Covington Living Today

For several months, since ObamaCare was approved, there has been a lot of information spinning around online about the legislation, most of which is -at least - partially wrong.  I got another such email from a friend today, so I wanted to let him and all the others who read my blog know the true information as I understand it concerning future taxation of earnings from the sale of a private residence - your home in Covington.

The email my friend was distributing said that as of January 1, 2013, if you sold your home, there would be a 3.8% tax on the amount you sold for to support Medicare.  If you sold your home for $420,000, you would owe $15,960 in taxes on the sale.  Partially true.... the date is correct, the 3.8% is correct... the rest is crap!  (Of course not many of us would have to worry because by 2013, there won't be many homes around here worth $420,000!)  But here's how the National Association of Realtors has determined that the new tax really works:

The new Medicare tax applies only to a gain you realize from the sale of your home that is more than the $250K / $500K existing primary home exclusion (known as the "taxable gain"), and only if you, as the seller, have an Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) above the $200K / $250K (single / married) AGI threshold.

For example, if you sell your home and make $30,000 on the sale, and your a married couple with an AGI (including the $30,000 taxable gain) of %180,000, the 3.8% tax would not even apply because your AGI is less than $250,000.  However, if your AGI was $290,000, then the application of the 3.8% tax would be subject to a formula that specifies that you pay on the lesser of the capital gain or the difference between your AGI and the standard exclusion.  Thus, the $30,000 capital gain on the sale is less than the $40,000 excess above $250,000 AGI, so the $30,000 gain would be subject to the 3.8% tax.

Of course all this is moot point if ObamaCare is repealed or goes unfunded.  One can only hope.....

Real Estate Market Report for November 2010

NEWTON COUNTY

• 145 days on market - this is 16 days longer than in October
• Sellers received, on average, 91.1% of their list price when the home sold - down from 92.3% in October
• There is 11.1 months of inventory currently on the market (6 months inventory is considered "normal")
• 83 homes sold in November 2010 - this is 27 fewer than sold in October
• The most popular price range was $0 - $100,000  (59 of the 83 sales)
  
• The average sale price was $70,513 - compared to $84,812 in October
• There were 72 new foreclosures -17 more than November 2009

ROCKDALE COUNTY

• 158 days on market - this is 28 days longer than in October
• Sellers received 92.0% of their list price when the home sold - down from 95.2% in October
• There is a 12 month inventory of homes currently on the market (6 months is considered "normal")
• 54 homes sold in October - 7 fewer than in October
• The most popular price range was $0 - $100,000  (29 of 54 sales)
  
• The average sale price was $102,611- compared to $114,950 in October
• There were 32 new foreclosures - 7 less than October 2009

If you have questions or comments about the real estate market in Newton or Rockdale Counties, please leave me a message or give me a call... 770-337-5262

Real Estate Market Report for October 2010

NEWTON COUNTY

• 129 days on market - this is 3 days longer than in September
• Sellers received, on average, 92.3% of their list price when the home sold - down from 94.0% in September
• There is 8.7 months of inventory currently on the market (6 months inventory is considered "normal")
• 110 homes sold in October 2010 - this is 1 fewer than sold in September
• The most popular price range was $0 - $100,000
• The average sale price was $84,812 - compared to $94,789 in September
• There were 46 new foreclosures - 28 fewer than October 2009

ROCKDALE COUNTY

• 130 days on market - this is 25 fewer than in September
• Sellers received 95.2% of their list price when the home sold - up from 93.5% in September
• There is a 10.7 month inventory of homes currently on the market (6 months is considered "normal")
• 61 homes sold in October - 6 more than in September
• The most popular price range was $0 - $100,000
• The average sale price was $114,950 - compared to $126,333 in September
• There were 37 new foreclosures - 23 less than October 2009

If you have questions or comments about the real estate market in Newton or Rockdale Counties, please leave me a message or give me a call... 770-337-5262

Real Estate Market Report for August, 2010

 

NEWTON COUNTY:

• 124 days on market – this is 14 days less than in August 2009
• Sellers received, on average, 95.7% of their list price when the home sold
• There is 8.8 months of inventory currently on the market (6 months inventory is considered “normal”)
• 111 homes sold in August 2010 – this is 6 less that August 2009
• The most popular price range was $0 – $100,000
• The average sales price was $102,962, compared to $108,580 in August 2009
• There were 51 foreclosures – this is 3 less than August 2009

