June 2024 Report on the Real Estate Market

From Your Friends at Northwest Atlanta Properties

This month we present a Hodgepodge of Interesting Articles

 

• Atlanta is the top city nationwide for Investor-Owned single-family rental properties.  72,000 properties and counting! Why? Because it’s a great investment! See the last article for more.

 

• Squatter’s insurance.  Not sure if this is a money grab related to recent headlines or a really valuable service but owners can get squatters’ insurance – read this article:

 

Squatting, or stealing of homes, has gotten so bad that now there is squatter insurance, as reported in Newsweek:

This is directed towards short-term rental operators, like Airbnb owners, and provides insurance up to $10,000 for an annual fee of $100. The fact that a new insurance policy type is being developed and launched tells you that the industry expects this problem to continue and grow, not go away anytime soon. Or they may just be capitalizing on the news and hoping to have a new insurance income source.

• Speaking of Airbnb, now we have drug dealers using Airbnb to be more “efficient and productive” as police in Alhambra announce an arrest and seizure of 200 pounds of meth in an Airbnb.

 

Investors allowing meth labs in their homes may make it impossible to sell or lease without a dramatic loss of value, so this development is something that may cause even Airbnb owners to concern themselves with the communities they own and attempt to rent in.

 

• And on the Lighter Side – Quirky Georgia Laws

 

Some of Georgia’s quirkiest laws

There are a host of quirky laws buried deep in city and county codes in metro Atlanta. Some of the ordinances are no longer enforced. But technically, at least, it would be a violation to:

·       Do not kill poison ivy on your property in Atlanta.

·       Allow dirty water from washing cars to run across sidewalks in Decatur.

·       Conduct treasure hunts designed for commercial gain in Brookhaven or Johns Creek.

·       Have a bonfire in Woodstock in an area not designated by fire officials.

·       Spit in places of worship or certain other spots in Cherokee County, Atlanta, Austell, Fayetteville, or Avondale Estates.

·       Practice fortunetelling in Lilburn, East Point, DeKalb County, or Chamblee.

·       Intentionally scare anyone in East Point. Apparently even on Halloween.

·       Fly a kite from a sidewalk or street in Fayetteville.

·       Play catch on sidewalks and streets in Berkeley Lake, Newnan, Fayetteville, or Acworth.

·       Sell ice cream from an ice cream truck in Chamblee or Avondale Estates.

·       Be a head of a household and not maintain a firearm and ammo in Kennesaw, but there are broad exceptions.

·       Sell for less than $39 a .22 caliber handgun with a barrel three inches or shorter in Hapeville.

·       Practice “any acrobatic or fancy riding” on the streets of Atlanta, Decatur, Avondale Estates, or broader DeKalb generally. Also prohibited: taking both hands off the handlebar or both feet off the pedals.

·       Ride or park a bicycle, skateboard, or skates on sidewalks “or other public ways or streets adjacent to a commercial establishment” in Snellville.

 

Your Local Market Report – because ultimately, it’s all Local

 

 

 

The number of sales remained steady (unusual as this is historically the busiest season, so this is two years in a row at a fairly flat May sales pace).  This could be due to still too low inventory for Buyers that want to buy.

 

The median price increased over last year by almost 7.5% in our market area, outpacing the experts’ predictions of price increases. Again, this is likely because of not enough inventory. When more than 1 buyer wants a property, the prices go up as they compete for that property.

 

The general prediction nationwide is price gains of 3% to 5% growth per year for the next five years. Our area may outpace that, time will tell.

 

Days on market increased across the board so even though there are more buyers, they aren’t acting as quickly or frantically as they have the last few years. Still, 33 days on market is still a very strong Sellers’ Market. 

 

Some of this increase could be due to hesitation due to interest rates. That said, our last listing in Woodstock had 3 offers on it within 3 days of going on market, selling for over full price and an all-time high in the neighborhood despite it being a relatively small home.  One attraction was it being all on one level, known as a “ranch home” in our area. There continues to be a strong demand for this type of property.

 

Property Management Question we are often asked:

 

What’s happening with rents?

 

Rents are decreasing slightly in our areas. Rents overall in Atlanta have decreased by 3.7%.  However, it’s rare to see rents drop from those asking under $2,000/mo. (3.7% would be $74). We are seeing some $25 – $50 reductions.  Those asking over $2,000/mo. are having bigger reductions. What’s causing this?

 

“Unemployment is low and demand for rental housing was strong, but an influx of new units has helped push down rental prices,” said the report, which relied on rental data in March for studio, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom units listed.  This article shows much of the new supply is from Investors buying over $1B worth of properties (1 out of 5 homes sold during this time frame) in the first three months of this year.

 

In addition, some that were renting but hoping to buy have decided to stop waiting and are leaving the renting pool seeing that owning has many benefits and deciding to simply refinance if/when rates do come back down. They see that waiting thus far just costs them more on price than they would have saved at a lower interest rate. They are tired of missing out on equity gains as prices increase.