If Housing is really a leading indicator then things have changed again. The inventory of available Atlanta homes is now declining. The index is now at 8.5 months compared to the market bottom of 11 months in October 2007.
It was Georgia U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson, who so eloquently said, “Real estate led us into the recession and it will lead us out.”
Now it’s still a buyer’s market to be sure and there are still some truly awesome real estate opportunities. Especially on rural homes just outside of the hustle and bustle of the city where $500k can buy a luxurious home and several acres of land that would be unheard of in a lot of markets.
Then there is Peachtree Street, the area from downtown to Buckhead, this area is home to 50 percent of all jobs in the city of Atlanta, 36 percent of the city’s retail space, 24 percent of the office space and more than $10 billion of appraised value for taxable properties. Peachtree is the economic backbone of Georgia. Several new projects are planned for this area that will deliver a positive impact buy replacing the vacant lots and demolition sites that have been showing up recently.
A group of local bank investors, backed by $300 million in private equity, is in discussions with regulators to buy ailing Macon-based Security Bank Corp. This group plans to infuse it with new capital in the coming weeks.
“This is the greatest vote of confidence that we have seen since the downturn began in 2007,” said Walt Moeling, Bryan Cave LLP banking attorney with four decades of Atlanta experience. “You have investors and managers betting $300 million that the future looks really great for banks in this market. Everyone from regulators to the investors see this as a good deal. There’s going to be some awfully good opportunities like this going forward.”
Radio real estate guru John Adams known as “Atlanta’s most trusted voice in real estate” began a speech recently talking about how much readers and listeners like bad news. However, he ended with the good news that the current economic dark clouds do indeed have a silver lining. “Things can’t possibly be as bad as we in the media make them sound. However, moments later, the good-news Adams said, “Look for things improve soon, maybe starting next month.”
Adams said he was encouraged by the observations of Ben S. Bernanke, chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve System. “Bernanke sees that we’re at the bottom of the housing market and consumer spending is up.”
With a Banking system showing signs of recovery and a lot of investment dollars flowing into the local economy one thing is for certain, things have changed, no doubt about it. Time will tell if this new infusion of cash is “Smart Money” or just good money going after bad.
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