I get asked this question a lot, so I thought we’d start a series that will cover monthly Smyrna Vinings home sales, including some pretty graphs that will cover some fun things like Smyrna Vinings homes sold, active listings and months of inventory. Finally, we’ll let you know what actually sold. It seems that there is so much negative press about the economy, real estate, jobs reports, etc. that most people seem to of the opinion that nothing is selling. So let’s get started.

As you can see, we’ve been tracking the market for quite some time. Part of the job when you want to ensure our team is the Smyrna Vinings local market expert. This chart shows you the past 12 months of home sales at any given point. As you’ll notice, the green bar is 2007 and we were selling a fair amount more homes in 2007. Sales dropped in 2008, with the drop becoming more pronounced toward the last quarter of 2008. That would be the beginning of the financial meltdown. 2009 home sales started off about 32% off the level just two years previously in January 2007. We saw Smyrna Vinings home sales continue to drop in 2009, but then leveling off in late summer and actually seeing sales pick up toward the end of the year. Typically, you expect sales to be higher in the late Spring and early Summer, but that hasn’t been the case in 2007-2009. The late surge in 2009 was due largely to first-time homebuyer incentives. Finally, in 2010, we’re starting to see a bit more of a traditional market with sales increasing late Spring to early Summer. The other point to take away from this chart is that a lot of Smyrna Vinings homes are still selling.

The  Active Listings chart depicts Smyrna Vinings homes currently for sale. The general shape of the annual graphs are pretty consistent with what we would expect with more homes for sale during the late Spring and early Summer months. What we’ve seen occur in 2010 is that fewer homeowners have decided to sell their home. Some may feel like it’s time to stay put and some may feel like they just can’t sell in this market. 2010 inventory levels are at an all time-low for the summer months in comparison to the last three years. If you’ve thought about selling and just aren’t sure, be sure to contact us or find out how much your home is worth.

One other important statistic that we like to track is how we track the health of the Smryna Vinings home market. Months of inventory is a calculation that takes the current amount of homes for sale and divides that by the number of homes that have sold in the last 12 months. What the result means is if no more homes were listed, how many months would it take, based upon the past 12 months activity, to sell all the homes currently for sale. A result of 6 months is considered a healthy market, less than 6 months a seller’s market and more than 6 months, a buyer’s market. What we can see from the chart above is that we were close to a seller’s market at the beginning of 2007, with the highest amount of bloat and most severe buyer’s market in July of 2009 with significant improvement in 2010. We’re still in a buyer’s market, but we’re essentially at 12 months worth of inventory versus 16 months just a year ago.

Finally, while these graphs are pretty insightful, we want to let you know what has sold each month. So here’s a quick recap of the Smyrna Vinings homes that sold in July.

• 2125  Cooper Lake , Smyrna   GA 30080  located in Holden Estates
• 2741  Vinings Orchard, Smyrna   GA 30080  located in Vinings
• 3678  Gatehurst, Smyrna   GA 30080  located in Vinings Gates
• 13  Central Garden , Smyrna   GA 30080  located in Central Garden
• 3034  Farmington , Atlanta  GA 30339  located in Farmington Estates
• 1919  Sadler , Smyrna   GA 30080  located in Stonecrest Manor
• 5040  Collins Lake , Mableton   GA 30126  located in Estates of Collins Lake
• 5271  Whitehaven Park , Mableton   GA 30126  located in Vinings Estates
• 3535  Preserve , Atlanta  GA 30339  located in The Preserve At Vinings Walk
• 1041  Vinings Falls , Smyrna   GA 30080  located in Vinings Glen
• 3009  Ranch , Atlanta  GA 30339
• 3818  Courtyard , Atlanta  GA 30339  located in Courtyards of Vinings
• 2861  Bernard , Smyrna   GA 30080  located in Spring Street Village
• 4233  Barnes Meadow , Smyrna   GA 30082  located in Barnes Mill
• 1011  Vinings Falls , Smyrna   GA 30080  located in Vinings Glen
• 3539  Simpson Farm , Smyrna   GA 30080  located in Olde Paces Point
• 3434  Belridge , Smyrna   GA 30080  located in Devonshire Court
• 4475  Oakdale Vinings , Smyrna   GA 30080  located in Enclave at Vinings
• 1202  Bickham , Smyrna   GA 30080  located in Vinings Pointe
• 1551  Delford , Smyrna   GA 30082  located in Woodland Brooke
• 2591  Old Roswell Road, Smyrna   GA 30080  located in Williams Park
• 1860  Cedar Cliff , Smyrna   GA 30080  located in Cedar Cliffs
• 4217  Paces Ferry , Atlanta  GA 30339  located in Cochise
• 5641  Vinings Place , Mableton   GA 30126  located in Vinings Place
• 2675  Rosalyn , Smyrna   GA 30080  located in Rosalyn Commons
• 1301  Celebration , Mableton   GA 30126  located in Legacy at Riverline
• 5631  Vinings Place , Mableton   GA 30126  located in Vinings Place
• 6202  Providence Club , Mableton   GA 30126  located in Providence
• 2311  Cumberland , Smyrna   GA 30080  located in Lakeland Estates
• 2734  Parkwood , Smyrna   GA 30080  located in Cheney Woods
• 3290  Chesapeake, Smyrna   GA 30082  located in Ennisbrook
• 4813  Lismoor , Mableton   GA 30126  located in Glenleigh
• 3115  Wills , Smyrna   GA 30080  located in Forest Hills
• 5874  Buckner Creek, Mableton   GA 30126  located in Brookmere West
• 4490  Kinvarra , Mableton   GA 30126  located in Glenleigh
• 4140  Cooper Lake , Smyrna   GA 30082  located in Cooper Lake Hills
• 6212  Oakdale Ridge , Mableton   GA 30126  located in Oakdale Ridge
• 563  Cardell, Mableton   GA 30126
• 4730  Gambrell , Mableton   GA 30126  located in none
• 124  Pineland , Smyrna   GA 30082  located in Hurt Park
• 585  Gregory Manor, Smyrna   GA 30082  located in Gregory Manor
• 3645  Alpine , Smyrna   GA 30082  located in West Smyrna Heights

