Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices
Georgia Properties
Real Estate Advisor - January 2017

We are providing this monthly real estate advisor to keep you informed about the latest trends and issues in the real estate market. Remember that real estate is local and every market is different. Contact us to find out the specific details for your local area. If you know someone else who might be interested in receiving this report or who may benefit from our expertise, please let us know. Better information helps our clients make better real estate decisions!

The Metro Atlanta real estate market is off to a fast start for 2017.  The market has been very active during the first few weeks of January. Here is the summary for Metro Atlanta real estate through December 2016.

• Closings for December 2016 were down 8.2% from last month and down 3.3% from last December. According to Trendgraphix, 2016 closings were up 9.8% compared to 2015.
• The average sales price for December was $282,000 – up 1.8% from last month and up 5.6% from last year. The annual ASP beat the record levels posted back in 2006.
• The listed inventory for December was down 8.2% from last month and down 3.3% from last year. But the limited availability of desirable properties is still driving multiple offers and very quick sales in select areas.
• Overall months of supply for December was 4.3 months. Six months is considered normal. Luxury properties are taking longer with homes above $1 million averaging 12.2 months and properties over $2 million averaging 28.5 months to close.
• The latest Case-Shiller Index (12/27/16) was up .41% from the previous month. Metro Atlanta home values are up 61.79% from the recent bottom of March 2012 and up 8.06% from the average index last year. Increased home values are building positive equity and getting some sellers back into the market.
• Visit HomeServices Lending at Georgia.HomeServicesLending.com for the latest mortgage rates. The recent Fed hike has driven mortgage rates higher and many buyers are taking action before rates rise further. Our Close On Time Guarantee and Free Second Opinion programs have been very beneficial to our clients!

Click here for a more detailed set of charts including the National Real Estate Market, Metro Atlanta Real Estate Market and Trends for Georgia Real Estate.

Our first MEGA Open House Event for 2017 is Sunday, February 19th from 2pm – 5pm. There will be hundreds of beautiful open houses open across Metro Atlanta. This might be the right time to make your move!

If you know someone who is considering listing their home, please let them know about these events. We are having great success in attracting buyers for our MEGA Open Houses! The MEGA Open House Events are very different from the standard open houses from other companies. We leverage major advertising campaigns to drive more awareness for these events. Some examples include:

• New iPad Air2 Sweepstakes - One lucky person will win a brand new iPad Air2 in our sweepstakes promotion.
• Digital Billboards - We are using our extensive digital billboard network to promote the event to over 2.5 million drivers the week leading up to the event.
• Paid Facebook Ads – We leverage paid Facebook campaigns to promote each open house. Our MEGA Open House ads were viewed by over 300,000 consumers who clicked over 28,000 times to see more property details.
• Zillow Advertising Campaign - Zillow is the leading real estate website with over 65% of the online searches in our market. Our MEGA Open House locations will be identified on Zillow to reach the largest online real estate audience. In addition, we are launching a significant new advertising campaign for Zillow buyer searches to promote our MEGA Open House event.
• Print Advertising – We will place ads in select newspapers including the Atlanta Journal Constitution business section.
  Local Promotion – Our teams will be putting up directionals, balloons and other materials to attract local prospects. Of course, we will respect local ordinances.
• Neighbor Previews – Our teams will also be organizing previews for neighbors who may be interested or know someone that may be a candidate as their new neighbor.
• Neighborhood Campaigns – Our teams will be leveraging e-campaigns, postcards and other mediums to reach the local community before and after the event.

As you can see, these are NOT traditional open houses where the agent places a few directionals and hopes for a buyer. These are MEGA Open House Events!

If you know anyone interested in listing their home, we would be honored to help and get their home designated as a MEGA Open House location.

Our company is strategically partnering with the Zillow Group to introduce a new Zillow Video Program that will dramatically increase views for our listings. Zillow ranks listings with Zillow Videos first in their search results which provides 2X the listing views versus other listings. Buyers also save listings as favorites at twice the rate of other listings. As we move into the early spring market, our seller clients will benefit from the increased exposure to more buyers.

As the recipient of the first ever Zillow Group Broker of Excellence Award, we will continue to partner with Zillow to introduce innovative programs that benefit our clients.

The outlook for Metro Atlanta real estate looks positive in 2017. We are forecasting an 8-10% increase in overall unit sales. There may be some slowing in the entry level market with rising mortgage rates and escalating home values. The general market in the $200,000 to $500,000 price range is very strong with homes expected to sell very quickly. The luxury market is expected to remain soft in some areas. Contact us for details about your local area.

We would be honored to assist you or someone you know with their real estate needs. We are experts in the local market and have access to proprietary information sources that are not available to the public. Better information leads to better decisions!