• The Draw of the BeltlLine [AJC]
• Homebuyers Feel So Strongly About Great Schools, They’ll Give Up Other Things to Get Them [ABC]
• Is Urban Growth Outpacing Suburban Growth? [Atlanta Agent Magazine]
• Private Quarters: Serenity in Serenbe Townhouse [AJC]
• Cities of Opportunity: The Top 10 Easiest Places to Buy a Home [Realtor.com]
• To Do: Your September Home Checklist [Houzz]

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Photo courtesy of Beltline.org

• Revitalizing the Historic Rufus Rose House on Peachtree St. [Atlanta Intown]
• Preparing for Summer: Your May Home Checklist [Houzz]
• Compact Living: Tiny House Plans Under 1,000 Sq. Ft. [Southern Living]
• Tax Credit Cap Raised for Historic Renovations [Decatur Tax Blog]
• Midtown Condo Befits Decatur Book Festival Director [AJC]

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Rufus Rose House photo courtesy of Wikipedia

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A few weeks ago we looked at real estate trends for 1^st Quarter 2015 in City of Decatur. Now let’s take a look at the 1^st Quarter real estate market for our Druid Hills neighbors compared to the same time period last year.   We are specifically looking at the area defined as Druid Hills by the Druid Hills Civic Association.

Average sales price is down 2.5% vs. 1^st quarter last year and Days on Market increased slightly compared to the same period in 2014. While the sales of homes under $500,000 declined by 25% year over year, they still hold a small edge over the above $500,000 price point. Incidentally, only 2 sales in Q1 2015 and 2 sales in Q1 2014 were over $1M.

Breaking out sales by single-family homes vs. condos and townhomes yields some noteworthy trends.

The standout here is the 12.5% increase in the price of single-family homes vs. Q1 last year. This was accompanied by an increase in the most popular number of bedrooms from 3 to 4. Single-family homes spent a few extra days on the market and contributed to the overall increase seen in Q1 2015 over Q1 2014.

In comparison, there was only a 1.75% price increase for condos and townhomes. However, ½ of sales in Q1 2015 were condos and townhomes vs. only ⅓ during the same period in 2014.

Click over to our website to see homes currently for sale in Druid Hills.

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

It probably won’t surprise you to learn that the family behind Decatur Metro has slight obsession with all things real estate.  How else does one maintain a local news website for 7+ years – which is at LEAST 50% real estate and development news – and stay half sane?

We suspect you enjoy it too.  OK, actually we know you do based on your click-thru rates!

But while I get excited by the big picture stuff, my wife Michelle is all about the details. Contracts, permitting, mechanical systems, interior design, etc.  All that stuff I can’t keep straight.

Well, at long last she’s combined her passion and knowledge with her natural skill set and is now a REALTOR® (the National Association of Realtors requires all caps and a register mark) with Keller Williams, focusing on Decatur and the intown Atlanta neighborhoods, which we know so well and spend so much time discussing.

So the obvious thing to do is give her real estate company, 4 Walls Realty, some well-deserved love here on DM (if you visit this site semi-regularly, you may already owe her thanks for keeping me alive and providing us with occasional post topics).  She will be our exclusive real estate partner and advertiser going forward.  She’s also going to start contributing more real estate content to the site, adding to that already popular topic.

We’ll refine the partnership as time goes by, but that’s the plan for now.  We’re both very excited to evolve our brands alongside each other over the coming months.

In the meantime, if you’re thinking about buying or selling your home or just looking for some local Atlanta/Decatur real estate information, give her a call and check out 4WallsRealty.com and her Facebook page.

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.