
Martha Stewart is coming to Georgia. Actually, she is already here, south of Atlanta in Fairburn.
Martha and KB Homes have formed a partnership combining KB’s national home building experience and her design and decorating experience. They are starting their second development in GA.
Their first development here has apparently been well received at Hampton Oaks in Fairburn, south of Atlanta.
Now they are moving north to Woodstock and planning a development called Wynchase off HWY 92 and Neese Road, not too far from “downtown” Woodstock. This location is close to the I-575 corridor, but also makes communiting to Roswell and Alpharetta feasible.
Wynchase will offer six different floorplans ranging from 2,700 to 3,800 square feet and 3-6 bedrooms. (Hampton Oaks offered 17 plans from 1,900 to 4,600 sq ft.)
The floorplans are KB’s, but Martha comes in
with designing both the elevations, how the exterior of the house looks from the street, and the interiors. The team has developed three elevations, or styles, based upon Martha’s own homes. The Katonah is based on Stewart’s Katonah, NY home and is the “traditional” design.
The Lily Pond elevation is based on Stewart’s Long Island beach cottage and has shake single siding accents and brighter colors.
The Skylands elevation is the contemporary design with stacked stone accents, craftsman windows and is modeled after Stewart’s stone house in Maine.
On the interior, Martha has had her hand in appointing the colors and molding, wainscoting, cabinets, flooring and othe design aspects. I believe that homeowners can select which upgrades to put in the home. I’m not sure how this is drastically different from what other builders allow homeowners to do when selecting options in their design centers. It is just in this case, all your options have been determined by Stewart and mesh with the other design elements of the house.
Finally, there is the landscaping, one of my favorite areas and the area that is so often skimped on by builders. It was Stewart’s gardening expertise that first appealed to me many years ago. When buying one of the KB-Stewart homes, you can select a landscaping package designed by Stewart’s personal gardener.
It is not clear yet what the pricing will be in Wnychase. I suspect that it will be similar to Hampton Oaks, which offered 3-4 bedroom homes below $300,000. At that price, and with the allure of Stewart’s design, I suspect that these homes will be hotter than Martha’s Best Buttermilk Pancakes. Not only does the KB-Stewart team have an eye on design; they also seem to have a good eye on the demographics and house market in our area.
Posted by Kevin Warmath | Currently No Comments »
Bargain Hunting in Milton High End Homes
categories: Local Market Conditions, New Construction
The original site of Kings Ridge Christian School was on Freemanville Road between Phillips Rd and the entrance to the gated section of White Columns. Ultimately, that site was rejected, which is a whole other story, and the school is currently under construction at the corner of Cogburn Road and Bethany Bend.
Relocating the school was possible because of a land swap that involved a builder named Richard Wernick, who has also developed Triple Crown around the corner on Birmingham Highway.
Wernick now owns the land on Freemanville Road and in their last zoning hurrah, the Fulton Board of Commissioners approved the development of a 77 home subdivision there. This subdivision will back up to Wood Road, which is one of the gravel roads that retains the “horse farm feel” that Milton is known for and many would like to retain. Some residents wanted three acre zoning for the lots that abutted Wood Road so that they would fit in better with the existing land use; however, the Commission approved one-acre lots and there will not be access to the development from Wood Rd.
So, there are going to be some more million dollar homes built in Milton. The question I ask and the question that all my friends and clients ask me is: Who is buying all these million dollar homes? New developments are popping up everywhere: Crabapple Estates, Evergrace, Crabapple Brook, North Valley, Lake Haven, Hayfield, Arcaro to name just a few. This is in addition to the continued development going on in Six Hills, Triple Crown, The Manor. Everywhere you turn there is a million dollar home.
I went to the data to find out what is selling and I don’t think you’d be surprise. But it will make you wonder why developers continue breaking ground.
Since September 1st, only ten homes have sold in Milton between $750k and $1M. As of today, there are 109 homes on the market in that price range.
Since September 1st, nine home have sold for over a million dollars in Milton. There are 143 active in the FMLS system. The market picture for the year looks like this:
| Price Range | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | YTD as of today |
| $1 Million Plus | ||||
| Sold | 7 | 17 | 14 | 41 |
| New Listings | 4 | 41 | 43 | 121 |
| $750,000-$1M | ||||
| Sold | 7 | 19 | 24 | 56 |
| New Listings | 3 | 22 | 47 | 93 |
At the top end of the market, it is tough sledding if you are a seller. If you are a buyer, well that is another story. I know of at least one amazing estate home on a lake with 4 acres and probably 7,000 finished square feet with an unfinished basement that recently sold for 65% of the original list price.
While Milton is a very desirable place to live, there just aren’t that many million dollar buyers in this market. Land prices have quadrupled in the last few years and that is why the prices are where they are, but clearly the builders must slow down. Perhaps this is why Steve Casey cleared the land and put in the roads for a new development on Taylor Road, but has yet to build a house.
Posted by Kevin Warmath | Currently 1 Comment »
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