This chart is a big eye opener.

Take into account the following facts:

1. The <$200K price range had a more severe impact (-24.9 percentage points) on the percentage of listing price realized after a price reduction, but all price ranges are affected heavily when a reduction is necessary

2. The lower price range impact was likely amplified by the number of foreclosed properties in that price range

3. Between $200K and $999,999, Sellers who don’t price their property right the first time are losing anywhere from 5-8% on the sale … that doesn’t even account for the lost capital - time is money, and monthly debts must be paid, month after overpriced month

In the past 2 weeks, we’ve concluded the following, in addition to this bold statement about the effect of price reductions:

A. Sellers are paying some or all closing costs in about 71% of Intown transactions

B. Most Listing Agents and Sellers, most of the time are off by about 7% List vs. SOLD on Intown sales

C. The Median Sales Price is down 10.1% through the first half for the Intown neighborhoods we surveyed

Here are the submarkets that we studied…

1. Ansley Park and Morningside southward to Inman Park and Reynoldstown - that includes Midtown and VAHI

2. Eastside Atlanta Dekalb - the neighborhoods East of Moreland and Briarcliff, plus Johnson Estates and southward to Edgewood and Kirkwood - all North of I20

3. Southside Atlanta Fulton - Grant Park, Summerhill, Boulevard Heights, Ormewood Park, EAV

4. Greater Decatur - South of Mercer U, down to I20 at South Dekalb Mall

If you seek a detailed, street by street market analysis of your neighborhood, or if you are tired of hearing the same old thing from real estate agents and so-called property marketers, then call The Rootdown Group. You will be glad that you did…

In the past week or so, we’ve reported that:

A. Sellers are paying some or all closing costs in about 71% of Intown transactions

B. Most Listing Agents and Sellers, most of the time are off by about 7% List vs. SOLD on Intown sales

C. The Median Sales Price is down 10.1% through the first half for the Intown neighborhoods we surveyed

Here’s what we looked at…

1. Ansley Park and Morningside southward to Inman Park and Reynoldstown - that includes Midtown and VAHI

2. Eastside Atlanta Dekalb - the neighborhoods East of Moreland and Briarcliff, plus Johnson Estates and southward to Edgewood and Kirkwood - all North of I20

3. Southside Atlanta Fulton - Grant Park, Summerhill, Boulevard Heights, Ormewood Park, EAV

4. Greater Decatur - South of Mercer U, down to I20 at South Dekalb Mall

So, those who get this get the quick sale. We’ve found that most of ya want a quick sale, don’t ya?

The Rootdown Group gives good advice to Sellers - call us. We would appreciate the opportunity to earn your business.

Sellers in Intown Atlanta and Decatur paid some, or all, of their Buyer’s closing costs in 71% of the transactions through June, 2008, which is nearly the same as in the last two years…

Seller Paid Closing Costs

1. Ansley Park and Morningside southward to Inman Park and Reynoldstown - that includes Midtown and VAHI

2. Eastside Atlanta Dekalb - the neighborhoods East of Moreland and Briarcliff, plus Johnson Estates and southward to Edgewood and Kirkwood - all North of I20

3. Southside Atlanta Fulton - Grant Park, Summerhill, Boulevard Heights, Ormewood Park, EAV

4. Greater Decatur - South of Mercer U, down to I20 at South Dekalb Mall

Based on my experience, these numbers seem even higher  - like 90% of the time or more. That being said, I’ve also experienced two transactions this Summer where appraisal almost caused the deal to fall apart and the Buyers ended up paying their own closing costs, among other concessions, in order to make the deal work.

It’s business as “unusual!”