ROCKDALE COUNTY:

• 113 days on market – this is 24 days less than in August 2009
• Sellers received, on average, 96.5% of their list price when the home sold
• There is an 11.5 months inventory on the market (6 months inventory is considered “normal”)
• 60 homes sold in August 2010 – this is 15 less than in August 2009
• The most popular price range was $0 – $100,000
• The average sales price was $106,843, compared to $142,271 in August 2009
• There were 34 foreclosures – this is 9 more than August 2009

If you have questions or comments about the real estate market in Newton or Rockdale Counties, please leave me a message or give me a call… 770-337-5262

Newton County, Georgia, about 30 miles southeast of Atlanta, has more foreclosures than any other county in the State. But, after several months of the foreclosure flood subsiding in the county, the waters are on the rise again.

For the first seven months of this year, foreclosures in Covington and Newton County were down by 29.3% over the same period in 2009.  The number of pages of foreclosure notices in "The Covington News" each week were consistently running around 25 to 30 pages.  But last week, there were over 50 pages of notices, and indication that our real estate market crisis is far from over.

Other indicators of the soft market here include:

• An 8.1-month supply of homes currently on the market
• Average time to sell is 143 days on the market
• Average Sales Price down 14.8% in July, and
• Of 775 homes sold in the county during the past six months, 528 (or 68%) sold for under $100,000.

If you're in the market for a home, it's a great time to buy.  If you want to sell your present home... not so good.

Our market will improve, but it's not likely until unemployment rates go down and the national economy improves substantially.  By my latest estimation, we're likely to continue with current market conditions for the next 1.5 to 2 years.

This month we leave behind a decade characterized by unprecedented change in our real estate industry and the world.

During the past ten years we saw our industry boom, lead the national economy, and then implode.

Today we look outward on a nation whose economic system is near collapse, an unemployment rate hovering around 10 percent, banks collapsing, huge companies being taken over by the government, and security systems that don't work.

Technology, with the emergence of flat-screen, high-definition digital-broadcast television, the IPod, Social Networks, smart telephones, advanced, inexpensive digital cameras, ultra high-speed Internet connections - all these changes within the last ten years.  And you can bet that equally impressive and important changes will happen in the coming ten years... optimistically, changes for the better!

In the real estate industry, the change began on the first day of the new decade.  HUD issued a new RESPA (the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act) rule, effective that day, which changes the process of obtaining a mortgage.  The object of the rule change is to make it easier for borrowers to comparison shop for their mortgage, and better understand the closing costs they have to pay.

Among the RESPA changes are:

• Use of a new "good faith estimate" (GFE)
• A new HUD1 settlement statement, which adds a third page to the statement
• Restrictions and limits on which and how much GFE charges may change at the closing table, and
• Bundling of fees on the HUD1 by category or provider, allegedly to make things easier for the borrower to understand.

Are these changes good or bad?  Some say good.  Some say bad.  We'll just have to wait and see.

in another change in Georgia this year, now before a Realtor® refers a buyer to another broker they must do two things:

• Get prior written permission from the person being referred for the referral, and
• Include an estimate of the referral fee, if any, the referring broker will receive by making the referral.
  

What else might change in real estate in 2010?  Real estate gurus and prognosticators are saying this:

• Sales volume should be way up, compared to last year, particularly early on, due to buyers taking advantage of the expanded tax credit.  (Not sure I believe that, but we'll see!)
• Average sales prices may dip even lower, or stay flat at best, because foreclosures will remain high. (Signals continuing difficult times for sellers)
• Future foreclosures will be more widespread geographically, not because of the market bust, but because of high unemployment.  (Employment figures are usually the leading indicator of a bettering economy.  Watch them!)
• Agents will have to convince sellers to price their property realistically for this market.  (Duh!  Is that a change?  You bet it is!  And if they don't, the property won't sell.)
• Short Sales will get easier and less confusing because lenders will staff up and develop routine processes to handle the sales.  (I'll believe that when I see it!)

It should be very interesting to watch what happens in the coming decade in real estate... and in the world around us.  But the one thing we can always count on... The only thing that stays the same is Change!

How much confidence do Realtors have in their local markets?  The Real Estate Confidence Index answers that question.

