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!

intowninsider.com is a real estate media vehicle sponsored by Intown Atlanta and Decatur real estate specialists, The Rootdown Group. The site will feature up to date market analysis, a free real estate search tool with a terrific user interface, a neighborhood compendium, cultural epiphanies and some cool videos.

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