Existing home sales spike in December

by Paul Cook | No Comments | Contact Paul Cook w/ Questions

For the fifth month in a row, existing home sales moved up again last month. According to the NAR (National Association of Realtors), existing home sales rose from 4.7 million in November to 5.28 million in December- an increase of 12.3%.

That is the highest mark since June which also marked the end of the home buyer tax credit and peak buying season in most years.

It is difficult to portray the national perspective since I only focus on the local areas I cover. However, the national picture is a little more gloomy in my opinion. Home prices in Atlanta have been relatively stable in popular price points from 200-400k especially. The fact remains though that there is still tremendous inventory available and it only stands to get worse as distressed properties continue to flood the market.

Locally, the Roswell and North Fulton market activity has spiked in early 2011. The traffic to this website has increased significantly starting in January which will mark the highest volume to the site in its short history. My gut feeling is that many people have finally caught on to how low mortgage rates are and have put plans in motion to take advantage in addition to those researching relocations for the Spring.

January 21, 2011 | Filed Under: News