OK, well that’s your Smyrna Vinings home activity recap. Hope that was helpful and don’t hesitate to contact us if we can help you sell your Smyrna Vinings home or find your new Smyrna Vinings home.

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• Sharp Residential now building in West Haven
• Traton Homes Building in Stonehaven at Vinings
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• Smyrna Home for Sale – 4213 Terrace Court

Smyrna Vinings real estate market recap

Time for a little mid-year recap for the Smyrna Vinings real estate market. First up, will be single family homes. For the first six months of 2010, 362 Smyrna Vinings homes sold, with the highest price being $1.4 million for a lovely home in Bakers Farm in Vinings to $17,500 for a home in Smyrna, that was, shall we say, a fixer-upper.

Of the 362 homes that sold this year, the average sales price was $265,757. This compares with 319 Smyrna Vinings homes sold in the first six months of 2009, which equates to a 13.5% increase over the same period in 2009.

The top selling Smyrna Vinings neighborhoods so far in 2010 are:

• Vinings Estates

• Forest Hills

• Legacy at the River Line

• Smyrna Heights

• The Retreat At Old Vinings Lake

• Enclave at Vinings

• East Gate at Vinings Estates

• Creatwood Forest

• The Park at King Springs

• Vinings Cove

• Vinings Pointe

• Wakefield Estates

• Cheney Woods

• Chimney Oaks

• Heritage At Vinings

We’ll be back later this week to cover the top-selling Smyrna Vinings condos and townhomes for the first six months in 2010. In the meantime, if you’re thinking about buying a Smyrna Vinings home in the second half of 2010, be sure to email your Smyrna Vinings real estate team or call us at 770-874-6383.

In the meantime, you can search for all the Smyrna Vinings homes for sale right here.

Possibly Related Posts:

• Smyrna Vinings Mortgage Rate Update – Week of August 16, 2010
• Smyrna Vinings Mortgage Rate Update – Week of August 16, 2010
• Smyrna Vinings July Home Sales Recap
• Smyrna Vinings Mortgage Rate Update – Week of August 2, 2010
• Keller Williams Ranks Highest in Customer Satisfaction among Home Buyers

Are you thinking about becoming a first-time home buyer? Maybe you’re tired of paying rent and enticed by the $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit. The tax credit ends November 30th, so even if you’ve procrastinated a bit, it’s still not too late.

Timing is important for most first-time buyers today. For those who purchase a home this year, the tax credit is for 10% of the purchase price, up to $8,000. Those who have owned a home in the past three years aren’t eligible. Buyers also have to meet eligibility requirements regarding income; the current credit begins to phase out for singles who make more than $75,000 and couples who make more than $150,000.

“We’ve definitely seen an increase in buyers wanting to purchase prior to the November 30th deadline and receive the $8,000. It’s definitely motivation,” said local Smyrna Vinings Realtor, Aaron Hofmann.

Ensuring that you are able to close on your new home by November 30th, it’s imperative that you work with a local market expert who understands where the best deals can be found and which homes best meet your needs. The other critical aspect is to make sure you’re working with a lender and closing attorney that can properly handle your needs and prepare all the financing and closing documents in time.

Keller Williams Realty Cityside, Smyrna Vinings #1 real estate office, understands how critical this is. They expect a large surge in first-time home buyers leading up to the deadline and have ensured that additional resources are available to meet the consumer demand.

Thanksgiving may also throw a crimper into the schedule as well. So the earlier that you can close in November, the better off you will be. So be sure to plan accordingly. One of the best things you can do to prepare, is to meet one-on-one with a local Smyrna Vinings Realtor for a first-time homebuyer seminar and work with a local lender to get fully pre-approved. Both of these steps will save hours and hours from the process and ensure a successful transaction.

Most first-time homebuyers tend to purchase in the $300s or below. To simplify things a bit, we’ve provided Smyrna Vinings homes for sale right now so you can see what is available.

