First Multiple Listing Service

City of Decatur – Single Family Intown Market Study

City of Decatur – Single Family Homes

This month we will compare the sales activity for the 1st six months of 2007 to 2008 to 2009.  Prior to pulling the data, there was an industry consensus that closing activity has been down.  However, there was some feeling that once the home buying season kicked into gear, things would certainly pick up.  To date, that has not been the case as sellers who do not need to sell appear to be sitting out 2009 in the hopes of a more stable and promising 2010.

I’ll start with an analysis of the City of Decatur (COD) as a whole and in later posts, I’ll break down some of the individual neighborhoods in search of trends.

2007

Through the first 6 months of 2007, the COD Single Family Market was experiencing an explosion.  There were 145 single family home sales in the first half of ‘07 for an average sales price of $379,646.

A sizable thrust of the growth was spurred on by significant new construction activity in Oakhurst.  There was an appetite for newer homes in general, with 31 of the homes sold being built after 1995 (21% of total sales).  Sycamore Ridge (Decatur Heights) and Glenlake Commons comprised the majority of resales for homes built after 1995.  The average sales price of those newer homes  was $477,093.   City of Decatur sales of property built before 1995 was $354,972.  Newer construction realized an average sale price in excess of $120,000 over the COD’s older housing stock.

The Days on Market was almost identical at 60 for older homes and 63 for newer properties.

2008

The first half of 2008 saw a 20% decrease in total sales (to 117 from 145).  The average sales prices saw a 3% decline from $379,646 to $368,778.

Newer home sales were still strong at just under 20% of total sales (23 sold).  And the activity in this area saw most of its transactions come from Oakhurst new construction and Sycamore Ridge resales.  The 2008 average sales price for a home built after 1995 was $516,260.

The Days on the Market inched up slightly for both total sales (71) and newer home sales (79).

2009

The COD market activity has declined dramatically in the first half of 2009.  The total number of home sales has plummeted to 69, down 42% from 2008 and 53% from 2007.  On a positive note, despite the slowed activity, the average sales price has increased to $391,504 eclipsing the average of 2007 by over $12,000.  A great sign that despite the slowdown, the COD remains a highly desirable market for homebuyers.

Given the strong new construction growth over the past 5 years, it was bound to slow down.  A great deal of the more desirable lots have been converted and new construction financing has become more tenuous for in-town builders.  There have only been 12 sales of homes build post 1995, with Oakhurst still leading the charge.  Surprisingly, Sycamore Ridge has only accounted for 2 sales in the first six months of 2009.

Another sign of a strong COD market is that Days on Market has dropped back down to 63 days.  A 6 day decrease from its 2008 figure of 71.   However, perhaps due to the shift in the market and somewhat skewed due to a few homes being delayed in construction, the newer home Days on Market increased to 120 days.

* Data provided by First Multiple Listing Service.

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Elliott Robinson, JD – Associate Broker
Adams Realtors
458 Cherokee Ave. SE
Atlanta, GA 30312
(o) 404-688-1222 ext. 26
Blog: elliottonrealestate.com
Twitter: elliottrob@twitter.com