Dealing with the blow to its housing markets, Georgia is in the midst of an economic crisis laden with job lay-offs, business failings and higher crime. The downturn has been anything but easy for the Peach state, which population grew to record highs during the real estate boom.
Foreclosures and other troubled home sales now compose the majority of transactions from an inventory of properties that is declining; giving the battered markets a positive sign as Georgia real estate tries to find equilibrium. Georgia has 49 banks facing insolvency as a result of the financial crisis on the high misery index known as the Texas ratio.
In metropolitan Atlanta home values are falling at double-digit rates and are forecast to set new levels of deflation by Housing Predictor in 2009. Home values haven't fallen like they are in the Atlanta area since the Great Depression, despite oddities in appreciation in some parts of the community as a result of new construction being completed on long over-due developments.
The homes that are selling are going for bargain prices as the foreclosure epidemic sweeps through Atlanta, which was once one of the most prosperous housing markets in the nation. New subdivisions were built all around the Atlanta area, and now many are only partially finished. The foreclosure epidemic has put so much pressure on bankers that prices are being slashed to unload the record inventory outside of urban Atlanta in Cobb, Clayton, Gwinnett, Fulton and DeKalb counties. Some properties are selling for a third of their once over-priced values. Atlanta is forecast by Housing Predictor to sustain average housing deflation of 16.1% in 2009.
 |
| City |
Forecast |
| Atlanta |
− 16.1% |
| Albany |
− 2.1% |
| Savannah |
− 10.6% |
| Columbus |
− 8.4% |
| Augusta |
− 9.4% |
In Albany, the housing market is showing signs of a weaker climate with slower sales, but not as a result of foreclosures, more as fallout from the national fever of the credit crisis. A group of new businesses are actually opening up in Albany, a rarity in the current economy. Foreclosures don't make up one-percent of the small inventory of homes for sale. Although Albany is not projected to be hurt by the worsening national economy as much as other areas of the state, it will see housing values deflate forecast at a marginal 2.1% in 2009.
The housing market is just creeping along down south in Columbus, where home sales under the $200,000 price level are most common. The bargains are selling as first time buyers take advantage of the federal government's $8,000 tax credit due to expire at the end of the year.
Columbus housing sales are slow as foreclosures and short sales provide the majority of activity. Columbus homes are forecast to experience housing deflation of 8.4% in 2009.
A sort of new micro-market virus is attacking the Augusta housing market. More foreclosures are resulting as a direct result of soldiers serving time in Iraq and Afghanistan, leaving their families behind to deal with the mess.
The market held up longer in Augusta than many other parts of the state, but is deteriorating as a result of the rise in foreclosures and more restrictive lending standards. Average housing values are forecast to fall 9.4% in Augusta for the year.
In quaint Savannah less than 100 homes are listed for sale on the market by real estate agents. But a growing inventory of foreclosures is not counted as a direct result of being marketed by lenders trying to unload the properties. Job cuts are resulting in more foreclosures in the port city, which is having difficulty weathering the economic storm. Savannah home values are forecast to deflate 10.6% on average by year's end.