Here’s another eye opener…we’ve seen this trend for a long, long time - at least since The Rootdown Group got started in April 2004…but…in Intown Atlanta, which we define thusly:

1. Ansley Park and Morningside southward to Inman Park and Reynoldstown - that includes Midtown and VAHI

2. Eastside Atlanta Dekalb - the neighborhoods East of Moreland and Briarcliff, plus Johnson Estates and southward to Edgewood and Kirkwood - all North of I20

3. Southside Atlanta Fulton - Grant Park, Summerhill, Boulevard Heights, Ormewood Park, EAV

4. Greater Decatur - South of Mercer U, down to I20 at South Dekalb Mall

…We see, that for the first half of 2008:

1. The median of the sales price as a percentage of the original list price dropped to its lowest level in three years during 1Q 2008 and, although higher than in 1Q, remained historically low through 2Q 2008

2. The 2Q 2008 percentage is nearly the same as in the greater metro Atlanta area

So, at 92.6% of original list price most listing agents and sellers are missing significant sales by overpricing - overpricing by over 7% on average.

Median Sales Price as a %age of Original List Price

Does your Realtor get this?

Alright, alright, alright…I may be a sluggish “blogger” but if I am one thing, I’m a busy real estate agent and a 42 year old brand new father…

My Business partner at Rootdown, Greg Ruis is truly the Pricemaster. He ran these numbers and got 21 charts from our “Senior Partner” Chartmaster Chuck .

Today, I’ll focus on just one thing - PRICES. We asked Chuck to run the following submarkets - pretty much the primary geographic focus for our team:

1. Ansley Park and Morningside southward to Inman Park and Reynoldstown - that includes Midtown and VAHI

2. Eastside Atlanta Dekalb - the neighborhoods East of Moreland and Briarcliff, plus Johnson Estates and southward to Edgewood and Kirkwood - all North of I20

3. Southside Atlanta Fulton - Grant Park, Summerhill, Boulevard Heights, Ormewood Park, EAV

4. Greater Decatur - South of Mercer U, down to I20 at South Dekalb Mall

What we found is not terribly surprising, since we live in the market everyday:

 * In addition to slower sales, median sales prices have decreased by 10.1% year-to-date in 2008, compared to 2007

 * The median sales price in 1Q 2008 was 10% lower than 1Q 2007, while the 2Q price was -10.7% compared to 2Q 2007

Sales prices 2007 versus 2008 for Greater Intown and Decatur

Some of you know that I spend a good bit of time at trulia.com (I broadcast this enough, don’t I?)

I posted this question on the Trulia Q&A back on January 14th - this independent, amateur website called www.housingpredictor.com stated that they have an 85% accuracy rate, and that Atlanta prices would drop 12.3% this year. A couple of posters made statements about how frivolous these predictor guys are, but I was really just seeking thoughts and comments.

It turns out that they are not nearly 85% accurate, but they are close with the Intown neighborhood numbers, at least through the first half.

Stay tuned for more insights into the Intown numbers so far for 2008. If I’m really good, I’ll do this everyday for 21 days and form a habit!

Single family home sales are down 40% year over year across Atlanta, according to Steve Palm’s recent Smart Numbers report. Knowing that, I decided to get hyper-local, and research my neighborhood, and make some judgments about my specific submarket, and our immediate competition. In doing so, I get to check out Steve’s research and see how it holds up on my streets.

On the bright side, the average sales price for new or newer houses like mine (built in 2003 or later) in my area of Atlanta is up about 6% from 2006 over 2007. I live in Hawthorn Park, a 47 home neighborhood with a 6 acre creekside forest and other common areas, built in 2003 in the heart of Kirkwood, and about 1/2 mile from Oakhurst. I like to say that I live on an island in the middle of Kirkwood. Back in 2003, just about everyone paid less than $400,000 for a minimum 3/2/1 with a garage, maybe a basement, maybe a BIG bonus room, and definitely lots of nice features.

Like nice, big kitchens.

And, nice open floor plans with seperate dining rooms.

And, naturally beautiful settings.

Well, I let some other Hawthorn Park island dwellers know today that we have some decisions to make about pricing and marketing. Of course, there is a lot of broader market bad news, and I choose to keep my street smarts up, and not let it get to me. As the leader of a real estate agency team, I must work within the market that we serve - good market, slow market, buyer’s market, seller’s market, whatever it may be, it’s my job to help my clients sell properties and purchase properties based on informed decisions.

If you listen to all of the bad news available nationwide, then you may end up being deeply affected spiritually, mentally, even physically.

Use your “street smarts” filter!

So, used my street smarts filter and I validated a market truth today. Read the rest of this entry »