• Smyrna Vinings homes for sale from $300,000
• Smyrna Vinings homes for sale from $200,000
  
• Smyrna Vinings homes for sale from $100,000
• Smyrna Vinings condos and townhomes for sale from $300,000
• Smyrna Vinings condos and townhomes for sale from $200,000
• Smyrna Vinings condos and townhomes for sale from $100,000

Of course, buying a home has to be the right decision. The purpose of the Keller Williams first-time home buyer seminar is to help you understand the process, the costs, which will allow you to make an informed decision. It’s important to understand how much down payment you will need, closing costs and other ancillary expenses.

But without a doubt, it’s a great time to be a first-time home buyer. Home prices are down, interest rates are phenomenal and throw in the $8,000 tax credit. In fact, the biggest concern lurking for home buyers is positive economic news. What’s good for the economy is not good for mortgage interest rates, which are expecting to increase over the next 12 months. A 1% increase rates will have a big impact on affordability.

The National Association of Realtors estimates that about 1.8 million to 2 million first-time buyers will take advantage of the tax credit this year.

If you’re thinking about buying a home, take the first step and contact us for a complimentary first-time home buyer seminar.

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Possibly Related Posts:

• Smyrna Vinings Mortgage Rate Update – Week of August 16, 2010
• Smyrna Vinings Mortgage Rate Update – Week of August 16, 2010
• Smyrna Vinings Townhome and Condo Sales July Recap
• Smyrna Vinings July Home Sales Recap
• Smyrna Vinings Mortgage Rate Update – Week of August 2, 2010

Fabulous Short Sale Opportunity in Vinings Estates. Wonderful home on 1.5 acre wooded estate.

Loaded with upgrades including hardwood floors, granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, wine bar, heavy mouldings throughout, iron balusters, and much, much more.

You’ll love the huge Master Suite with separate his/her closets, large Master Bath with dual vanities, jacuzzi tub and separate shower and a private sitting room.

Fabulous open floor plan features a large Dining Room, separate Living Room and a two-story Great Room with built-in cabinetry and a wall of windows and a great view of the wooded backyard.

But don’t miss out on the finished terrace level with the custom built bar, billiards and TV room, media room, full bath and plenty of storage.

Outside, you’ll appreciate the professional landscaping, the three-car side-entry garage, the terraced backyard, the covered deck on the side of the home along with the large deck on the back of the home. And don’t miss out on the waterfall and Koi pond as well as the lower patio area with outdoor fireplace.

5101 Parkwood Oaks Lane, Mableton, GA, 30126

Marketed by Aaron Hofmann of Keller Williams Realty.

Possibly Related Posts:

• Smyrna Vinings July Home Sales Recap
• 362 Smyrna Vinings Homes Sold
• First-time Homebuyers Take Advantage of Market
• Georgia Home Buyer Tax Credit Update
• Second Quarter Housing Market Stats

As I promised a couple weeks ago when talking about the proposed Georgia homebuyer tax credit, I did say that I would keep you updated.

After the House overwhelmingly passed HB 261, the bill moved onto the Senate. With such robust support, you’d think this is a slam-dunk. Almost. The Senate overwhelmingly passed it as well, but with a couple modifications. Can’t be a good politician without making changes.

It then went back and forth with the House and Senate acting like politicians and not getting along. A modified version was passed on Friday in the last session and now awaits the governor’s signature. The final version that passed reduced the tax credit to a maximum amount of $1,800, but did include condos which was not in the original House bill.

But here is the current HB 261 bill in a nutshell:

1. The tax credit applies to single-family homes and condos if purchased as your primary residence.

2. The property must be for sale prior to the effective date and still for sale after the effective date, or

3. The property must be in default on or before March 1, 2009 or has already been foreclosed and is held by the mortgagor

4. On the first day of the month after the effective date of the law, the purchase of a home meeting the criteria above within the next six months would be eligible for the tax credit.

5. The tax credit is limited to 1.2% of the purchase price or $1,800, whichever is less.

6. Now the tricky part. You can only claim, at most, one third of the tax credit in any one year, beginning with your 2009 tax return.

7. One final important caveat. If you’re purchasing a home, be sure to request a copy of the necessary documents to maintain for your tax records to document how the home qualified for the tax credit, whether it be because it was listed prior to the effective date or perhaps because it was delinquent or had been foreclosed.

This Act shall become effective upon its approval by the Governor or upon its becoming law without such approval.Will Sonny sign it, I’m not 100% sure about that. We’ll just have to wait and see.

Needless to say, if you’re interested in purchasing a Smyrna Vinings home, this is yet another great incentive that can be added on to the $8,000 federal first-time homebuyer tax credit. And if you’re thinking about selling your Smyrna Vinings home, don’t delay getting your home on the market in order to qualify.

If you have any questions (because I’m sure it’s clear as mud) or want to take advantage of this Georgia home buyer tax credit, be sure to contact us.

Technorati Tags: home buyer tax credit, Smyrna real estate, Vinings real estate

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[where: 30339]

Possibly Related Posts:

• Smyrna Vinings July Home Sales Recap
• 362 Smyrna Vinings Homes Sold
• Sharp Residential now building in West Haven
• Traton Homes Building in Stonehaven at Vinings
• Bowen Family Homes building in Oakdale Preserve