I read an article in the AJC the other day titled, “Inside Advice: Uncontrolled decline in prices? Numbers say no” by John Adams. He recently heard a report that home values were in a “free fall”. If you don’t know what free fall means, it means a rapid and continuing drop or decline. Well, I’m a homeowner and this little bit of news was very unsettling. After reading further, I was pleased to see that home prices are NOT in free fall. Instead, the most widely trusted home price index for the US showed that Georgia home values for the fourth quarter of 2007 were slightly higher than they had ever been.
Here are some interesting facts from the index, which includes data from home sales and appraisals for refinancings:
The index rose 0.1% over the last quarter and 0.8% for the year 2007. One percent my not seem like much of an increase, but after news of home values being in a free fall, 0.8 percent nationally does start to sound pretty good.
States with the greatest rates of appreciation from fourth quarter 2006 and fourth quarter 2007:
Utah (9.3%), Wyoming (8.3%), North Dakota (7.9%), Montana (6.9%), and Alaska (6%)
States with the lowest rates of appreciation for the same period:
California (-6.6%), Nevada (-5.9%), Florida (-4.7%), Michigan (-4.3%), and Rhode Island (-2.6%)
Georgia’s price appreciation for 2007 ranked 24th on the list of states and our homes increased in value by 2.55% during the year. Atlanta metro area showed homes were up 1.67% for the year.
I thought I would share some encouraging news with you all.