The people who host my website, Point2Agent, conducts a monthly survey of its thousands of members across North America to determine how real estate professionals see the current and future market conditions in their respective areas.

The survey receives over 3,000 responses monthly from every area of the country across many different types of markets.  Respondents rate their markets on a scale of 1 to 10, showing their confidence level in local real estate markets over the short term (3 to 6 months), and the long term (12 to 18 months).  A statistical mean on the 1 to 10 scale is then derived which becomes the monthly Real Estate Confidence Index.  The Index is statistically valid due to the number of responses received.

The Real Estate Confidence Index (R.E.C.I.) for October, 2009 is 5.59.  This seems a bit middle-of-the-road, and one might say, "Yeah... half the country's confident, the other half isn't."  However, the Index is based upon real opinions from real professionals in the real estate field, and if watched over time, does fluctuate by State and economic conditions.

To those of us in Georgia, confidence is not great.  The Georgia R.E.C.I. is 5.08.  Georgia real estate professionals rate their confidence in the current market a 4.53, with improvement in the short term to 4.63, and the long term to 6.08 - still a long way from complete, or even comfortable confidence in the marketplace.

In the South, Georgia professionals are joined by South Carolina, Florida, Mississippi, Kentucky and Oklahoma practitioners with only low to moderate confidence in their markets.  Professionals in Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Alabama, Tennessee and North Carolina exhibit a bit more confidence, but still hover only slightly higher (current index 6.3) than the country as a whole.

Survey administrators point out that "the Real Estate Confidence Index is a purely subjective survey, and is in no way intended to be an accurate reflection of current market conditions."  It is based on the opinions of real estate professionals across the country.  Even so, it's both interesting, enlightening, and probably not too far off.

Covington Georgia September 2009 Real Estate Market Report

• Active Listings        1024
• Pending Sales         126
• Closed Sales            79
• Week's Inventory     56  (Absorption Rate)
  

The "Weeks Inventory" indicates the number of weeks it takes to sell the current inventory of homes on the market at the present rate of sales.  Inventory level in a "good real estate market" is considered to be around 24 weeks.

Since Last Month's Report:

• Active Listings  DOWN 26.3%
• Pending Sales  DOWN 9.4%
• Closed Sales  DOWN 15%

Foreclosures:

New foreclosures in the Covington and Newton County real estate market were DOWN in September by 9.4% from last month's figure.  However, for the nine-month period, foreclosures are still UP 1.4% in the county over 2008.

The Average Sales Price of homes in the Covington real estate market in September was UP 31% over August to $141,031, and UP 7% from the same period in 2008.  That's good news!

It's still taking longer to seel our homes in the Covington real estate market.  The Average Days On Market of homes listed in Covington was UP 9.7% over August, and 12.9% over September 2008.

DISCLAIMER:  All information, photographs & content contained within this blog is the property of Bill Blair and may only be used with express written permission of the author or via the Active Rain "reblog" function, posted in its entirity with attribution to the author.

All statistical information used to create this report was obtained from GAMLS.  Information Deemed Reliable but not Guaranteed.

The Covington Georgia Real Estate Market Report - August 2009

Covington Georgia August 2009 Real Estate Resale Market Report

• Active Listings     1389
• Pending Sales      139
• Closed Sales         93
• Week's Inventory   65

The "Week's Inventory" indicates the number of weeks it takes to sell the current inventory of homes at the present rate of sales.  Inventory level in a "good real estate market"  is considered to be around 24 weeks.

Since Last Month's Report:

• Active Listings  DOWN 12.8%
• Pending Sales  DOWN  4.8%
• Closed Sales    DOWN  34.5%

Foreclosures:

New foreclosures in the Covington and Newton County real estate market were DOWN in August by 1.8%.  However, for the eight-month period, foreclosures are UP 11% in the county over the same period last year.

The Average Sales Price of homes in the Covington real estate market in August was UP 3.5% over July, but DOWN 22.3% from August 2008 prices.

DISCLAIMER:  All information, photographs & content contained within this blog is the property of Bill Blair and may only be used with express written permission of the author or via the Active Rain "reblog" function, posted in its entirety with attribution to the author.

All statistical information used to create this report was obtained from GAMLS.  Information Deemed Reliable but not Guaranteed.