Graph Courtesy of city-data.com

As you can see above, 4th quarter home sales in the city of Decatur fell to their lowest level since Q1′03 (if that ‘03 number can be believed).   As for the median home price, its down around its Q1′07 level – though the sample size is obviously much smaller than usual.

Looks like the trend is pretty consistant across the area – 30306, 30307, 30308, 30316, and DeKalb County.  Meanwhile, things in 30032 continue to just get worse.

Anyone know how many Decatur houses on average sold per quarter prior to the housing bubble?  That might give a better indication of the new normal.

Today’s AJC talks about a couple that got in WAY over their head in the real estate market craze and now are paying for it in spades.

But the number that caught my eye in the article wasn’t their $419,000 Smyrna home that costs $100,000 less than it did a few years ago.  Suburb declines are well documented at this point.  Personally, I was struck by the condo at “Twelve” Atlantic Station, which was purchased for $387,000 in 2005-6 and is now worth  $150,000 less.

This is the Atlantic Station that everyone (including the AJC) touted as the new wave of smart growth development.  Massive, single developer cities that could do no wrong as long as they threw a bunch of residential and commercial in the same general vicinity.   Atlantic Station was so awesome because it had its own zip code and organized mommy stroller walks.   Yeah well, the economy may have played a part in exacerbating this problem, but a 39% decline in home values is nothing short of damning market critique of this project, which shows that all smart growth (just like everything else) isn’t created equal.  You can’t cut corners, you can’t overestimate demand, and I personally believe you can’t build a town from scratch and expect it to compete with areas that have developed over time.

A 39% decline?  How does anyone that bought one of these properties early on recover from a blow like that?  Maybe some of them can wait it out, but a heck of a lot more of them are going to end up hurting.  And what does Atlantic Station end up looking like 5 years from now?  H&M or no H&M.  Ugh.