It is a complete buyers frenzy that is driving the home prices up up and away from the bottom we knew just a few years ago. If you thought you couldn’t sell your home before because you were upside down on the mortgage, now would be the time to call an agent to find out what your home is worth.
Let’s take a look at how we got here. Back in 2007 many people were given a home loan with no credit, stated incomes and no earnest money and if they did have to put down earnest money than it wasn’t enough for a buyer to feel the pain if the home didn’t close. But, that was because you were practically guaranteed to close. Then, the crash and home prices fell, and there seemed to be no end in sight as to how far these prices were going to fall. In fact, some stories are told that in Detroit, Michigan you couldn’t even give a home away because of the crashed market. Luckily, that didn’t happen in Gwinnett, even though some people may have felt that way. There were foreclosures and short sales everywhere after 2008. People were just abandoning homes and walking away all together. It looked bleak for some time, until hedge fund investors out of nowhere started buying everything. If you had money that was the time to really buy as many homes as you could get your hands on because if you could buy and hold then you would see your investments climb over the next few years.
That is exactly what has happened. The foreclosures and short sales are still there but not as many as there were just two short years ago. Home builders lost a lot back in 2007, so much so many of them went out of business and land/lots were foreclosed upon as well. As the real estate markets started recovering over the past year and half, builders were at first hesitant to get back into the game of real estate. Many analysts stated that we were in another real estate bubble and many feel we may still be in one. So, the builders sat back, watched and waited to see if we really had the momentum going that they needed to get back to work in building new homes.
Late last year they started tip toeing back to the real estate markets buying up undeveloped lots in subdivisions that had just a few homes built in them. This wasn’t too costly as in these neighborhoods, the roads, curbing, water and sewer were already established. They could build a home or two, sell it and take the funds to build a few more. Now over the past six months builders are building faster and faster new homes all over Gwinnett County. They are still somewhat behind the demand for new construction which is why they are starting to buy up raw land and acreage in communities everywhere.
Many home owners don’t realize that they are not as in as bad as shape as they were after the market crash and may be able to list their home selling it at a break-even point or for a small profit. New construction is running full speed and within the next year is projected to have enough inventories to hopefully please the demand in Gwinnett County and Metro Atlanta real estate markets. So if you are in the market to buy a home the longer you wait to buy a home your home prices look like they are continuing to rise which means you will pay more for the same home tomorrow that you may be looking at today.
