Real Estate Sales Data in North Fulton – It’s Like the Weather
Just wait a while and it will change….The question is "What does it mean?"
I’m just trying to stay as away of the trends in our area as I possible can. I wrote a post last month about the average sales price for homes in North Fulton West going up. I compared the sales for March 2009 to March 2010. Subsequently I reported on an AJC article regarding 4 zip codes in metro Atlanta that have had year-over-year increases in Sales Prices – 30004 was one of those zip codes.
I wasn’t ready to declare "mission accomplished", we have a long road out. But…there was a nice trend shaping up. Little things point to larger things. The tax credit increased sales numbers and, despite our school systems financial woes, our schools and quality of life continue to help demand for housing in North Atlanta. All the dots are forming a nice picture. Then I pull the year-over year numbers for North Fulton in May:
The Good News
We are selling more properties than a year ago. Considerably more in North Fulton East of 400 – thank you tax credit. The tax credit put buyers in the market that not only freed up sellers to move-up locally, but relo traffic into North Atlanta has increased as well. Also, homes are selling faster on average than last year.
The not-so-good news
Needless to say I wasn’t expecting to see a decrease in the average sales price year-over-year. So, I took a look at a chart showing the average sales price for residential detached homes in Metro Atlanta for the past 10 years. 2010 is only current in this chart to April. What I noticed is a dip in the average sales price every April or May. Usually in April but it occurred in May of 01′ and 05′.
Why? To be honest, I have no idea. It’s a strange fluctuation that happens fairly consistently each April or May, but I don’t know why. In three of the past 10 years there was no dip (03′, 06′ and 09′). So does that mean we aren’t on track? Are we still improving? I think the the answer is that the the little things still point to bigger things. The direction is positive but the trip will take a while. It’s too soon to ask "Are we there yet".
